Vail Vacation Day 2 Part 2 Beer and Busted Boots

After the rock garden we proceeded down the mountain. Previously we had discussed riding bikes around Frisco and Dillon, CO. But the time we got back to the Rebel Sports, we were spent. 

We stopped at the Moose Jaw Saloon. An ancient watering hole for locals. Classic Colorado decor. The gentleman who was the cook was filling in as the server as well. So we could order food and drink but not pay until the actual server returned. It was quite funny when I kept trying to pay and the guy wouldn't take my money. 

After a bit of rest and a couple pitchers of water and some delicious fries we began to walk around Frisco. Frisco is definitely a different style than Avon or Copper Mountain. Older. Not as polished and shiny. Lots of fun little shops with antiques and kitschy items. Obviously asking was a huge theme. It's interesting to have an entire area set up for winter when you arrive in the summer. Our villas has two fireplaces and no air condotioning. It's like having dinner at a place that specializes in breakfast. It's awesome but slightly incongruent. 

We walked down the marina and found the Back Country Brewery. We decided to try a flight and rest our legs again. 

The Wheat was especially good for a hot day and bike weary. The Amber was solid if not spectacular. The Breakfast Stout was both an excellent represent of the style and a reminder that I really don't love that coffee taste. The two seasonals were not my favorites. Their Maibock wasn't as crisp as Summit's but in all honesty my Maibock experience is pretty slim. The Imperial Saison was incredibly flora and just a bit too over powering for me. I expected more balance. Leo was pleased with the Pale Ale. 

After we returned home and had dinner at Montana Smokehouse. Their brisket is supreme. And we had to get extra jalapeño corn bread with honey butter. So good. 

The only downside to the entire day was the demise of my Adidas Sambas. Nearly 20 years is a heck of a run for a pair of shoes and they will be sorely missed. I might attempt to glue them back together because those boots had soul. 

Yeah. Dad joke. 

Vail Vacation Day 2 Part 1 Bikes and Beauty.

The second day of vacation began without an alarm. Or alarms. Though body still awoke at 7. Nonetheless it was lovely to relax. 

Today was the first day of true vacation and we had a big task scheduled for today. Biking down from the Vail Pass all the back down to Frisco. We rented bikes from Rebel Sports and headed back up the mountain to a rest stop about 14 miles away. 

Fourteen miles, mostly downhill isn't that taxing. The elevation and angle and hairpin turns are pretty much the IRS.  My struggles with anxiety started out high with all those challenges and two kids who take after Ricky Bobby and just want to go fast. 

Once we got on the way, the anxiety began to fade. The view was awesome. Both kids adjusted well to the angles and turns and speed and we rolled on without incident. It was a perfect day for biking. Sunny but not too hot. Plenty of scenic stops along the way. 

We stopped in the resort town of Copper Mountain for lunch. Leo was tired of being cramped up in the back pack and finally got a chance to sun bathe like a true turtle. 

Creeks and river and mountains and views galore. 

Three quarters of the way through the ride we stopped at the rock garden. Legend has it that it was started by a couple on their anniversary celebration some 35 years ago. Oddly peaceful and reverent feel as we explored. 

Even good old Leo got into the act. 

Adventure Vacation Day 1

Day one is in the books. It began with a first Uber ride at 6 am central and it ends with windows open listening to the rain and wind in the condo watching Food Network with the kids. 

In between had its ups and downs. The flight was simple. Frontier Airlines has TVs embedded in the seat in front of you! It's like living in the Jetson's! Of course I was a sucker and paid the $3.99 to watch Total Recall for the 346th time and flip back and forth old school style by using the up and down button between Total Recall, The House Bunny and the premier of Mr. Robot. A virtual cornucopia of absurdity and intrigue. I will definitely follow up on Mr. Robot. Leo was very excited about Total Recall. Secret think it's. Sharon Stone thing. 

Once we arrived in Dnever, we began a series of boring waits in line. Waited for baggage. Waited for the rental car shuttle . Waited over 80 minutes in line to rent the car. The worst part was all the TVs in the place were playing nothing but infomercials. I now know way too much about "crepe lines". 

However the day took a definitive upswing when Leo and I walked to our car. Make a turtle your vacation partner...fateakes your rental car a green Kia Soul. 

I have never driven a Kia Soul before. But it was surprisingly roomy. Fun to drive. With a decent sound system. I made my way into Denver to drive by Coors Field and grab a bite to eat. 

Coors Field was more impressive than I expected. The Sports Column bar/grill provided an awesome Denver inspired French Dip and I was able to sample a  regional brew. Then I hit the road to Avon, CO. 

The vistas were amazing. My preselected angsty playlist blasted out of the Soul's solid speakers and pushed my wait time frustration away. The Eisenhower bridge was definitely a highlight. 

I arrived in Avon, met my folks and the kids and immediately went on a walking tour of the town. Leo was a fan of the river. 

Day one is in the books. Plans already for mountain biking tomorrow on day two and swimming. Day three is family grilling, swimming and perhaps a visit to Crazy Mountin or Breckenridge breweries. 

This vacation stuff might be ok. 

Adam and Leo's Excellent Adventure

It's been two long years since I had a vacation. The whole hop in a plane go somewhere that isn't about family or work type vacation. 

I brought Leo along so someone can be the voice of reason. Even if as a leader he gets a bit preach at times, he should be a great asset if we get into any clashes with the foot clan or run into Longmire style trouble in Denver. 

We will be taking pictures and posting updates along the way. Leo really wants to hit some garage sales in Vail. I told him I didnt think they have garage sales in Vail. He's convinced he's right. Off to a rough start already.....

Stress and Death and Empty Houses

I don't process emotions well. It's never been my thing. It's why I love acting. Theater. Drama. Pretend. I can portray emotions when I'm told by a script or a director or a moment. Real feelings are way harder to process.

Lately there have been a lot of feelings. There is always the stress of work. Of fatherhood. Of dreams of the future. Weeks ago I was stressed at the prospect of someone in my family passing. Then it was the kids on a road trip. Then a sudden death of a friend in an accident.

I have been blessed in my life to rarely experience death. I don't have a lot of experience with dealing with the emotions of death. I'm not good at emotions period but death seems to be especially difficult.

I have found that writing is therapeutic for me. It helps with depression, heartache and stress. But I have stared at this blinking cursor for hours. I don't know what to write. I don't know how to feel.

In all other things there is always a hope. A glimmer to hold onto. Stress can dissipate.  Even deep depression has it's brighter days. Heartbreak can be cured by new love or the hope of reconciliation.

But there is no cure for Death.

We can believe there is something after death and it can give us comfort and a semblance of hope. But death itself is a bottomless well without the hope of reversal. The is no returning from that abyss. The belief and stories that we tell ourselves and the world beg for that light, that hope in death.

There very well may be a heaven and a hell. I have been trained since birth to believe in both and can't formulate a reality that doesn't include them. A part of my understand of reality includes them.

They say that Shakespeare's tragedies end happily and his comedies end in misery. At the end of Romeo and Juliet, the families reconcile and there is hope for the future. At the end of the Scottish play (sorry, old theater habit, I don't even want to type it), there is hope for the kingdom- sometimes portrayed by machine gun toting English troops as depicted by one stage version I saw in London. Nonetheless. Even the most ridiculous drama has a glimmer of hope. In all the horror of Stephen King or the perversion of Chuck P, there is always a glimmer of hope.

I can't find the glimmer in death. I can't write about hope tonight. I can't deal with my empty house. With the empty house across the yard. With idea that life can be so easily and horribly snuffed out. I don't know how to process the shock. I don't know what to do with the pain.

I want to think that things will be ok. That over time such a senseless death will make sense. But death doesn't make sense. It doesn't have a glimmer of hope sometimes. Because it is so final. It is dark.

I want to be ok. I want to sing about the afterlife. About hope and a prospect of an eternal home. And I will. Because deep down I believe. I do.

But I wish I could write about it. I wish I could let the emotions out. I wish that the tears would just flow. But I don't understand how to let the emotions out. Because life is a horrible director and no one will give them script. It's all improvisation.

Life is improvisation. Life doesn't have a script. And most people who tell you what to do have way less idea than most directors. We make do. We improvise. We sing and we believe.

But logic and death doesn't give another choice.

Today.

Today my father is in Wisconsin to celebrate his mother's birthday. 

Today my mother is in Arkansas to be with my grand mother who is ailing and my grand father who needs support. 

Today my children are celebrating a great dance recital and a great school year with their mother and her parents. 

I celebrate in my heart for my children's success. I enjoy another year of life for my father's mother. I worry that my mother's mother might not get that same opportunity. 

These are the moments when the absence of another to call home is most apparent. The desire for one to wrap me in her arms and hold me until the worry stops, until the celebration and happiness can take over. 

Today I miss that. 

But I know that it will happen. And there will be plenty of future days that I have that embrace of the one. So today I enjoy the comfort of the many I do have. 

Friends. Colleagues. Acquaintances. Good people all. The many cant always outweigh the pure attention of the one. 

Today. It is enough.