2018 August South Park Outhouse Races

Me:  Okay so lets get on the road.
Mark: Where are we going?
Me:  To the Outhouse Races.
Mark: Did I hear you right...Outhouse Races?
Me: Yup.
Mark: (starting the car) You know you're weird, right?
Me: *smiling as we head down the road*

Outhouse Races?  In South Park, Colorado? For reals?

Yes, yes, and yes.

It's exactly what you think.  People construct outhouses that they race down the main drag of Fairplay, Colorado.  It's all part of their Donkey Derby days.  We didn't get there in time to see the beginning of the donkey races but no matter because we have seen several of them since we have been here.  But we had never witnessed the Outhouse Races.  This year they only had 4 contestants enter but they said in years past they have had up to 15 entries. 

This one was called The Final Push

The Rollin' Colon

We stayed for some of the Donkey Derby contestants to show up in town.  These guys and their donkeys run either a 5K or a 10K cross-county race up into the mountains and back into town. 

I'm always surprised that the donkeys don't seem to mind running these races.  I always thought they were one-speed critters.

We also toured the original

2018 May Sand Sculptures

Change of scenery!  The mountains don't have any snow but that doesn't mean that people can't find things to do in Denver.  This week we went to the Sand Sculpting contest in Arvada.  And by we I mean that we were joined by Blaine and Henley.  They were flying home from their honeymoon in Florida but the weather diverted their plane for an overnight layover right here in Denver!!

They only had half a day to spend with us so we made the best of it and went to see the sculptures.  They were okay...not nearly as impressive as the ice sculptures but considering that I can't do either I probably should just hush.

2018 March Pond Skimming and Cardboard Classic at Steamboat Springs

The end of ski season in the mountains isn't like I expected.  I figured they would have the runs open one day and then it would be closed the next. 

Well that's a big NOPE.  Almost all of the big resorts have some sort of end-of-season weirdness.  At Steamboat Springs they didn't disappoint!

On Saturday they had their annual Cardboard Classic.  This is Steamboat's traditional rite of spring and features homemade cardboard crafts, constructed only from cardboard, glue, string, water based paint, duct tape, masking tape, balloons and other decoration.  Everything on the craft must be able to be broken down and put in the dumpster once the race is over. 

The fun is watching these things either:
a) complete the course 
b) watch the drunk people on them fall out of the craft
c) fall apart
d) all of the above

All-in-all I think there were about 30 entrants this year.  Here are some of my favorites.  

On Sunday they finished up the ski season with the Pond Skim.  Now these people are certifiably crazy.  They dress up in crazy costumes, ski or snowboard down the hill and try to skim across a pond of freezing water to get safely (and dry) to the other side.  Watch this video to see what it's all about.  

2018 March Catching Up and Skijoring

I have been really, really bad about keeping up on the blog but I'm going to get a few things posted today.  There won't be much more than pictures but I wanted to get back into the groove today.


So on to......Skijoring!

What the heck is it?  

In a nutshell: it is a competition where a person on skis is pulled by a horse (going up to 60 mph) down a straight track and the skier has to go over a series of jumps and gates and they also have to spear rings that are set up along the course.  The jumps can be up to 7 feet tall and are set up on each side of the course which allows the horse to run straight while the skier slaloms behind it.  It is a timed race and the skier gets additional points for the number of rings that they capture on their run down. 

Main Street in Leadville is covered in about 2 feet of snow for the event

Skijoring

 

 Play video to see a race

Skier being pulled down the course and if you look closely you can see the rings that the skier captured.

See the height of the jumps?  And see the rings on the skier's arm?

2018 Cripple Creek Ice Sculptures

Me:  Get your warm clothes on and hop in the truck.
Mark:  Why?
Me: Because we are heading up to the mountains.
Mark: Why?
Me: Because we are going to Cripple Creek to see the Ice Sculptures.
Mark: Why?
Me: Because I want to see them.
Mark: Have you called ahead to see if they are actually are going to be there?
Me: Yup and guess what?
Mark: What?
Me: The lady who answered the phone actually knew what day would be the best to see them! And she also knew what I was talking about!

I guess the third time is the charm with Cripple Creek. If you've read the previous two posts about Cripple Creek you'll know that I have had a *few* communication issues with the people who live and work there.  But this time I struck gold...so to speak.

This year's theme was The Renaissance and we both thought that this year's sculptors did fantastic job.  I am absolutely amazed at how talented all of them are and appreciate that they do this simply for bragging rights.

2018 Breckenridge Snow Sculptures

If it's January in Colorado, you know that the International Snow Sculptures will be coming up soon.  We always look forward to a day in the mountains, in one of our favorite mountain towns and looking at these incredible snow sculptures.

We spent nearly 3 hours making the hour and forty-five minute drive up the mountain because there were not one, not two but three major accidents on the West-bound lanes and it made all of the traffic slow to a crawl.  So by the time we arrived in Breckenridge we were starving.  Good thing there are lots and lots of yummy places to eat!  After a quick meal we headed out to see the show.

And once again the sculptures didn't disappoint!