Pink Makes People Crazy.......And I Like It!!

There are 4 main bands that I remember listening to with my parents while growing up. They {my parents} would quiz me when the songs came on the radio. 

Led Zepplin. ZZ Top. ACDC. Pink Floyd. 

About 4 years ago, we went to House of Blues with our brother-in-law and sister-in-law to see a Pink Floyd cover band called Bricks in the Wall. Their performance left a lasting impression on me that night, and I immediately called my mom to tell her about them. After all, old stoner music is her favorite. It was decided then, we HAD to see them again, the next time bringing her along. 

That was 4 years ago...........

But she always told me I have the memory of an elephant.....whatever that means.....who cares about elephants when you have giant pink pig with fangs suspended from the ceiling looming over your head??? 

I totally kept my word and finally got the family together to witness this band live. It really is amazing how closely they can mimic their idols. Different guys in the band take turns singing lead, to match the voices of the original song, and it's easy to tell their love for the music is genuine. 

We bought balcony seats for the first time, which came with advantages and disadvantages. We sat in, what I nick-named the B.L.R. {Bad Luck Row}. A group of oldies were seated in the middle of our row that drank like fish and had the bladders of toddlers. They also distrusted all forms of passed down communication, so any time the waitress would come by for orders, the head honcho of the group insisted on making us all stand up so he could make his way to the isle to place his order, then make us all stand up again so he could get back to the middle where his seat was. What a douche-o-rama. It got to the point where we just had to laugh about it. 

Of course, it was an older crowd. Period. I expected that. But what I forgot is how crazy people get when they're trying to make it through their mid-life-crisis' while listening to music that brings them back to the "good ol' days". As our group was walking up the stairs to leave, a lady pops out from behind a column, pulls her shirt up over her head and starts sensually and sporadically rubbing herself all over my mother! Then she leaned in close enough to lick her ear, and lingered there for a few seconds. We all swiftly walked away when she took her shoe off and started aiming at people. Later I found out instead of giving my mother a hickey, she was really whispering in her ear, "I'm going to be 52!"

I'm just glad it wasn't me getting inappropriately molested for once!

Did I mention the light show was phenomenal? The circular white trampoline looking thing in the background projected really strange videos that correlated with the music in a weird Twilight Zone sort of way. 

The next day, I took the family exploring.

I have a memo list on my phone of places I want to try......when I have time. Between work and routinely domestic things during the week, I cross things off this list slowly. And when I say slowly, I mean ever..........so.............slowly.........

One of the impending destinations I've been meaning to hit is called Dude, Sweet. You have to drive through a sketchy south east Dallas area to get there, but once you arrive, you think you've stepped into a small preserved time capsule of the area. A few blocks are lined with specialty shops and eateries, fragrant smells, crocheted trees, and vintage charm of the 1920's. 

There's nothing fancy or hoity about the inside of this shop. But what you will find, is extremely unique flavors to satisfy every dark chocolate loving taste bud, and free samples of as much chocolate you can handle. 

The genius behind these combo's infuses flavors you'd never think of, in weird, eccentric and refreshing ways. 

Mushrooms. Jalepenos. Feta cheese. Balsamic Vinegar. Ginger. 

The best part? When you buy a box of chocolate from them, you can read every single ingredient without having to feel like your speaking a foreign language. 

My favorite was Crack in a Box. And you bet, I took some home with me!

I love the artist who loved the trees enough to brighten their trunks! 

There was a soda shop on the strip. We didn't try any of them, but I couldn't help but lick my lips at how many flavors they had. 

See what I mean about the time warp?

I bet it's so pretty here in the spring!

I was drawn to the pink flower power tree. And right across the street from it, was a inspirational floral shop, called DIRT. The shelves were dressed with vintage mason jars and old wood with beautiful succulent cacti planted perfectly within. Everything had such an earthy feel.  

And what's a day in the sun filled with fun, without frozen yogurt? My mom and brother had never tried Pink Berry, so I had to swing them by. Oh, how it reminds me of days in Hollywood with my Hunny......but I don't think that's the only reason it tastes like pure bliss. Other FroYo's may come close, but the cigar belongs to PB. 

(Isn't it cool how the sun shadowed "Pink" on the lady's shirt behind our table??? It's like it was meant to be.)

Pink bands. Pink trees. Pink yogurt. I think we've found a trend.....

........I guess Steven Tyler really did know what he was talking about. 

Do you ever feel like your day is can be categorized by a color? Do you have a favorite Frozen Yogurt place or love them all? What's your favorite thing covered in chocolate?

Nothing Good Happens When You Leave Paradiase

It was a gorgeous way to start our way back home. We woke up when we wanted. I made breakfast for the house adults while sipping on mimosa's, and Stew made us some impressive Irish Coffee's while we shared pictures and stories of recent vacations with each other. 

The drive out of Colorado could not have been more perfect. 

As we entered New Mexico, we were "enchanted" by all the white ice covered trees. {That's me down there.}

Driving through the high plains and grasslands, we couldn't help but gawk at how mystical everything looked. 

Plateaus and hills kissing the low riding clouds. Waves of frosted native plants blowing in the wind. The warm and cool colors casually harmonizing together in the peaceful landscape.  

It was all actually easing the pain of heading back to our real world, nicely decorated with concrete sidewalks and stores for the spoiled. 

Am I completely ignorant for not knowing there are volcanoes in New Mexico??? We didn't invest exploring time into this one, but drove past the Capulin Volcano, an extinct cylinder cone now recognized as a National Monument. Supposedly, if you hike to the top, you can see 4 states at one time (Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma); I had no idea!  

Of course at some point in my life, something always has to head in the direction of a mishap. In this case, it would be my good 'ol unreliable residential state. 

New Mexco, the land of enchantment......

Colorado, the sunshine state......

Tejas, the land of everything unpredictable.......

Apparently, a snow storm moved in on the northern tip, stretching all the way to Dallas! It was literally 60-70F when we left for vacation, and snowing when we came back. This meant driving 30mph from Amarillo to Plano, extending our drive an extra 4 hours, due to our state's lack of resources for such conditions.  We saw about 4 wrecks, no less than 6 cars stranded in ditches that had slid off the road, and a pickup truck slide in a 360 behind us on the highway. It was terrifying...and dark.....and icy, since the previous weather had been so warm. 

We stopped often to make sure there wasn't a build up of snow ruining our tires like the last time we drove home in a snow storm, and eventually Ol' Trusty got us home safely. 

The other bad news? We got charged twice for vacation......Over a grande.......Stolen.......straight out of the checking account. We've been banging our heads against the wall trying to get it back. Needless to say, it was a dramatic way to end a perfect getaway, and to avoid the boring details, hopefully all will be resolved in a couple of weeks.
And guess what?? Less than a week later, it was back to spring weather!
I swear, we get signals that our state wants us to stay gone every time we come back........
But from our struggles, we find our strengths, which is what inspired me for this post. 

How many volcano's have you seen? Am I the only person in history that didn't know New Mexico had volcanos?

Has anyone ever stolen money from your account? 

High on Life and on Ground

Would you believe that I wasn't even sore after those 2 days of skiing??? Amazing feat. I guess that's what long runs and hours of cross training can do for a person!........Sore-less skiing.....and black toes, which are even more black now. 

We decided to take the longer way back home, for a unfamiliar territory adventure. We had absolutely no idea where we were going, and how we would get there, or even if our phones would continue to have enough service to guide us back to Denver..............

But something about feeling the unknown makes me happy inside. Maybe my wires are crossed and my brain recognizes nervousness with excitement. 

The entire drive was breathtakingly beautiful. We obviously couldn't stop driving every time I wanted to take a picture......some things just have to be left to the cobwebs of my memory......

But every now and then, Patrick gave in and let me stop for a little documentation. 

We visited Alma, Colorado. One of the tiniest towns I've seen and, no joke, the highest town I've seen. No, people weren't standing around rolling fat ones......it's literally the highest elevated town with permanent residences in the United States! I was out of breath just thinking about it! 

Then we stumbled upon South Park. It took a little convincing on my part, to make Patrick believe it was the real life home of Comedy Central's well known cartoon, but he held on to his reluctancy until we saw this little shop proudly displaying a Kenny flag and turd character.  

I googled the town to verify my assumptions...and then we found the Ghost Town {behind us}, that is set up as a museum. 

We even hung around a while in the shops and did a little souvenir shopping. 

As we drove through the countryside, we gawked over several homes with spectacular views, and although I love living in the city, I admitted I thought I could tolerate remote living if the pain was eased by such a sight out my window.....

..........and it'd be easier to convince Patrick to let me walk around naked with the curtains open. 

By afternoon, we made it to Red Rocks, in Morrison, back to the snow covered ground. 

We were prepared this time and remembered to bring Patrick's guitar. 

We not only took it up the ramp slowly because we were out of breath for the view...but the elevation was still getting the best of us.... Get it? "It took our breath away."......I crack myself up sometimes. 

I don't know if you've noticed so far, but I wore a million hats on this trip (actually probably like 1-2 a day). I decided I had to squeeze as much hat wearing in as possible, since it's been to warm back home to wear many knit hats. 

One day.....we'll see a concert here. 

I can only imagine how amazing it will be. 

The sun, taking a bite out of the rock!

Until we can make it up for a actual concert, Patrick gave me a private version, for a fix. I tried to get him to play loud enough for everyone to hear while I was sitting in the stands, to test out the amphitheater's capabilities. Even strangers were clapping for him when we walked on stage with his traveler. But he was feeling a bit shy. 

So instead, I sat next to him on stage, and he softly serenaded me with the song he wrote for our wedding while smiling at me with that sweet face of his.  Everything about it was ridiculously romantic.

The sun was shining down on us, and although it was super cold outside, I felt all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Best Valentine's present ever. 

After we were done making the other  sightseers gag with our lovely-dovey selves, we hopped back in Ol' Trusty for another adventure. Off to Stew's family's house for a little Rest and Relaxation.....then beer drinking and wings at the Breckenridge Brewery! 

A day well spent. The pugs agreed. And you don't argue with a face like that......or a girl like me, for that matter!

What's Cooler Than Being Cool?

Who in their right minds could have anything but a big goofy smile on their face, waking up to this in the morning? I could barely pry my eyes off this balcony view to cook breakfast. 

The snow kept up all night again, so we pleasantly floated on fresh groomed powder trails in the morning. We warmed up on some nice, relaxing blues, and tried hard not to get lost without our friends by our sides for geographical direction. 

By mid-morning the clouds dissipated, and we had a clear view of the city from the top of the mountain for the first time during this trip. It was gorgeous and quite distracting.
That's my man.....cruisin'.

We were on a daily roll of celebration, so I kept with the trend, celebrating skiing in the sunshine with the best pose I could think of, with my most valued "ass"ests forward.

The sky thought I was funny, so it humored us back with an exclamation point cloud! Isn't it cool?

By lunch, we needed something to warm our bellies, so we found a lodge with Starbucks........and may have pulled a flask from our jackets to add a little kick of.......flavor....... 

I love the snow, but I don't mind the view when it clears!

It may not have snowed on us the entire day {from the sky}, but the wind was maniac strong. Several times throughout the day robust gusts of frigid air would sweep it's way through the trees, forming  "snow storms". Big snow, little snow, sideways snow, stingy snow. It all came in our direction with a vengeance, and we were forced to tuck for cover. Fine snow, clumped snow, icy snow....... I tried so hard to capture one of those moments on camera, but they were too spontaneous to accommodate such techniques in my bundled attire. 

Lindsey told me I always pose the exact same way for ski pictures, so I tried to get creative for her. 

And then, with the same surprise in which it graced our presence, the radiance was gone, replaced by more white skies. 

The difference a couple of hours can make on the mountains! It teaches us to never take a single moment for granted. 

I'm not much in to routine, but the hot tub was calling my name, so we went down for one last soak....and to meet some more, very interesting people. 

With little expectations, we got dressed in a frenzy and headed to Frisco for a sleigh ride.
Our mules names were Jane and Judy. Jason, our guide and waiter, gave a great educational run-down of our surroundings while we rode out into the mountains for dinner. 

As we rode into the sunset, wearing a knit hat, 2 jackets, 3 shirts, a scarf, gloves, 2 pairs of paints, tube socks, Ugg boots, and a wool blanket, never felt so smart. I was just barely warm enough to enjoy my surroundings. Good thing I didn't under-dress!

We were taken to our dinner reservations, which were located inside the fanciest tent in the world. 

Our tables were equipped with hot cocoa and peppermint schnapps. Cheers to that. 

We ate bread, soup, steak, chicken, potato, and apple pie for dinner, all of which {they bragged} was made without electricity. And the musical entertainment wasn't too shabby either. How many tents have you been in that have an Exit sign?

Of course, it was snowing when we walked outside, which made for a beautiful sleigh ride back to the real world. 

And just like that, Day 3 was over.