It has been brought to my attention that I need to dig deep..... real deep..... 90210 on Thursday nights deep..... and do some reminiscing about my time in Gunnison, CO.
The year was 1997. The world was my oyster. I turned 17 that year and had no fucking clue what I was doing. Remedy for cluelessness? Attend college at Western State in Gunnison and LIVE it up for one year. Hoo-rah.
Fortunately I had my twin sister riding co-pilot, so if WSC wasn't as accepting being our friends, we had each other. Carrie and I had no problems making friends and settled in quite nicely. We loved everything about school-- even being so far away from family didn't bother us.
I referred to my clique of friends as the Goonies. We were a rag tag gaggle of daredevils (in our own special way) that enjoyed skipping class (though some were more dedicated to attending class) to experience the snow at Crested Butte, drinking alcohol and dabbling in other extracurricular activities. We were likened to the band from the Muppets-- everyone having a role, the very loosely defined:
Eric: Musically inclined, especially with a guitar. Pop culture extraordinaire, like myself. Midwest born and bred though fitting naturally in the Rockies. Fantastic skier, despite the broken foot at the beginning of ski season.
Skee: Evil Knievel. No dare too big for Skee. Loved Shiner Bock beer, girls, dip and all things Texas. I saw him scale (what I would call a cliff) a very steep rock without ropes and he was laughing the whole time.
Steve from STL: Headstrong, always game for a debate/structured argument, the most loyal person I've ever met
Chris and Phil: The masterminds of all things funny. I'm sure they are living large as Engineers somewhere in Texas. I would not classify said people as the "outdoorsy type."
Brian: With all due respect, the pretty boy. Up for a good time at any time. LL Brian J.
Taylor: Cerebral, kind, infectious laugh and always in the woodwork.... the backbone. I saw him rollerblading down the hall at 3 AM once. No sweat.
Pat: Possibly missing his calling as a politician, minus the slimy, swarminess. From the east coast, Pat changed my prejudice of East Coasters. Plus, he now works for Sierra Nevada which is fucking awesome.
Shauna: Drama queen. Born and bred New Yorker. Great skier. Sassy and hilarious while intoxicated. Key fact: Shauna taught me how to dip.
I know I'm missing a few band members. My mind is foggy from that year-- probably because I was drunk a lot and smoked too many cigarettes amongst other things. I fell in love for the first time that year, met my soul mate (not my husband..... ooooooo.......scandalous), it was a year of many firsts. It was awesome.
1 comment:
Love this- it's like a set-up for a sitcom. I've been missing Colorado a LOT lately...I wish I could move all of my family and friends there- I felt so like myself there, until I got homesick!
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