So long...

We had an absolutely wonderful vacation in Colorado!  On our last morning, we took some pictures with the kids and with N&J.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for an amazing time!  You are great hosts and great friends!

Me and Maxi...

...just hanging...

Last Day Blues...

How can we not have the blues on our last day here.  We've had an amazing trip, spent great time with great friends and their kids, drank alot of really great beer, and how can you not miss views like this everywhere you go!!

This was a great, fun, relaxing, amazing trip - I can't wait to come back.

Pre-Departure Shipping Policy

As is our usual style, we are all ready with the "souvenirs" we are shipping home.  N&J are going to drop the box off at UPS on Monday, so hopefully by the weekend we'll have 12 "souvenirs" to enjoy.

Now just getting packed up, printing off boarding passes, and settling down for our final night here!

I DID IT!!

We took the kids out for dinner tonight to Fiesta's in Edwards while N&J had a school dinner/fundraiser to attend.  Which meant I needed to drive down the mountain...and back up...while it was snowing.  I decided to skipmy usual 4:00 beer given that six lives were in my hands.

And I did it!  I have to say, the kids were fantastic.  No yelling, fighting, just quietly talking and playing games on their phones/etc. because they knew Le Freak (i.e. me) was a little anxiety ridden about driving.  Totally helped me and Chris with directions to and from the restaurant.

They are all four absolutely fantastic kids - adorable, funny, sweet, smart, sassy in all the right ways - and we had such a fun time with them at dinner and just hanging out.  We'll miss them a lot when we leave for home tomorrow.

Between  low visibility on the road, those goddamn deer popping out everywhere, and slick roads at a 45 degree angle, I REALLY needed a beer.  So now I am drinking my first Pliny the Elder since March in San Diego...and MAN is it good.

Song of the Day...But It Is Still Gorgeous Here

Cloudy
The sky is gray and white and cloudy,
Sometimes I think it's hanging down on me.
And it's a hitchhike a hundred miles.
I'm a rag-a-muffin child.
Pointed finger-painted smile.
I left my shadow waiting down the road for me a while.

Cloudy
My thoughts are scattered and they're cloudy,
They have no borders, no boundaries.
They echo and they swell
From Tolstoy to Tinker Bell.
Down from Berkeley to Carmel.
Got some pictures in my pocket and a lot of time to kill.

Hey sunshine
I haven't seen you in a long time.
Why don't you show your face and bend my mind?
These clouds stick to the sky
Like floating questions, why?
And they linger there to die.
They don't know where they are going, and, my friend, neither do I.

Cloudy,
Cloudy.

- Simon and Garfunkel

Snow!!

We may never get off this mountain.  I hope I don't have to eat Chris.

Hot Tub Time Machine - But Better Than the Movie

Last night we spent some time in the hot tub.  It was freezing outside, so as I stood there in my bathing suit and robe, readying myself to whip off the robe and get in the hot tub, I said, "where are the steps?"  They were in the corner, so I threw off my robe and quickly walked over to get in...misjudging the step by about 4 inches.  Here is how it looked:

Left leg went straight in the hot tub, while some force made me pivot around on my right leg so I wouldn't go in face first.  As I then fell backwards (one leg in hot tub, one leg on ledge), I was caught in mid air by N&J and gently dropped in the hot tub. Chris was frolicking on the other side with the kids and no where to be found.  Nice.  I sustained no injuries, except for a small scrape on my calf and a twisted ankle that will be fine.  And by some miracle, my head never went in the water.

We were in for probably 45 minutes?  Then it started snowing a little. It was absolutely amazing to be outside, in the 35 degree temps, looking up at a million stars, having yourself snowed on in a hot tub.  So fun, see picture below. 

OH!  And there was a shooting star that almost everyone saw...I missed it because my glasses were fogged up.  :(   It sucks to be a nerd.

Glenwood Springs

Headed out to Glenwood Springs today, about an hour from Avon.  Walked around, did a little shopping (bought the CUTEST pair of Dansko lace up clogs - see below), and then had lunch at Glenwood Springs Brewery.  The beers weren't remarkable at all, but it was a good lunch.  Split a good burger and had some soup!

On our way back, we stopped for a little photo opportunity by the Colorado River.  I reached down and stuck my fingers in the river...BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  All I could imagine was falling ass over  tea kettle right in.

On our way back to the house, stopped off on this great little overlook right by N&J's house.  Took a few great shots.  Note Chris and J seem to be strangers...

Back at the house now, two Plinys in the fridge awaiting us in a little while...thanks again to our patient and fabulous driver J.

Six of one, half dozen of happiness.

Six Pliny the Elder procured.  We are going to be very popular when we get home.

PLINY!!!

Heading down to Avon Liquors this morning...two bottles of Pliny per person to be purchased.

YES!!

Score For Today = +204

Our fearless and wonderful drive J took us over to Breckenridge today.  Beautiful day!   We headed out for a walk down the main street and took in a little shopping and kept going down to the end of the strip to stop for lunch at Breckenridge Brewpub.  We were planning on eating there and then going on a gondola ride after I got oiled.

Um, shitheads?  If you are going to be randomly closed, put it on the goddamn website!  There was a stupid sign that said to head over to two other places to have their beer.  Score?  -2.

We went to one of those places, and it sucked.  The menu was scary, the beer list was crap, so we each had a drink and decided to go somewhere else for lunch.  Score?  -1.

As we headed over to have lunch at Kenosha we stopped to take this picture.  As we were all chatting, mumbling, babbling, J said, very quietly, "Is that a distillery?"  We all stopped talking immediately and turned to look.  And yes it was.  I lept up in the air and we went over.  Had vodka and bourbon tasters and made a drunken impulse buy of, quite frankly, more alcohol than we will drink in the next year.  Score?  +2

We then had lunch - it was good, and after another beer I had the guys to do the gondola ride, and guess what?  CLOSED.  Score?  -1.  (I could go with a +1 here if it didn't make me look like a total wuss.)

We then headed back home, through Frisco and stopped to get crickets for SJ's gecko Stanley.  She asked me last night if I wanted to hold him - she was so cute and excited - and I looked right at her and said, "ABSOLUTELY NOT.  I am just fine looking at him through the plastic cage."  She just shook her head, and in that 9, going on 29 way she has, just said, "Oh, Patty..."  But I digress.  Took a nap in the car on the way back.  Score? +1.

We then decided to stop in Vail to do a little shopping.  We pulled into the parking ramp and we set the alarm on my phone for 10 minutes, and all four of us took a nap in the car.  Score?  +5

In Vail at Colorado Footwear where I tried on these KICK ASS boots that they owner designs and they are made in Spain.  They are just over the ankle and have old school ski buckles.  They were awesome.  Comfy, warm, I would look fantastic in them.  Put them on hold and just making sure I wasn't making another couple hundred dollar impulse buy.  Score?  0.  (Will be a +5 if I decide to buy them. Here is another picture of J and Chris after they had enough of watching me and N try on shoes.)

We then came home...

Spent another fantastic day with great friends.  Score?  +200!!

Uncle Buck

We left the house today about 9:45 for a day in Breckenridge - but first we took our ceremonial self portrait in front of the gorgeous view of the Rockies off the kitchen.

We headed out, and coming out of N&J's driveway, here is who we saw.  Seriously, they are all over.  This big SOB just hangs out in their yard, for Christ's sake!  Like I said before, it is like the squirrels are in Minnesota.

Gore Range Brewing

OH!  Forgot to mention we also had beers at Gore Range Brewing in Edwards.  I had the Wit, Chris had an Amber and Pale Ale.  They were really good, but Chris liked Crazy Mountain better.  And the food looked good but we were stuffed from a late breakfast (shocker).

So go there if you are here.

Thursday, Frisco and Breckenridge

Today we will be heading to Frisco and Breckenridge for more hiking, site seeing, shopping, and breweries. Today I will be:

• Wearing better shoes: feet are a little raw from walking so long in my clogs, and since I turned my ankle again need more support
• Taking more pictures: this blog is pretty boring as it is, so I'll try and jazz it up more with pictures
• Eating less:  last night's meal was amazing, and then I was so full I promptly went to bed when I got home
• Breathing better:  I can already tell I'm getting used to the altitude!  Although I haven't gone upstairs yet this morning...I could be wrong

Maybe today I'll see a mountain lion that no one will be surprised by.

Basketball!

The other thing we did yesterday was attend S's basketball game.  Seven twelve year old boys from Vail Mountain School took on a team of about 30 kids from one of the other middle schools.

Couple things to note:
1) It's easy to win when you can exchange your entire lineup five times throughout the game.
2) Those VMS boys played their little hearts out, and were SO TIRED by the time they were done.
3) Twelve year old boys are a wee bit aggressive.
4) The rules don't seem to matter all the time when you are learning fundamentals - things like travelling, double dribbling, and being three feet out of bounds don't really count as issues.
5) Volunteer coaches have the PATIENCE OF JOB.

Even though they lost, S had a couple of great plays.  Go Rangers!!

Fantastic Mr. Fox!!

We went out for dinner last night at this fantastic restaurant in Beaver Creek called Grouse Mountain Grill.  It was an amazing, and I do mean amazing meal.  After we were done, we were waiting by the front door to leave, and I was slumped in a chair trying to stay awake, all of a sudden J said, "Wolf!? Wait, it's a fox!!"

I lurched up out of my chair, and sure enough.  Fox.  Right outside the automatic doors, there he was.  It was HUGE!  Honest to God it was probably four feet long tip to tail.  And beautiful!!

So I went outside to take a picture, but my camera battery was low.  Bummer, because I was only about 20 feet away from him.  After an extensive Internet search, we decided it was a grey fox.  That looonnnggg tail with the black tip was the giveaway.

No one seemed to be that surprised by it, which leads me to believe that wildlife like this in Colorado is similar to squirrels at home.

Beaver Creek and Vail

Wednesday was a great walking day.  We first went to Beaver Creek and walked around - it's the off season for a few more weeks so not much was open, but it was so interesting to walk around and see what it is like to live in a ski community.  You can imagine how crazy busy it is once people start arriving to ski, and I can't imagine what the mountains look like covered in feet of snow with hundreds of people skiing and snow boarding on them.  For sure I would get lost with all the different ski trails.  Of course, only if I didn't break my leg first falling off the chair lift.

Later we went to Vail and took an hour+ walk all around.  Super charming, and while Vail was quiet too, I think the hustle and bustle of the busy season would be kind of fun.  Chris did use the public restroom there, which he said was the nicest bathroom he's ever been in.

The weather here is amazing, sunny and the brightest blue sky you've ever seen.  It was a great day.  And Thursday we'll bring our camera so we can actually take pictures!

Hi, do you have air for sale?

I know we are giant fat asses, but thank God we work out regularly and despite the poundage are pretty well in shape.  Because I cannot imagine the toll that walking up a flight of stairs would take on one that was very out of shape.  I think by the time I get home I will be able to run a 5K!!

Not really.

Crazy Mountain Brewing

Well, day one and we indoctrinated N & J into our standard vacation activity:  sampler of beer at an area brewery.  The brewery was cool, had a pumpkin beer that reminded me of taking a deep breath inside the Yankee Candle Factory and then gagging.  But they did have a great Amber, Pale Ale, and ESB.  A growler was purchased.  How I have missed drinking with my friend! 

Rocky Mountain...

...high?  oysters?  spotted fever?

Nope, just the Rockies.  Obviously I don't want spotted fever, or to eat bull testicles.

Heading there tomorrow for a fantastic couple of days with our great friends.

Wish us good weather, safe flying, and easy landings.  Going to pack.

Fun is just a day away!