The Backstory

Am I ever happy I decided to crash my new Sales Managers promotional ski trip in 2009. Sunday, February 22nd turned out to be a very unsuspecting evening and an even greater story two and a half years later...

We'd spent $120 and the last three days skiing Breck, Beaver Creek, and Keystone; our stellar weekend out west was coming to an unfortunate end as most endings usually do. More than satisfied with the pow that had been shredded that weekend and equally as sore, the group decided to stay in the cabin for the final evening and polish off the frozen pizzas and boxed wine left over. Something about it being free... Shenanigans! How many days out of each year do kids from the midwest get to spend in the mountains and mingle with laid back locals and other pow hungry pros?? Fortunately one friend saw things my way, "I'll go out with ya Gene".

I didn't know Adam well at all, we'd never hung out one-on-one before, let alone spent much time around one another even in a group. Who the heck cares?! This was Breck and I was down for a good time. I was searching for a story...

At the door frame of the cabin, all that stood between us and an uncertain night were 7 blocks and 3 inches of snow, about 15 minutes... The first block's conversation revolved around how lame the rest of our friends were for staying back and as we walked toward downtown Adam turned to me and with blunt respect said to me, "You realize tonight is either gonna be the worst night, or the best night ever"

...

My gut reaction, "Well let's make it the best night ever!" I didn't disagree with Adam, I had my doubts, we were just a couple shmoes from SD and WI that hardly knew each other... I knew we needed a story. For the next 6 blocks we fabricated a story built off lies and a handful of half truths. Adam and I, brother and sister, the Perriers, from Marshfield, WI had always been scolded by our parents Matt and Cindy for neglecting one another and our sibling bond. As the older sister I had just graduated from college and Adam took the year off from school to stick it to our parents... to bike across America. Maine to LA. (We didn't know where in Maine but decided that shouldn't be a problem because in my 22 years of life I had never met anyone from the upper most Eastern state and IF we faced confrontation for the facts we'd just garble some noises until the confronter dropped it or told us where we began **note: this was before the age of the smart phone) Not only that, but we started on Huffys (what else?!) and upgraded as good samaritans gave us bicycles. We posted signs of "need" on our bikes for food and shelter and that's how we made the venture. Oh... then we threw in a couple "book stories" and voila! A masterpiece

We made our way into Rita's, a quaint but sassy looking taco bar... and yes, we found out firsthand they had killer Margs. After ordering a second round it was game on, we needed to find someone to tell our epic story. Adam gave me the option of a set of four chicks or the set of two dudes, two chicks... No brainer. We walked across the room (a whopping 10 feet) and plopped shop awkwardly close to our hopeful new friends... after sitting there for too long giving eyes back and forth with head nods trying to indicate to "break the set" Adam finally whipped to his right and spewed out in what took no more than two seconds, "HEY. My names Adam and this is my sister Gene, we just biked across America and now we're driving home and trying to make as many new friends as possible" We could tell we'd caught them off-guard but by the raised hair of their eyebrows... we were in.

There was an immediate uproar among our new friends, we could tell they loved the idea, "Bloody hell! No way!" one of the guys shouted with and english accent (he obviously wasn't from Maine and knew we were safe) "Where'd you start? I lived in Maine a few years back!" Are you kidding me?! I looked at Adam and laughed knowing that I was indeed prepared for this, "Minne, Ma, My, uhhhh"... he wasn't picking up what was I putting down but fortunately he had enjoyed the Margaritas just as much as I had and couldn't care less. The girl sitting next to me was a harder case to close. She looked me dead in the eye and asked, "Did you really just bike across America?" fortunately Adam caught wind of the question and stepped in offering our thighs as the sacrificial lamb for her curiosity. Remember, we'd  just finished three days on the slopes, groping our tight and toned vastus medialis was enough to take care of her disbelief.

The rest of the night I suppose was like any other great night out. Unfortunately a lie and getting away with that lie with great success was what made this night different from any other. Everyone loves a crazy story; they have their way of bringing strangers together... Fake it till you make it right?

And that's just what we did September 11th, 2011 when we began our trek to Miami from ELLSWORTH, Maine. I'm a woman of my word and Breckenridge was foreshadowing.