Skiing for the first time: The snow had arrived, the slopes sparkled bright, and I got ready for my first yellow bird lesson. Starting with Strawberry Hill and Ruegli, Taos Ski School had me progress fast to Whitefeather, Honeysuckle and Powderhorn. I never aspired for the blacks, but couldn't have had more fun my first time skiing. By the end of the season, I had skiied about 5 weekends and learnt interesting tips to unfreeze my fingers.
The Holidays: The family was excited to discover the mystical Taos we had been raving about. Mom and Dad were just taken by the sunny winter and warm floors in Julia Roberts' town. We enjoyed our days around the fireplace, walks along the rim of Rio Gorge, train from Durango to Cascade Canyon, hiking Great Sand Dunes to Zapata Falls and discovering the Pueblo culture together.
New Year's Eve at the Ski Valley: Now that I had learnt skiing, I was not only in awe seeing the torchlight parade down the slopes, but truly appreciated the skill it required to do it so beautifully. Professional skiers skiied down a double black diamond slope, very slowly, in the dark, with torch flames in each hand. Unfortunately, I don't have pics that do justice. It was a short evening ending with the usual- fireworks.
January 2007
Cousin's Reunion: Almost 4 years since Chicago, the reunion was long overdue. Taos was an obvious choice where the whole bunch ventured out to our little abode. The highlight of the weekend was our snowshoeing adventure through Enchanted Forest. Skiing, watching Adit fall on his butt several times, new mexican green chile cheese fries, Outback pizzeria, were all a close second.
Jason and Parul stayed the rest of the week which gave us a whole lot of time to chill, chat and celebrate. And just like that, the first month of the new year flew by...
February 2007
Aaron & Jen visit: I was finally gonna see Aaron and Jen after a long long time. A change of plans was in order right from the start when their flight got delayed. We just spent the night in Santa Fe and it gave us a chance to explore the town together. Jen was reminded of long drives as a child and let the high road lull her to sleep. She also battled sweaty palms standing on the Rio Grande bridge looking several 100 ft below. And was a trooper on the snowshoe hike to Williams lake in spite of horrible shoe bites. Amit and Aaron topped off the hike with 26oz beer jugs each and the evening went on merrily ever after!
March 2007
Amit's annual trip to Vegas was followed by the fellow's reunion. He worked on cadavers while I worked on dough at the pizza baking workshop Gina organized. I have never eaten a more delicious authentic wood fired pizza... Thanks Karen!
The ski season ended with the pond skimming contest where we were witness to some wild costumed crazy skiiers. We managed to have a blast of a time even with Amit popping a hip back in place for a contestant who decided to ski backwards into the pond!
April 2007
Jason & Kelly visit: We managed to accomplish all the things we had planned for their visit even though Jason missed his flight :) Amit and I finally went up the Sandia peak tramway with Kelly and met the 'alien' boy who lives in my purse now. Kelly conquered her fear for water on our rafting trip down Rio Grande. We let crazy Gary Fey take us into his world of Batik and even enjoyed another evening with Karen and George to make Kelly's favorite meal- the homemade pizza! Time seemed to be plentiful as we found time to sneak away to Ojo Caliente. After this trip, Jason is convinced that Amit is just a phantom doc!
Sandia peak, Albuquerque
Learning Gary Fey's Batik
hike at Ojo Caliente
Baking Pizza, Karen's way
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