Sunday, September 03, 2006
Tiger Run RV Resort, Breckenridge, CO
August 30-September 2, 2006
When I was thirteen going on fourteen, I went to Copper Mountain, Colorado, for a month of summer camp. Thanks, again, by the way, Mom & Dad! Even then, I don't think I was wise enough to appreciate the beauty of the Colorado Rockies. I was actually a little cranky as we set out, but only because of a few minor disasters that struck while we were in Strasburg. The first you know about if you have been reading my blog. That was my idiotic encounter with the trailer hitch.
The second came when I was eating this awesome cereal that is a snack staple when we are on the road: Kashi Organic Promise Autumn Wheat. Mmmm. Soooo yummy. Anyway, I was chomping on it when HUH? I bit down on a hard piece. It felt a bit like a pebble, actually. I have never encountered this in Autumn Wheat, so I shrugged and kept chewing. Bit down on it again.
Now, most people would think it was a defective wheat square. Not me. I was thinking: "Oh, sh*t!" And I was right to think this, because when I isolated the chunk, it was a chunk of tooth. Ewwwww! My tooth. I knew exactly which one, too, without feeling around with my tongue. It was an old root canal which I have never gotten crowned. Apparently, procrastination is not a good strategy for dental health.
Sorry, but I didn't take a picture of the chunk for you all. Suffice to say it was large enough to be more than a little disturbing. You know those nightmares where you bite on something and your teeth crumble or shatter? Well, hooray for me, I got to have my nightmares become a reality!
So as I was saying, I was a little stressed out about the chunk as we drove up into the Rockies. As you can see, the scenery was quite lovely, but I was mostly unaffected by it and had to be prodded to take pictures. Not only am I the navigator and sometime pilot of this ship, I am also the photographer! So I got this one good shot as we were driving, then we went through a tunnel or two in the mountains. The road went between two mountains, and the scenery was much like the scenery in Missouri or Pennsylvania, except that the trees on either side were growing on mountains instead of flatlands. Then, just as before, the mountain trees gave way to something amazing. Brian pulled over, I stepped out, and my spirits were lifted. Such is the power of nature, to overwhelm us and give us peace all at once.
No picture could capture this wondrous place. Certainly none of my pictures. I forgot how to do panorama on my camera. This is a scenic overlook called The Summit. Here you have a view of Lake Dillon and eleven of the surrounding mountains. Here is a picture with the plaque outlining the location.
So this was an auspicious start to our stay here in Breckenridge. To make it even better, our RV park, Tiger Run RV Resort, was really nice. Very posh compared to our other resting places. Two hot tubs, a heated indoor pool, a playground, and amazingly fast internet, a security gate with a code, and spectacular views. Right from our site! 
You are probably getting sick of these beautiful views of vast open blue skies with the puffy fanciful clouds that appear in children's cartoons and fairy stories. But I'm not! I don't think I could ever get tired of them. In Connecticut, it seems, we get the dregs. It's like the clouds from Colorado skies get dragged down the highway all the way across the country to the northeast, so that all that is left when they get to Connecticut is rags and tatters of clouds. Sigh.
So if you are, in fact, tired of these clouds and scenic landscapes, listen to my tale of continued idiocy.
Brian did a spectacular job of backing into our new space. We set up, then I went to get my iPod from the truck. I think I was turning off the backlight when BAM! I cursed. I had done it again! I had hit my head on the trailer hitch for the second time in, like three days. I was so pissed off! I felt like maybe I should start wearing a bicycle helmet around our campsites. Absolutely ridiculous!
So everyone heard me cursing my folly, and asked me what had happened. "I banged my head on the trailer hitch again," I said as I walked around the trailer. I looked up to see my three family members giving me the uh-oh look. I was bleeding.
So I ran into the bathroom sink and started rinsing it off, watching the blood dripping into the sink. As you may know, especially if you are a "sports entertainment" fan, the forehead is great for profuse blood without extensive damage. I eventually grabbed a paper towel and blotted so I could take a look. It looked like I had a dent in my head! Not a big one, mind, maybe a half or quarter inch long. It was a bit like a mouth, though, because I could push it together. Since it would open and close, I thought it might need stitches. I had never had a dent or hole in my head before, so I was concerned. Brian laughed at me, but I wanted a second opinion. I wanted a trained professional to laugh at me. So we went to a doctor's office, and that's basically what happened. Enough said on that subject. Except that I felt really stupid. Once for the trailer hitch (again) and once for insisting to go to the doctor. So, hey, check out those yellow trees!
So after my bout with humiliation and I told you so, we went into the town of Breckenridge and enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Steak and Ribs. We had asked the lady at the doctor's office if she knew a good steak place. Even being a vegetarian, she was able to direct us to this lovely place. There were flowers in profusion! I thought it was just for decoration, but it was more...
They were there to attract hummingbirds! Hummingbirds are mysterious creatures. Honestly, they probably aren't; I just don't know a lot about them. I thought they were more of a tropical thing. But, no! I have seen them in the Berkshires, and now in Breckenridge. Perhaps they are mountain creatures? Anyway, Z and I enjoyed watching them while we finished eating. Ian and Brian were already finished and were skating and smoking in the parking lot, respectively. Can you spot it? While I was taking this picture, some lady was watching me from inside the restaurant. She must not have seen the hummingbird, because she looked at me like I was an absolute freak!
I can just imagine how it looked to her. Probably much like a lunatic grabbing at empty air, except with a camera. Great, so I was the sterotypical Asian camera tourist, but with a psycho twist!
Afterwards, we enjoyed a trolley ride on the free Breckenridge trolley. Z had been dying to go on one since Lake George, and we were finally able to oblige. Look how happy.
Well, my neck and shoulders are getting stiff from hunching over the keyboard, so the rest will have to wait until another time. I think that was plenty for day one in Breckenridge, don't you?
When I was thirteen going on fourteen, I went to Copper Mountain, Colorado, for a month of summer camp. Thanks, again, by the way, Mom & Dad! Even then, I don't think I was wise enough to appreciate the beauty of the Colorado Rockies. I was actually a little cranky as we set out, but only because of a few minor disasters that struck while we were in Strasburg. The first you know about if you have been reading my blog. That was my idiotic encounter with the trailer hitch.
The second came when I was eating this awesome cereal that is a snack staple when we are on the road: Kashi Organic Promise Autumn Wheat. Mmmm. Soooo yummy. Anyway, I was chomping on it when HUH? I bit down on a hard piece. It felt a bit like a pebble, actually. I have never encountered this in Autumn Wheat, so I shrugged and kept chewing. Bit down on it again.
Now, most people would think it was a defective wheat square. Not me. I was thinking: "Oh, sh*t!" And I was right to think this, because when I isolated the chunk, it was a chunk of tooth. Ewwwww! My tooth. I knew exactly which one, too, without feeling around with my tongue. It was an old root canal which I have never gotten crowned. Apparently, procrastination is not a good strategy for dental health.
Sorry, but I didn't take a picture of the chunk for you all. Suffice to say it was large enough to be more than a little disturbing. You know those nightmares where you bite on something and your teeth crumble or shatter? Well, hooray for me, I got to have my nightmares become a reality!So as I was saying, I was a little stressed out about the chunk as we drove up into the Rockies. As you can see, the scenery was quite lovely, but I was mostly unaffected by it and had to be prodded to take pictures. Not only am I the navigator and sometime pilot of this ship, I am also the photographer! So I got this one good shot as we were driving, then we went through a tunnel or two in the mountains. The road went between two mountains, and the scenery was much like the scenery in Missouri or Pennsylvania, except that the trees on either side were growing on mountains instead of flatlands. Then, just as before, the mountain trees gave way to something amazing. Brian pulled over, I stepped out, and my spirits were lifted. Such is the power of nature, to overwhelm us and give us peace all at once.
No picture could capture this wondrous place. Certainly none of my pictures. I forgot how to do panorama on my camera. This is a scenic overlook called The Summit. Here you have a view of Lake Dillon and eleven of the surrounding mountains. Here is a picture with the plaque outlining the location.
So this was an auspicious start to our stay here in Breckenridge. To make it even better, our RV park, Tiger Run RV Resort, was really nice. Very posh compared to our other resting places. Two hot tubs, a heated indoor pool, a playground, and amazingly fast internet, a security gate with a code, and spectacular views. Right from our site! 
You are probably getting sick of these beautiful views of vast open blue skies with the puffy fanciful clouds that appear in children's cartoons and fairy stories. But I'm not! I don't think I could ever get tired of them. In Connecticut, it seems, we get the dregs. It's like the clouds from Colorado skies get dragged down the highway all the way across the country to the northeast, so that all that is left when they get to Connecticut is rags and tatters of clouds. Sigh.So if you are, in fact, tired of these clouds and scenic landscapes, listen to my tale of continued idiocy.
Brian did a spectacular job of backing into our new space. We set up, then I went to get my iPod from the truck. I think I was turning off the backlight when BAM! I cursed. I had done it again! I had hit my head on the trailer hitch for the second time in, like three days. I was so pissed off! I felt like maybe I should start wearing a bicycle helmet around our campsites. Absolutely ridiculous!
So everyone heard me cursing my folly, and asked me what had happened. "I banged my head on the trailer hitch again," I said as I walked around the trailer. I looked up to see my three family members giving me the uh-oh look. I was bleeding.
So I ran into the bathroom sink and started rinsing it off, watching the blood dripping into the sink. As you may know, especially if you are a "sports entertainment" fan, the forehead is great for profuse blood without extensive damage. I eventually grabbed a paper towel and blotted so I could take a look. It looked like I had a dent in my head! Not a big one, mind, maybe a half or quarter inch long. It was a bit like a mouth, though, because I could push it together. Since it would open and close, I thought it might need stitches. I had never had a dent or hole in my head before, so I was concerned. Brian laughed at me, but I wanted a second opinion. I wanted a trained professional to laugh at me. So we went to a doctor's office, and that's basically what happened. Enough said on that subject. Except that I felt really stupid. Once for the trailer hitch (again) and once for insisting to go to the doctor. So, hey, check out those yellow trees!So after my bout with humiliation and I told you so, we went into the town of Breckenridge and enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Steak and Ribs. We had asked the lady at the doctor's office if she knew a good steak place. Even being a vegetarian, she was able to direct us to this lovely place. There were flowers in profusion! I thought it was just for decoration, but it was more...
They were there to attract hummingbirds! Hummingbirds are mysterious creatures. Honestly, they probably aren't; I just don't know a lot about them. I thought they were more of a tropical thing. But, no! I have seen them in the Berkshires, and now in Breckenridge. Perhaps they are mountain creatures? Anyway, Z and I enjoyed watching them while we finished eating. Ian and Brian were already finished and were skating and smoking in the parking lot, respectively. Can you spot it? While I was taking this picture, some lady was watching me from inside the restaurant. She must not have seen the hummingbird, because she looked at me like I was an absolute freak!
I can just imagine how it looked to her. Probably much like a lunatic grabbing at empty air, except with a camera. Great, so I was the sterotypical Asian camera tourist, but with a psycho twist!Afterwards, we enjoyed a trolley ride on the free Breckenridge trolley. Z had been dying to go on one since Lake George, and we were finally able to oblige. Look how happy.
Well, my neck and shoulders are getting stiff from hunching over the keyboard, so the rest will have to wait until another time. I think that was plenty for day one in Breckenridge, don't you?
