I rode up and back to Colorado with my dear friend, Donna Hall, her son Tony, my three older kiddos and one Alex Heffington.  There was some switching around of the kids here and there, but we always had at least seven in my little red chevy venture.  In honor of the fact that today is her birthday, I thought I would share a short list of things that Donna and I learned together over the last week.  I’m sure that many others can add to this list.  Youth trips to Colorado are never, ever boring.

• The renegade run, Pinball, is still alive and well at Monarch.
• It will not be long before all of our kids ski or snowboard better and faster than both of us.
• Trees are kind of hard.  You should try not to hit them with your body.
• Eleven and twelve year old boys can wash dishes in an industrial kitchen.  (Umm, I am pretty sure that means they can do it at home, too!)
• Lower No Name is such a great run that it is worth sliding down Upper No Name on your rear to get to it.  The fact that it is preceded only by steep black diamond runs might also explain why no one else was on it.
• Never assume that snowy, mountainous roads means that you are snowed in.  In fact, I am pretty sure that “snowed in” is a relative term.
• Taido Chino only supplies information on a need-to-know basis.  And he is completely unaware of how much Donna and I need to know.
• If the heat is out in your car, you can place a piece of cardboard in front of your radiator to force the heat of the engine back up into the car.
• Random, thoughtless solutions to clear the windshield should be first tested in one small corner on the right side of the windshield just in case they happen to backfire, further obstructing the vision of the driver.
• Toxic de-icer is not meant to be sprayed on the inside of your car.  However, if you do spray it on the inside in a desperate attempt to see through your windshield, you won’t die.  At least not immediately.
• If you blow the fuse to the TV in your car by plugging in a hair dryer in a futile attempt to defrost the windshield, the five children in your car will make it home without the TV.  It won’t be pretty.  And you might have to hand out tickets, but they will live.
• You can keep these five children from fighting for quite some time playing Karaoke with an iPod.  Until there is an altercation over lyrics.
• All the correct words to Viva la Vida are just a phone call away.  Cavalry instead of Catholic?  Who knew?
• The speed limit in Kansas is 70mph.
• Carrots are by far the best driving food.  The crunch keeps you awake.
• If you are tired of fast food, you can go to WalMart and buy a rotisserie chicken, pita chips, goat cheese and blackberries.
• Making extra food the week before a trip to Colorado is not a bad idea.  You never know when you might be held up by a blizzard!