Lake Dillon in the background - Nov 2010
It was late november and the snow had started to settle on the Colorado mountains. Deepa and I badly needed a break from our daily chores.. We packed off to Denver on an unplanned vacation. It should still have been pre-season there, but we were still hopeful of seeing some real snow, something we don't find in Texas.
We arrived at Denver on a Sunday noon and checked into the hotel. After a lavish Indian lunch, we were all set to explore around for where to spend the next few days.. Started on a blind drive west on the I-70. The near freezing temperatures told us we were definitely not in Texas, but snow was nowhere to be seen. We went further along and now the scenery around us started getting more and more interesting. We drove on..
Somewhere around 100 miles past, there was this scenic stop with a starbucks and a ski rental place. Settling down for a tea latte, we googl'd for a church where we could attend sunday mass. The nearest one was around 50 miles further west in the town of "Vail". ok destination Vail then.. and we headed west.
It was all "fine" and "normal" until we crossed a tunnel - probably the Eisenhover-Johnson Memorial tunnel. Suddenly, the world around us changed color to white... The roads were white, the sky was white, the rivers, the trees and houses were white (with snow).. We were speechless and spoke in phrases for a while - "oh my", "look over there", "wow"..
A little while passed and my wife's left brain sprang into action.. Have you REALLY driven in snow before? What if our 2-wheel drive Nissan Altima get stuck? Then it started to snow.. and the radio started to warn of a likely snowstorm. She wanted to turn back.
Probably doing marketing for a living helps with marriage.. We managed to drive another 20 miles further along through the snow shower and reached this beautiful place. An interfaith chapel with large glass windows on the three sides. Snow was falling all the while the mass was going on. Looking through the glass behind the altar, one could see a dense stand of snow capped pine trees in the background of falling snow.. Something we had seen only in the movies. It felt like early Christmas !
We took this picture outside the chapel, just after mass and before the snowstorm that came.
At Vail, Colorado
