All set to be dropped off at ski school, it was still single digit temps at best. Pie was beyond excited for this little adventure, I've been through this with my older 2 but it really hit me as a dad moment.....
I ventured off to explore the mountain solo. I've only been skiing/boarding a handful of times and it's been several years, it was about like riding a bike. You start cautiously and feel you've got the hang of it than you start getting cocky and you know, start crashing........I was amazed at the lack of "traffic" at Angel Fire, biggest lift line I waited in I was #2.
I made numerous trips back down the mountain to spy on Pie and her ski school, every time I was convinced she was having a ball and didn't need dad messing things up. I did get a proud "I'm such a big girl" wave once....
After a solid 3 hours of morning boarding with no lift lines I had to take my share of breaks in the afternoon....
We hit the local pizza spot for dinner and than hit Pie's new favorite Hot Tub, I'm not gonna lie that I probably needed it more than her!
Fun times go fast and we had to head back in the morning, I recommend the Hail Holy BBQ green chili breakfast burrito (large enough for a family of 3)!
There's about 45 miles of high plains grazing land between the Cimarron Canyon and Raton, we were talking about Cactus and pulled off on the shoulder to get a first hand experience. Pie was all about it but wanted to keep her distance of 10' from said Cholla Tree Catcus, this is her best attempt at "touching" the cactus to freak mom out.
Airplane was plugged in and ready to go thanks to the people at KRTN. Blinding sun and very light winds as we loaded up.
I had just strapped Pie in after loading the baggage and was hot stepping it around the airplane and up on the wing when this made me stop mid-stride on the wing walk. One of my favorite pics so far, I tried moving the plane around for other pics but they were all terrible.