Yesterday, in the sack lunch room at Ski Monarch, we met a very nice couple. Their names are Jon and Naomi. They’re from Maine.
Naomi & Jon. Married about a year! Isn’t that cute!?
Of course, we blabbed on about our trip. And we gave them one of our new cards. (Yes, we ordered up some ‘business’ cards. After being asked if we had a card many times. So, now we’re cool.)
We liked Jon and Naomi right from the start. We had that lovely ‘instant rapport’ going on. You know the feeling. When you have things in common that make you feel comfortable right away, but your curiosity is piqued and you want to spend some more time together.
David, Naomi, Jon & Jane
Our new friends mentioned that they were going to try Copper Mountain ski area the next day. While David held his breath in anticipation of revisiting Copper, I asked them if they wanted company. I told them to check out the blog and send us a comment if they had an interest in skiing with us.
David said later that he wasn’t going to push for the Copper side trip but he sure was glad that I brought it up. David taught skiing at Copper, back in the ’80’s.
Of course, we are loving our ‘home’ mountain, Ski Monarch. It’s everything we hoped it would be: low-key, inexpensive and close by, with that beautiful Colorado snow and big scenery.
Some of the Copper Mountain base lodges
But, Copper Mountain is a different sort of resort from Monarch. It’s huge! Many times more lifts; much more acreage. It’s glamorous. And expensive, so Copper would be a rare treat for us.
We heard from Jon and Naomi later in the evening. Yay! We’ll have a fun day at Copper! We packed our ski bags and went to sleep early.
Next morning, we met up with our new friends inside one of the Copper Lodges. We quickly realized that exploring the mountain with them would be a good experience!
Naomi has been skiing for a while; Jon just started a couple years ago; I am a constantly-learning ski veteran and David is the happiest man on Earth right now!
My wonderful David. Happiest man on Earth – to be skiing in Colorado! He says skiing with me makes it even better…
We all skied to our joyful limits. David sprinkled in some really useful tips for everyone and we used those hints, cruising down ‘blue’ runs and testing ourselves on some ‘black diamonds’.
We were absolutely done. Spent. But, someone said (as someone inevitably does) “Let’s go down one more time!”. And, so we did, closing down the lift on the very last run up the mountain. Whoo Hoo!
We said goodbye to Jon and Naomi and started the long drive back to the Tramper. The evening Alpenglow atop the now-slumbering mountains bid us a beautiful goodbye.
– Jane
The Voyage of the Tramper 
HELLO DAVID
SO GLAD YOU GUYS ARE DOING WELL AND HAVING SO MUCH FUN. I LOVE THE BLOG…IT FEEL LIKE IM TRAVELING WITH YOU. HAPPY NEW YEAR! :0)
Celian
so glad you are enjoying; it really is a treat. I miss the staff and hospital, I miss the patients and their trust, but am SO Glad and privileged to be doing this! We are relishing the “early season” skiing and don’t mind that the whole mountain hasn’t opened. We’re not even sure exactly what is next; that’s the beauty of the voyage. We make it up as we go along, asking “where should we go next?” and locals consistently guide us well.
– David
My student loans are only paid through March…ha, ha…wonder if we’ll last that long?
Oh my gosh, simply crisp, blue loveliness in these photos! (…so jealous, here… 🙂