Ski Joring

In all of my years  of living in Colorado I have never actually watched Ski Joring, until yesterday anyway. So, what is Ski Joring?

"The sport of ski joring began several hundred years ago in Scandinavian countries as a way to travel during the long winters. Laplanders skied on Nordic skis holding the reins attached to reindeer. Ski joring found its way to North America, where ranchers attached a long rope to the saddle horn of a horse that was ridden at high speeds down a long straightaway. Currently, the sport of equestrian ski joring has become a highly specialized competitive sport, where competitors must navigate a course of jumps, gates and sometime spear rings. Competitive ski joring competitions are currently taking place in more than five states in the USA, and in several countries worldwide. In some parts of the world, skiers are pulled behind dogs, mules and snowmobiles. Whatever the means, the sport of ski joring is growing rapidly, and is just as much fun for spectators as it is for competitors. Courtesy of the North American Ski Joring Association." ~ from www.visitleadvilleco.com

Who knew spending the day freezing and watching people on skis being pulled around by horses could make for an entertaining way to spend a Sunday? But it was, and I guess I should also probably thank my neighbor for dragging a very hungover me out of my house, driving since I was in no condition to be behind the wheel, putting up with me and my camera and freezing all day! I have to be honest, I have lived a pretty short drive from Leadville for most of my life and I have never really spent much time there, I have driven through Leadville hundreds of times, but haven't really stopped to explore.

For once my driving pictures are taken while someone else was driving, 

probably safer that way...

I think every driving picture I take has a crack running through it... 

I guess I and everyone I ride with needs a new windshield.

 

Downtown Leadville, CO

 

 

A 'hair of the dog' morning vodka... to get me back to being my regular charming 

self instead of barely functioning hungover me ;) And it was f-ing COLD and a little
booze always warms you up! 

 And the Scarlet Tavern had the best no smoking sign ever!

 

Not the best quality cell phone video, but it's something.

Because apparently everyone has to make a 'Harlem Shake' video... 

yeah, I don't get it

 

Don't mind the beeping mid video, that would be my phone telling me it was 
dying and me being a long ways from my charger :)

Lucky Pie

Once upon a time I used to live/work in the Boulder, CO area; I worked in Boulder and lived in Broomfield. For anyone who knows me , they know that when I left Boulder, I didn't look back. There are very few reasons for me to go back to the Boulder area; one is that my BFF lives near Boulder, second is that there is GREAT beer in Boulder and finally there is nothing that goes together like beer and pizza and Lucky Pie is one of the better 'beer & pizza places' that I have been to.

Saying that Lucky Pie is one of the better 'beer & pizza places' I have been to is definitely a compliment (especially coming from me). Yes, we know that beer and pizza go great together, but honestly it has almost become a cliche. In my little corner of the world we have 4 micro-breweries/brew-pubs and 3 of them are 'beer & pizza places'. While Lucky Pie isn't a brewery, it is a tap room with a great selection of craft beers. Lucky Pie has an ever changing selection of craft beers on tap and also have a seasonal menu that uses primarily (if not all) Colorado produced ingredients.

Tivoli Helles Lager - Tivoli Beer

So on my last trip to visit my BFF, I dragged her on a little outing to Lucky Pie in Louisville (they also have a location in LODO now).

So, next time you happen to be in Boulder (or more specifically Louisville) this is the place to go for your beer and pizza fix.

Rio Grande & Sierra Blanca Brewing Company

I know that the Rio Grande & Sierra Blanca Brewing Company is not a Colorado brewery, but we love and appreciate our neighbors, right? My mommy and I have a tradition of getting away for a mother daughter weekend to Taos, NM once a year. Before our last trip I had been talking to someone about my love of micro-brew beers and was told that if I ever get to New Mexico that I need to try Alien Amber Ale, that it was similar to Fat Tire, and if you read my post 'Beer, It's a Love Story', then you already know that Fat Tire was my first (beer) love!

So, one night when we found a cute little place for dinner, with patio dining - I'm a sucker for patio dining - and I saw Alien Amber Ale on the drink menu, well obviously I had to try it!

I will say that I was pretty impressed with this brew and it was definitely similar to Fat Tire. It was a little bitterer (is that a word?) that my beloved Fat Tire, but is definitely something I would drink again and I regret not picking up a 6 pack or two before leaving New Mexico... oh well, maybe next trip. But if you ever find yourself in New Mexico looking for a tasty cerveza to try I suggest some Alien Amber Ale!