Asian Mafia Invades Vail

If I were in San Diego, this would not be a big deal. When I moved from Philly to SD, I was overloaded by the sheer amount of Asians there were especially young Asians that were my age. We always so adult Asians in the Chinatown in Philly, but never adolescents.

Even when I moved to San Diego and the Asians were abundant, we didn't have a strong presence in sports except for maybe tennis.  So imagine my surprise when there were 4 of us on a team representing O-H-I-O.  I think we were all taken aback by the sheer number of us.  I think we were weirding some people out with all our Asian jokes.

So we had commemorate all the Asian-iness, and what better way than matching tank tops, peace signs, and dark sunglasses.

"She'll be coming round the mountain..."

and taking a turn way too fast and almost falling off her bike. I don't think that's how the song goes, but that's definitely how it felt on Sunday when Chao, Marsh, and I decided to go mountain biking down the mountain.

After we visited the farmer's market, we hopped onto the gondola and rode to the top. As novice mountain bikers, we took the easiest route down the mountain which happened to be a service road.

It was amazing and I'm so glad that we decided to do it. Initially, we were just going to bike around Vail Village, but this was so much better.

By a snow trail sigh near the top the mountain

Mountain view

More mountain view

Ski lift and lodge in progress

More lifts

Marsh holding snow

Me and a snow trail sign. I'm very excited.

Bubbling brook

Me and the bubbling brook

More mountain views. Never really get tired of them.

More snow, the remains of a half pipe

A little more intense than a babbling brook

I think the pictures speak for themselves. We ended up going down twice taking two different trails. In between the two rides, we had lunch. Our lift tickets came with a $5 add on for a $15 voucher for food. It was pretty tasty and filling. The total cost of the excursion for tickets, food, and bike rental was $64. It seems a lot, but I thought it was totally worth it. I would do it again with the hubster, but that'd be enough for me. I'd much rahther prefer to go down it when it's covered with snow on my snowboard.

Souvenirs

Ever since the hubster I got married, we have been buying Christmas ornaments at most of our vacation destinations.  It started with a glittery turtle ornament from Maui.  I was super tempted to buy an enormous Mickey Mouse head ornament when we went to Disneyworld for our first anniversary, but getting it home without breaking was the deal breaker.  So guess what I picked up in Vail?

He's currently sitting on the fireplace mantle awaiting the tree to come out this Christmas.  I noticed that that is where my late purchase ornaments are stored when I have already packed away the Christmas decorations.  It's a good thing I bought that second tree for like $5 last year.

Vail Farmer's Market

On Sunday after our last game, two of my teammates and I ventured out into Vail Village to visit the farmer's market.  It was a gorgeous day like all the others we had spent there.  We spent an hour or so wondering the market which was filled with all sorts of vendors.

This one was a favorite:

I got a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting.  It was delicious.

I also got one of these as a snack for during our bike ride:

Two butter cookies with raspberry jam in the middle.  It was also quite delicious.

One of the great things that I loved about the farmer's market aside from being able to see some local wares was the number of dogs that were there.  I love dogs and I wanted to run up and pet every single one.  I think I would scare the locals, so instead I took pictures of every dog I could.

Golden doodles are VERY popular here.  I think I saw at least 4 different ones in five days!  So many dogs!  I wish Egg Roll and Red could have joined in the festivities.  After walking through the market, we hopped onto our bikes, headed back to the lodge to get Caroline's wallet, and then headed up the mountain to start our biking adventure!

Vail Shootout summary

So the purpose of the trip to Vail was to play in the Vail Shootout, a lacrosse tournament held every fourth of July weekend. I signed up to play on QC Lax which consisted mostly of women from Ohio. It was pretty awesome. We went into the tournament ranked 8th out of 17. We had two games on Thursday and Saturday, and one game each on Friday and Sunday. The Thursday and Friday games were pool play to determine the championship and consolation bracket, while the Saturday and Sunday games were the tournament games.

We came in second in our pool, playing 3 of the 4 teams in our pool. Our first game was against Triple Threat, a team of Denver natives, who we beat. The second game was against Team Chipotle another team of Colorado natives (and yes, they get free chipotle). We won that game. Our third pool play game was against Mamaci college elite which was a team from Utah. We also won and went 3-0 in our pool which out us into the winners bracket.

The tournament round didn't go so well. We went 0-3 against Portland Purple, Liverstrong, and Tex Lax. I think the partying, late nights, and generally physically demanding games got the better of us. We ended up finishing 8th out of 17, just like how we were seeded! We didn't win, but we did show Vail what Ohio girls can do.

Who can really complain when you're playing on fields like this?

Vail countdown

2 days!!! EEEP!

I've already freaked out about 10 times this weekend about the trip. Oh about really important things like towels and hair dryers and reffing and packing. I've finally narrowed down what I'm packing and what I'm bringing it in.

Now to start the 10+ hours days at work....again. I think by the time I'm done on Tuesday that'll be 6 work days in a row.

I must be crazy

I'm going to the Vail next week to play in the Vail shootout.  Perhaps one last big lacrosse hurrah.  I also signed up to officiate while I am out there.  I'm beginning to think it was a big mistake.  I just got the email with the preliminary assignments and I just got really nervous.  I don't have my own transportation and will be relying on the team van to get me to and from the fields.  I hate not being in control which only adds to my nerves and anxiety.

I just looked over some of the tournament documents and it looks like there are multiple locations.  Hopefully, the high school division and elite division play on the same fields or else I might be screwed since on Thursday, the high school plays in the morning and the elite in the afternoon.  Looking at the schedule, I'm there Wednesday morning for the first and fourth game.  Then on Thursday, I'm there for the first game and then play in the afternoon.

Add on top of that, the altitude, jet lag, and the insane amount of running I'll be doing during the tournament.  I'm just a mess right now.  I'm sure I'm working myself up, but I can't help it.  Maybe I should just pull out while the scheduling is still being figured out. =(

Sunday

Sunday seemed like a big day for me.  Aside from the being unbelievably forgetful early Sunday afternoon, I did accomplish a lot.

• I bought my tickets for Vail and San Diego.
• I officially signed up for the half marathon.
• I finally bought a striped ref jacket
• We had dinner with the hubster's cousin down in Cincinnati and met his fiance.
• We went outlet shopping where we bought one shirt for the hubster.  Very disappointed.
• I finally ran outside - it was cold and I was not prepared.

After review the list, I don't think accomplish is the right word.  I just did a lot, but not really cause most of those I just sat on my butt in front of my computer.