Colorado Experience!

Here is a shot of Meg and the boys just before takeoff. This was Henry's first flight and he loved it! Mac is an old pro at flying now.

I think a great time was had by all on our trip out to Colorado last weekend. We got to spend some quality family time with Meg’s sister and her kids as well as Meg’s parents and oldest brother. We stayed in a great condo in Fraser, Colorado, which was just a 5-minute drive to the base of Winter Park ski area. The same builder that built our house built the condo and the entire condo complex. So we knew the craftsmanship was going to be exquisite and it was. They have it listed on VRBO and if you are every looking to rent a condo in Winter Park/Fraser, please check them out, here is the link to their VRBO site: http://www.vrbo.com/164268

Here is the view of Winter Park from the condo.

I had never skied at Winter Park and I was very impressed with the snow, the runs, and the lifts. It snowed on the day that we arrived, but it didn’t snow anymore while we were there. As much as I would have liked to have fresh powder at least one of the days, you couldn’t have asked for more beautiful days then the ones we had. They were beautiful blue bird days and the sunburn on my face is evidence enough to prove that the sun was in full force for some early spring skiing. The runs varied from tight and steep to wide and smooth. There was something for everyone and every level of skier/snowboarder. It was pretty evident that the sale of the resort to Intrawest has yielded improvements, upgrades and new facilities for the base area. Everything looked new and there was a great variety of shops, rental facilities and bars/restaurants. It was a great place to enjoy the après ski after a long day on the slopes.

Here is a shot of Meg in action going down Valley View.

She did great considering she hasn’t skied in over 3 years and here body has gone through so much since her last ski experience. She did wipe out a couple of times and hit her head one time. I am just glad she didn’t have the same results as Natasha Richardson. I still can’t believe that tragedy!

Here I am showing some Thrasher love on top of the Mary Jane peak!

Also, a few of us were able to experience the new tubing hills just across from the condo. One of the few of us was not yet two-year-old Henry. He was very excited to go down in the tube, until he did it! Once you were at the top of the hill, you realized how high and steep the hill really was. He didn’t cry, scream, or really even move as he and I flew down the extremely fast run. But once we stopped, he was quick to get out and run over to his grandfather who was watching. I asked him if he wanted to go again and he just said “NO” and grabbed a hold to his Papa. To be honest with you, it was pretty scary the first few times down the hill and if we would have done it first, there is no way we would have allowed little Henry to do it!

Here is the little guy in the tube just before we speed down the hill!

On our last day in Colorado, we left the Winter Park/Fraser area and went to stay in downtown Golden. Meg’s sister and her family live just outside of Denver and just outside of Golden. So we got a room at the Table Mountain Inn in downtown Golden for the night so we could spend a little more time with them before we flew out the next day. Of course Golden is best known at the original location for the Coors brewery. Our room had a great view of this old west town and of the brewery.

Here is a shot of Golden from our balcony, notice the brewery to the right of the picture. It was huge!

This was another successful and fun family trip! I just hope that the next time we make a family trip out west in the winter, we can get the boys into ski school. This time around, they weren’t really interested.