Colorado
Skis, brewskis and thorsmacks, please
I left Portland a few days early so I could stop by Colorado to spend the weekend hanging with Sparkles.
Sparkles is otherwise known as "Dudley," and on rare occasions is referred to as "James"
We drank a bunch of local microbrews, shred some gnarly Colorado pow, and confirmed definitively that I'm still better at thorsmacking Pabstlers.
A barrage of microbrews
Colorado has a microbrew scene second only to Orgeon, so we made a concerted effort to drink a prodigious amount of beer. It was, in this regard, a rather unusual trip.
I got in late, but we still found time to hit up Denver Beer Co. This tiny microbrewery is so dog-friendly it almost seems dog-mandatory. Show belown: Dudley, his girlfriend Vanessia, and his lover Ajax.
The beer highlight of the weekend was Avery Brewing, which had an absolutely bonkers selection of rare delights. They also had a cool walkway winding through the facility where you could sit, sip, and watch the brewers do their thing (above right).
Also worth noting was our tour of the Coors Brewery in Golden Colorado, which is the largest brew facility in the world. The beer was... fine? I mean, it's beer. And we each got three for free!
Shredding gnar at Winter Park
We spent the bulk of Saturday shredding the gnar at Winter Park, an impressively large and un-crowded resort. The snow was a bit wet, so we focused our efforts on getting absolutely wrecked on mogul runs.
We bombed straight from open 'till close, so that by the last run every conversation inevitably spiraled towards talking about food. Both dinners that night were delicious.
Steak and pabstlers
We topped the weekend with a hearty serving of elk steak and a steady stream of Pabstlers. As per tradition, the thorsmack hammer resumed its rightful role as the can opener of choice.
And as per tradition, Sparkles resumed his rightful role as inferior thorsmacker.
Last laughs with Leeloo
Soph stayed at home in Portland for a much-needed break from smelly-yours-truly, and got to spend some more quality time with Leeloo. Just look at the little nugget!
Warning: the following photos are dangerously cute and should be viewed with extreme caution.