February 14th, Valentine's Day, we traveled to Colorado for a winter vacation. Andrea and I have been to Colorado a few times when it was warm, but we've never been there for a cold weather visit. We couldn't have picked a better weekend to go, to experience the snow and the winter activities.
Upon arrival, we got a taxi to the VRBO where we were staying, and then we walked around Beaver Creek and had dinner.
Saturday morning we slept in a little, and then dressed warm for our snowshoeing adventure. Connor had wet hair, which Paige helped him to dry before we departed.
We rode the bus from Beaver Creek to Vail, and then grabbed breakfast at a little French Bakery.
The snow was really starting to come down, and we hiked around on some of the paths and did a little shopping before we rode the gondola up the mountain.
At the top of the mountain, the snow was really starting to come down and you could barely see more than 50 yards or so. We met in a yurt with our snow shoeing guide to get acquainted with the gear and to prepare for our hike. We are fairly sure that she was hoping the tour would be canceled because of the snow, but thankfully it wasn't.
The hike was somewhat slow and short, but the scenery was beautiful and it was probably for the best we did not venture too far in the wilderness in the heavy snowstorm. We measured the depth of the snow (5 feet), tried pushing our way through some snowy areas off-trail, and made snow angels.
Following our hike, we rode the gondola back to Vail and did some shopping before heading back to Beaver Creek for the evening.
The next day, we had breakfast at a bakery in Beaver Creek, and then had the rest of the day free to do whatever we felt like.
We did some shopping and planned to do some ice skating, but the people clearing the ice were having some trouble and we were not confident that they would have it ready before it started snowing again. We went back to the room to relax for a while and then as the snow started to come down, we went back to check on the ice to see if we could get some skating in before the weather got too uncooperative.
The skating rink was open, and the ice was already fairly crowded as we made our way out on to the ice. The four of us were undoubtedly a sorry sight to see, clinging to the rail and scootching our skates along timidly. After a little practice, and after tightening Connor's skates a bit, we eventually were able to let go of the rail and started to enjoy ourselves.
Paige was brave and eager to be a pro and was one of the first to skate independently, although she did fall the more than the rest of us combined. Connor fell rarely, but when he did it was fairly hard and painful looking. I stayed upright mostly, but did spin once and had to put a knee down. Andrea was the only one to make it the entire time without a fall.
Overall, the skating was much more fun and entertaining than I expected. I'm glad Andrea and I decided to give it a try, and I'm thankful that we all made it off the ice uninjured.
When we got our fill of skating, we ate dinner at the Dusty Boot Saloon. It was a restaurant we enjoyed on our first day, and decided to go back. In the evening, we played some games, including scrabble and uno.
Monday, our last full day of fun in Colorado, was our dog sledding day. We did a little walking around and shopping in the morning and then took an Uber over to the meetup spot where we met a van that took us to the sledding area.
When we arrived at the sleds, it was a little overwhelming. The dogs were all harnessed up and were eager to get moving. They were howling excitedly, and it was quite a cacophony of barks and shrieks. Andrea and Connor were directed to a sled and were the first to depart, with Paige and myself following shortly after.
The sledding was amazing. Andrea and I did a dog sledding adventure in Alaska back in 2006, but it was in the summer and was on a wheeled cart on a dirt road. Fun, but it did not compare to the real snow sledding experience. As soon as the sleds got going, the noise died away and the snow muffled the ambient sound, creating a very peaceful moment.
At the midway point of our journey, the sleds were tied up, and we had an opportunity to pet the dogs and enjoy some hot chocolate and pumpkin bread.
For the last part of our journey, we were given the chance to stand and drive the sleds. There really wasn't much driving involved, but we were responsible for stomping a brake so the sled didn't crash in to the dogs. When we arrived back at our starting point, we had a last opportunity to pet the dogs and get to thank them for their hard work. Paige's favorite dog was a little one in our team named Biscuit. I thought George, who was one of our lead dogs was sweet and adorable. Andrea noticed a very handsome looking dog named Hey Hey, who was laying calmly in the snow. She pet him and he fell in love with her, leaning his head against her and wrapping a paw around her to keep her with him.
We loved to learn about all the dogs and their personalities, and it was funny how some of them were sweet and affectionate, while others were a bit temperamental and quirky. As the staff was putting the dogs in a truck for transportation, one got loose and went charging between a couple of the sleds. The dogs on one sled all pulled towards it to fight and yanked the line free from a tree, which caught a worker's legs and sent him sprawling in the snow. The staff were quick to separate the fighting dogs without any serious consequences, but at that time we decided it would be best to board the van for our trip back to Beaver Creek.
In the evening, we played some more games, and then got our things ready for our early flight out in the morning.
The flights home were mostly uneventful, however our luggage got left behind because of weight restrictions on our flight out of Colorado. We eventually got it the next day, which was annoying, but that was our only weather related delay or issue.
Overall we had such a wonderful time on our weekend trip, and we're thankful to Andrea for noticing the kids were out of school around this weekend, and for planning a fun family activity for us. Andrea did a lot of research and planning for our excursions and also did a lot of shopping to make sure everyone had the cold weather gear so we could be comfortable in the winter weather.
