FDGD…Frozen Dead Guy Days

You gotta love Colorado.  

Aspen has its Hollywood celebrities.

Breckenridge has its brewery.

Fairplay has its world class fly fishing.

And Nederland has its Frozen Dead Guy. 

Yup, you read that last one right.  Seems that a guy named Bredo Morstol, died in there in 1989 and instead of being traditionally interred is currently frozen and housed in a Tuff Shed on dry ice high above the town. 

I have it on good authority that the people of Nederland are not your mainstream bunch of folks.  It seems that most of the residents of this town have been partaking of the "wacky weed" long before it was made legal in this fine state.  Let's just say that most of the residents make their living selling crystals, love beads, "gently used clothing" (leftovers from Woodstock from what we gathered) a few pot shops and several cafes.  

So it came to me as no surprise that this *quaint* town hosts an annual Frozen Dead Guys Day festival complete with coffin races, a polar plunge, a hearse parade and various other activities to fill the day.  Naturally, this totally sounded like a fun day to me so I told Mark that we were going to Nederland to spend the day…with the Frozen Dead guy. 

How could you not want to go to this?  And for those of you wondering…yes I got "the look" from my sweet hubby once again.  

One of the Hearses

Parade participants

One of the Coffin Race Teams

The obstacle course for the Coffin Race

Crowds gathering for the Polar Plunge

The Polar Plunge 

My very patient festival goer

  And here's a video to show you more of the craziness of the day

History of FDGD (stolen from the web site)

The True Story (yes, it’s all true)…

Grandpa Bredo is soon to be 109 years old. For years, he’s taken up residence in a Tuff Shed in the hills above Nederland, Colorado, where he remains very, very, very cold. More specifically, Grandpa is frozen in a state of suspended animation, awaiting the big thaw. The one that will bring him back to life.

There is a good story behind this, one that stretches from Norway to California to Colorado, involving cryonics, deportation, psychics, celebrations, and a dedicated Ice Man. It’s a tale that has captured international attention and sparked a must-attend annual event called Frozen Dead Guy Days.

So how did all of this begin… and more importantly (particularly for Grandpa Bredo), how long will it last?

Life After Death
Before Grandpa Bredo Morstoel died from a heart condition in 1989, he enjoyed a comfortable life in Norway, where he was born and raised. He loved painting, fishing, skiing, and hiking in the mountains of his homeland. He was also the director of parks and recreation in Norway’s Baerum County for more than 30 years.

After he died, things got really interesting. Instead of a burial, he was packed in dry ice and prepared for international travel. First, he was shipped to the Trans Time cryonics facility in Oakland, California, where he was placed in liquid nitrogen for almost four years. Then, he was moved to Colorado in 1993 to stay with his daughter Aud Morstoel and his grandson Trygve Bauge, both strong advocates for cryonics who hoped to start a facility of their own.

There he stayed for years under cold cover, in a shed, near his grandson’s home, and about to be left on his own due to some pesky visa issues.

The Grandfather Clause
If you peruse the laws of Nederland, you’ll discover that it’s illegal to store a frozen human or animal (or any body part thereof) in your home. We have Grandpa Bredo to thank for this. When grandson Trygve was deported in the mid-90s because of an expired visa, Bredo’s daughter stepped in to take care of the household – including keeping her father on ice.

Soon, Aud was evicted for living in a house with no electricity or plumbing and was about to head back to Norway. This meant that the family’s fledgling cryonics facility was destined to come to a halt. Worried that her father would thaw out before his time, she spoke to a local reporter, who spoke to the Nederland city council, who passed Section 7-34 of the municipal code regarding the “keeping of bodies.”

Luckily for Bredo, he was grandfathered in and allowed to stay. Suddenly, he was a worldwide media sensation. And he has been well cared for by his family and community ever since.

The Iceman Cometh, Monthly
Bo Shaffer saw an intriguing want ad on the Internet in 1995 posted by Trygve. He applied for the one-of-a-kind job, got it, and is now known as the “Ice Man.” Every month, Shaffer and a team of volunteers delivers 1,600 pounds of dry ice and packs it around Grandpa Bredo in his sarcophagus, surrounded by foam padding, a tarp, and blankets. As Cryonicist-in-Charge, Shaffer keeps Grandpa at a steady -60 degrees Fahrenheit. He also gives tours to investigators, filmmakers, local volunteers, and even psychics who have purported to communicate with the dearly departed (by one account, Bredo is amused by the fuss but doing fine).

Shaffer feels the weight of this responsibility, knowing how much has been invested in keeping Grandpa in his cryonic state. Now frozen for over 20 years, he has kept the hope alive for his family and their faith in cryonics, as well as spurring an annual festival in Nederland that has grown into a full-fledged winter celebration.

It’s a Dead Man’s Party
For a town like Nederland that thrives on the colorful, the offbeat, and the weird, Frozen Dead Guy Days is a fitting way to end the short days of winter and head into the melting snows of spring. Trygve Bauge calls it “Cryonics’ first Mardi Gras.”

The community experiences a new burst of life with the festival’s creative contests, icy events (including coffin racing, polar plunging, frozen salmon tossing) basically if it is fun and can be done in the cold, it goes! People come from around the world every March to experience the legacy of Grandpa Bredo – even representatives of cryonics organizations who want share the science behind this unique story.

Mush

Look Ma!  I'm mushing!!

Yup, this is another Colorado Bucket List item that we did last weekend.  Last year one of our neighbors told us that they had gone dogsledding in the mountains and that sounded like so much fun.  So when I called to make reservations they told me that they were completely booked for the season.  As soon as the facility opened this winter I quickly made reservations so that we wouldn't miss out on getting to do it again this year.

The place we went to was Alpine Adventures in Leadville. The facility is pretty remote but it was well worth the drive.  It's located in a valley just outside of town and I'm sure that the scenery is gorgeous but it was snowing and we had low clouds covering the mountains while we were there.  I stole this picture off the internet to show you what we might have seen.

After we signed the consent forms they took us out to where the sleds and the dogs were.  

And then they started giving us instructions on how to stop and slow down the sleds.  Umm… I guess I assumed that we would be riding in the sled the whole time but as it turned out we got to take turns mushing the team ourselves!  Holy cow this was beyond belief!

We were out on the trail for about an hour and they told us that it was about a 5 mile route.  The dogs were perfectly happy to just run and pull the sled.  I don't think any of them even broke a sweat haha.  Of course these teams are so well trained that they knew where to go and when to stop so we really didn't have much to do other than to hang on and enjoy the ride. I actually enjoyed riding in the sled as much as being the musher.  They had thick cushions in the bottom of the and thick wool blankets that they piled on top of you, plus they had a thick waterproof tarp that kept the wind off of you so the passenger stayed nice and toasty warm.

I guess what surprised us both so much was how quiet it was while we were out with the dogs.  In the movies the dogs are yapping and carrying on when they were pulling the sleds.  But our team was completely silent so the only thing we heard was the sled on the snow.  The other thing that was not like "in the movies" was that the dogs by and large didn't run at full pace.  There were a few times that they ran faster but they never ran as fast as they could have.  We had so much fun doing this that we plan on doing it again in the future.  

Breckenridge Snow Sculpting

So how does this:

 Become this?!?!

Well we found out that it is done with nothing more than hand tools and 65 hours of labor. We went to the International Snow Sculpture in Breckenridge over the weekend with our friend Jerry and Angela.  We went last year but we went on the wrong weekend. The weekend we went was the one that they were working on them and we didn't get to see the final project.  But this year we (me) got the dates right :)

We arrived in Breckenridge before lunch so we went to see them in the daylight and planned to return later in the afternoon to see them with lights on them at night.  These sculptures were phenomenal! The lights at night gave them a different look and in some circumstances the lights really helped highlight the contours of the pieces and added depth and dimension to all of them. 

However some didn't fare so well:

We also noticed that there were several trees painted blue in the downtown area.  Come to find out it is an art installation.  Mmmm I think I could do that and I'm not even artsy in the least!

Professional judges picked the winners but they also allowed the public to pick their favorites during the viewing week.  The winners of the contest don't actually win anything other than a medal, a trophy, a travel and lodging stipend and bragging rights.  There were contestants from all over the world; from Mongolia to Mexico and of course there were several representing the USA.  That night they also had a Fire Sculpture contest in Breckenridge in conjunction with the Snow Sculptures.

Bronchomania

New Year's Eve 2015

Me:        What do you want to do for New Year's Eve?
Mark:     I don't care.
Me:        Good!  Then we are going on a Moonlight Sleigh Ride in Breckenridge!
Mark:     *no words* and then "the look*

So guess what I found for us to do for New Year's Eve this year?  Uh huh, a Moonlight Sleigh Ride!  This was another thing that I had on our Colorado bucket list and it just so happened we could do it as a fun way to ring in the New Year!  We went with our friends Rich and Linda and we picked them up about noon and had lunch in Evergreen on our way to Breckenridge.  As we headed up the mountain, the temperature started dropping quickly.  It was 9 when we arrived at our hotel and by the time we got to the stables (about 2 hours later) it was -3 (without the wind).  

So we bundled up and headed to Breckenridge Stables for our 5:30 pm ride.  Fortunately they gave us hot chocolate to warm us up before the ride and they also provided us with nice thick wool blankets to wrap around ourselves while we were on the trail.  

There were about 20 people on our sleigh and most of the time everyone was talking quietly so we could hear the jingle bells on the horses as they pulled us through the mountain trail.  It was a beautiful night and we had clear skies so the stars looked close enough to touch! Plus most of the houses that we passed were still lit up with their Christmas lights and it looked just like a scene out of the movies. The sleigh ride lasted almost an hour and by that time we were ready to get inside and warm up.

Part of the package that we got included a delicious buffet for us to enjoy.  Mark was so afraid that all there would be to eat was chicken but to his surprise they had a pork loin entree so that saved the day.  There was also a man who played guitar and sang lots of John Denver songs so most of us "old people" in the audience were happy to sing along with him.  Even the little kids got involved when he broke out with "Rocky Mountain High".  

After we finished dinner we headed back to the hotel.  None of us had any desire to do the party scene in Breckenridge so we spent the rest of the evening playing cards and dominoes and rang in the New Year with a toast before heading to bed. Man, we are party animals aren't we? 

I've said it before and I will say it again: Maybe one of these days Mark will learn to speak up about what he doesn't want to do when I ask!  

Christmas 2015

Christmas this year was different for us for sure.  The girls both spent Thanksgiving with us this year so that meant that they would spend Christmas with their other families.  It's weird to think that we are at that stage of our lives but that's the way it is.  As it happened the girls were both here the weekend before Christmas day so we had an early Christmas with them.  As far as we are concerned, it really doesn't matter what day we celebrate the holidays on just so long as we get a chance to be together! 

So instead of being "down" about the holidays and the girls being away, Mark and I decided that we would spend Christmas with my brother Rob and his family and my parents.  Mom had some health issues before Thanksgiving that kept them from coming to Denver to be with us and we didn't want to go two holidays without seeing them.  

We drove to Santa Fe on Wednesday and got in pretty late.  Mom and Dad were already at Rob's when we got there so after a quick hello we all went to bed and decided to catch up on things in the morning over coffee! Mom still wasn't completely over her cough, had coughed most of the night before and had been a wee bit stubborn about going to the doctor in Carlsbad. So I loaded her up in the car and drove her to a nearby Minute Clinic.  The PA gave her some more antibiotics and some cough medicine that really helped stop her cough and she was much better by that later that night (Christmas Eve).  Zoe and August had to work until midnight (Santa Fe has a long history of the residents eating out LATE on Christmas Eve) so we didn't get to see them until Christmas day.

Mom and I spent the day helping Rob get things ready for dinner that night.  The kids and Rob's friend Susana came over in the early evening and we spent a nice evening together exchanging gifts and enjoying a delicious dinner that he made.  

Mark's family had decided that they would all gather at Kelly's house on Sunday to celebrate with the Graves' side of the family so Mark and I left early on Saturday and drove to Odessa.  We had planned to stayed with the Piepers and we came in early so that we could spend some extra time with them. We had been keeping an eye on the weather because the NWS said that there was a strong possibility of a large winter storm that might go through the Permian Basin if the conditions were right.  When Mark's parents and sister found out that the weather might be bad, they decided to stay in Brady and in Arkansas.  Late Saturday night the weather turned south and hit the Permian Basin with snow and ice so Kelly called off the whole gathering for everyone's safety.  We were sad that we didn't get to see everyone but under the circumstances it was a good call on Kelly's part.  

Sunday came and dumped about 10 inches of snow that day so the Piepers and us stayed in and watched football games, played cards and dominos and enjoyed our time together.  We had planned on leaving on Monday but the roads were icy and because Texas and New Mexico aren't used to dealing with ice and snow, all of the roads leaving out of town were closed.  So that meant we "had" to stay another day (oh dang lol) Tuesday morning the roads had opened but the conditions were still dicey so we waited until 10:30 am to head home.  

The roads were "open" but they were still in awful shape.  It took us almost 15 hours to make it back to Denver.  We were exhausted by then end of our trip but we were so grateful that we were able to spend time with our family and dear friends. And to us, that was the best gift of all!