Colorado – friends, fab food, and snowfun

Late in the afternoon March 16 we got into Minturn, CO. to see groovy buddy Matt Hendrix, his wife Gayle, daughters  Devin & Barrett and three English bulldogs that were small jumpy tanks. A nostalgic moment at Vail Village, where Ally had lived and worked, and learnt to snowboard with Roger, and partied with Matt, KTD, Sals, Becs and co. Thanks to Matt & family for hosting, and giving  up their beds 💛

We drove on down to Boulder area, outside of Denver, and stayed with the very welcoming Britt, Frank and daughter Kai, friends of Roger’s through his network of passionate coral protectors. We hiked up in the hills in the morning sunshine; by evening it was snowing! The magic of its white blanket settling down around us entrancing for the tropics dwellers. Super impressed too with Frank BBQ-ing outside amongst it; Roger and Britt stoked to be able to experiment with whiskey snow float.

We managed to get one last ski/board at local field Eldora – extra satisfying on a Monday – and stopped off at a vintage carousel restored as therapy by a Vietnam Veteran. We happened to meet him, bringing  in the Board for their pre-meeting spin. Then off to dinner with childhood friend Tami, husband Curt and sons Blake and Shane – heaps of fun to see the kids enjoying each other and to catch up after 21 years. Anya will never forget being fed whipped cream straight into her mouth from the dispenser and sipping on root beer floats. The hospitality we received in the US from friends was second to none; it made the trip.

Onto the Florida Keys to defrost a little; it felt familiar in some ways – temperature, flora, fauna, ” It’s like home, Mum” said Anya as the first palm tree came into view outside the airport. But different too  –  conch soup, tuna nachos, traffic jams and long bridges mooring the islands to each other. The community was still rebuilding – businesses, homes and roads – post hurricane, and grimlipped when asked about it.

Some great sleeps and key lime pie later, we left the USA on 23rd March.  Greece was the next port of call.