Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Angel Fire


Twas during the 9 o’clock hour on the morning of Wednesday, January 30th when the sun perched high in the sky that our journey did commence.  The sun was smiling.  We were headed to Angel Fire, New Mexico.  When I think of the name Angel Fire I imagine it's the latest development or bra from Victoria's Secret, but actually it is a place.  En route, I enjoyed the scenery, the landscape, but not the 8 hours of sitting.  My companion drove the entire time.  I was all hopped up on coffee.  The occasional nuggets of conversation went like this, “What’s your favorite animal?”  “I don’t really like animals.”  “Ok, well are you aware that you are dating animal girl?”  It seems that opposites do attract.  I love animals.  He loves Facebook.  Life has brought us together.  We went up through the Texas Panhandle.  My eyes stayed ever watchful for any sign of life.  Once I saw a shy yet brazen coyote run across the highway.  Unfortunately, small town police sat up and took note of our sporty vehicular transport.  We were pulled over twice, but somehow managed to get a simple warning not a ticket.  Snow framed the roads once we arrived in Amarillo.  One of the highlights of traveling through Amarillo was the Jesus Christ is Lord Travel Center.  It’s is a funny thought to imagine Jesus working at a gas station.  Our stomachs started to pitch a fit about not having food, so we yielded to their right of way.  Cracker Barrel appeared.  We ordered our food to go.  Seeing their soft peppermint candy for sale in the gift shop brought back memories from childhood.  Once we reached New Mexico, I saw four deer running in unison in a field.  Darkness covered the landscape when we finally reached Angel Fire.  The unmistakable form of 3 adult elks appeared for a moment near the road as we drove by.  When we arrived in town, we stopped at a gas station to ask where the resort was located.  The road to the resort was covered in snow.  We advanced up the hill briefly pausing to check a sign.  Once we slowed down, we could not get going again.  We got into reverse and went down the hill.  This time we increased speed without slowing down and that did the trick.  After turning into the resort’s parking lot, we checked in at the front desk.  It was very cold.  Sleep was immediate and deep that first night.  In the morning, we dressed for the ski slopes.  We met a friend and local named  Billy at the front desk.  I met Billy and his mom Carolyn for the first time.  They were both warm and charismatic.  Billy took us to eat at the Campfire Cafe.  It was a very popular breakfast restaurant run by a woman from Brooklyn.  She also owned a sleigh ride business, so she took every opportunity to remind us that we should ride in a sleigh pulled by one of her horses.  I ate blueberry pancakes.  After we left, Billy drove us to Red River.  We stopped to gaze upon the lovely image of the Eagles Nest Lake which happened to be completely frozen.  He pointed out the highest point, Wheeler Park. I enjoyed hearing the stories from his time as an extra for the movie Lone Ranger. We rented our skis at a local shop near the resort.  I learned it is a work out walking in skis without snow.  By the time I made it to the room my breathing had become labored.  Once we made it to the slopes it was 2pm.  We went to the lift.  I realized that my skis did not match up with my ski shoes.  I had to walk to the closest ski shop to get them to fix it.  After 10 minutes, we were hiking back to the lift.  We got on.  It took us up the mountain.  We were at an altitude of 8,000 feet.  At the top we dismounted.  We were both ill equipped to deal with the mountain.  Sure we had the proper gear on, but we were lacking that little thing called skill.  We were like two blind squirrels sitting in the middle of the road during rush hour.  My pulse raced when I saw him barely escape falling down the big hill.  He missed it by an inch.  We did not know how to brake or turn.  I chickened out and took off my skis.  I carried them on my shoulders the whole way down.  Once we made it down, we became aware of the location of the lift for the kiddie slopes. We tried our luck on the kiddie slopes.  It was an improvement, but I still did not know how to brake.  I got ambushed by a fence made of rope in my effort to stop.  As I struggled to break free, I got more entangled.  He kept saying, “If six year old’s can do it, we can do it, don’t give up.”  Being tied up is no fun.  I was shaking from sheer exhaustion.  When we made it back to the hotel, I collapsed.  After ordering food, we watched WaterWorld.  Waterworld is a classic B movie starring Kevin Costner.  He had never seen it.  Later, we met Billy and his friend Mark at the bar inside the resort to shoot some pool.  As the clock approached the ten o’clock hour we felt the call of the wild, and thus migrated to the hot tub where we did unwind.  Unfortunately our time in the hot tub was abbreviated since a hotel employee kicked us out.  Sleep was good.  Our hotel room was like a woman going through menopause: one moment unbearably hot, another moment frigidly cold.  On Friday, we went to breakfast at the local cafe again.  Then we adjourned to the ski rental shop where we reserved a time for a local man to coach us on the slopes.  It was the best fifty bucks I spent on the trip.  Tanner was born and raised in this tiny New Mexico town.  He taught us how to hold our “French fries” and how to manage our “pizza pie.”  Once we had mastered these basic moves, skiing became almost fun.  I would have gladly stayed on the kiddie slopes but we pressed on to the hill that was more challenging.  As we approached on the lift, I could feel a baby headache begin to form in my head.  We got off and started downhill.  I had had my “French fries” in the brake formation, but I was picking up speed and going faster than I liked.  Finally, my face collided with the mountain.  My legs landed in the snow.  The snow softened the impact, but I could detect a sting and an ache in my head that was not there before. My helmet landed in the snow a couple of yards away.  I was alone and shaking like a leaf.  I tried to get up.  The fall really scared me.  I was scared enough to know that I was done.  I resumed the journey downhill going as slowly as humanly possible.  Once I made it down, I walked to the hotel.  I swallowed two Advil, drank some water and tried to breathe.  My fearless warrior, my action man boyfriend continued to conquer the mountain one-French-fry-at-a-time while I tried to re-claim my serenity.  Once he had waged war long enough, he arrived back on the scene smelling of fresh mountain air.  Later that night, we dined at Zebs.  I ordered the blue corn enchiladas.  The blue was symbolic of the sky.  The corn symbolized my natural born corniness.  More importantly, enchiladas is a Spanish word that means heaven.  I ate my sky corny heaven and it was good.  The locals, Billy and Carolyn, entertained us while they smoked like chimneys.  A pool tournament had been organized.  We watched the competition.  Music blared from the jukebox.  Many of the tunes were country which means they were unremarkable.  I took the bull by the horns and selected a couple of songs.  An hour passed, when suddenly, out of the darkness and smoke, I could hear the beginning of my song.  My heart jumped.  I leapt wildly like-a-chihuahua-that-never-learned-how-to-dance-but-gosh-darn-it-I’m-gonna-try.  I went crazy to Akon’s “I Wanna Love You.”  Our interest in the outcome of the pool tournament waned, so we made the executive decision to hit the road jack.  We migrated back to the resort, where sleep did find us.  I woke up with a stiffness and soreness in my neck.  My mouth was dry as if I had swallowed a cactus.  I packed up my stuff.  We loaded up the car.  It was time to take my stiff neck and cactus breath home.  We drove through the mountains to Taos.  It was absolutely beautiful.  My ears popped a couple of times.  When we made it to Taos, we went to the Kit Karson museum.  I listened intently to the stories about Kit’s life.  We had lunch in town, then started the drive home. Superman, aka Sir Drive’s-a-Lot drove and drove and drove.  We thought about stopping for a prayer at the Jesus Christ is Lord Travel Center.  However, we were ready to get home so we didn’t stop.  Our adventure ended at 11pm on February 2nd.  The end.  
Goodnight, Goodbye, God bless.