2024: A Year in Review

Published on December 31, 2024December 31, 2024 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Happy New Year’s Eve, friends! With the near arrival of a new year comes my favorite part of keeping up with this blog: Reminiscing about our adventures from the previous year.

It was a good one, friends. A real good one. Here’s what we got up to 😉

January

I love this blurry photo of the five of us, chillin’ in a hot tub in Iceland the morning before flying back to the states. Rounding out our European holiday adventure (and here!) with a last day in Iceland on Jan. 1, 2024 was the perfect way to start the new year. The rest of January was spent heading to the mountains each Sunday for the girls’ ski lessons (we made an entire weekend out of it here and here!) and reliving my reporter days with a travel event in downtown Denver.

These girls ROCKED their ski lessons this year! Lotte was even riding lifts by herself by the end. (Insert Mom’s terrified face here!)

Drinking booze back at the lodge was a big hit for Mom & Dad during lessons 😉

I loved heading to the Convention Center in downtown Denver for the travel expo. It made me feel like I was young again, traipsing around NYC to report on events for my editors at various mags.

February

The absolute joy of a cousin’s get-together <3

In February I snuck away to New York with the two big girls for a surprise 5th birthday treat for my niece, Rosalie. We all had the best time. The girls got to run wild, stay up late and eat an insane amount of treats. I got to see my little baby twin niece and nephew who are growing up way too quickly, and my sister and I even snuck away one night for dinner/drinks on our own. Amazing.

Someone wasn’t very happy to be leaving …

March

March was a super fun month that included a Fort Collins staycation with one of our faves and … drum roll please … OUR NATIONAL PARKS DRIVE FROM ARVADA TO THE GRAND CANYON!

These girls are super lucky to have you in their lives <3

I blogged about our Grand Canyon road trip adventures from Arvada to Moab here, from Arches National Park to Monument Valley here, from Monument Valley to the Grand Canyon here & from the Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon —and then on home! — right here.

Horseshoe Bend was a stunning, last-minute addition to the trip!

And Capitol Reef National Park, which turned out to also be such a fun surprise addition!

April

My birthday month arrived so quickly! We started the month off with a bang, heading to Steamboat Springs for a press trip that was truly a delight.

Lotte & Grace had the best time skiing the fun runs on the mountain! Emilia … not so much 😉 We have faith that she will get there!

At the end of April, Chris took Lotte and Grace on his first-ever solo trip with them! They headed back to New York to visit LEGOL AND! Too much fun was had by all.

I’ll never get over this amazing photo 😉

May

I was so lucky to snag the opportunity to grab a girlfriends’ getaway weekend in Breckenridge with some of my neighbors. These ladies are simply the best.

June

June was such a special month for us, as we headed Down Under for the entire month. We started out in Sydney, headed to Canberra, flew to Melbourne, checked out Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island, met friends in Brisbane and then were back in Sydney for a few days before heading home. We even had a couple hours layover in Vancouver on the way home.

What. an. epic. time.

The Vivid light show was on while we were there, and it was so beautiful!

The gang is all here for Auntie Kate’s wedding party <3

An initial Melbourne fam meet-up at Queen Victoria Market.

The Great Ocean Road was so wonderful. All the beaches were gorgeous, but the 12 Apostles were particularly delightful.

Dinner with my Melbourne family was such a highlight <3

We even checked out the fairy penguin parade on Phillip Island!

Beach Baby in the Whitsundays. No biggie 😉

Ready to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef!

We even got to meet up with my bestie from 2nd grade — and her mom! — when we flew back to Sydney before heading home. So. Amazing!

July & August

We made the most of the rest of our summer after returning from Australia, that’s for sure 😉

We racked up the activities after getting back from Australia — concerts, camps, visitors and lots of swimming topped the list — and before we knew it, we had a 3rd & 1st grader, and little Emilia starting 1/2-day preschool!

The kids loaded up on fun camps, including this one at a horse farm where they got in lots of riding.

Some of our NYC friends came to visit for a week, too, and the kiddos went to Muddy Buddies camp together, which was adorable!

September

In September I took a trip back to New York to see Hamilton with my sister for her birthday, and we went to Mexico as a family on a press trip. It was one for the books.

Taking in the sights the first night I was there.

Spending time alone with my sister was definitely one of the best parts of the trip.

One of my many NYC happy places — Bryant Park.

In mid-September, we took a long-weekend trip to Punta De Mita in Mexico, and I was delightful!

October

We very much made the most of fall in Colorado this year. We went to the mountains a couple of weekends, visited Great Sand Dunes National Park and really just Halloween’d out. It was a delight.

Great Sand Dunes National Park was gorgeous.

November

In November we headed out on our last trip of the year — back to New York to spend Thanksgiving with our friends and family. We had so much fun! We spent time in the city (including seeing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in person and checking out the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens Lightscape with friends), and upstate, with stops on the Polar Express (oh hey there, Santa!), seeing Wicked the movie and having a lovely holiday. We hope your holiday season was bright, as well!

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Lightscape with our crew.

And that’s a wrap on the year, friends! It was a jolly lovely one, filled with so much friends and family … and travel!

Until 2025 … BIS BALD!

When Neighbors Become Family (the Girlfriends’ Getaway Edition)

Published on May 7, 2024May 7, 2024 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

I’m going to just put this out there … moving to the neighborhood that we currently live in changed our lives.

I was unhappy when we first moved to Denver. I expected it to be exactly like Manhattan. I missed my friends and family back in New York. I didn’t work in an office, have colleagues to chat with or feel particularly like joining any clubs or activities. I was lonely and depressed, and I didn’t know how — at the ripe old age of 32 — I would ever make friends again.

Wah wahhhhh!

Cut to the next year, when Chris & I bought our first house in a Denver suburb. We lived on a small street in a house that we loved, and we quickly made friends with our neighbors across the way. It wasn’t until our move into our second and current home, though, that we found our tribe.

I’m talking about those people you can text to ask, “please pick my kids up at the bus stop, I can’t make it!” or “please come to my house because my daughter got a pea stuck in her nose and I can’t get it out!” or “could you please come stay with my child while I bring my other child to the emergency room?” The women in the above photo — my neighbors — have sent all of those texts/calls to each other and then some. They have become my very good friends, my in-a-pinch-sitters … my backup family.

In other words, I adore them.

So when our one neighbor — whose husband works for the luxury travel company Inspirato — suggested that we book one of their properties for a girlfriends’ getaway, we were all too happy to jump at the chance. We picked a gorgeous place in Breckenridge (with a hot tub, obviously), and spent Friday through Monday of this past weekend having just the best time. I had one of the best meals of my life at the Blue River Bistro (so delicious, and so gluten-free friendly!), we never stopped chatting, went shopping, had margaritas at Rita’s and checked out the Breckenridge Troll.

You don’t usually know how your neighbors will be when you move into a new home, and it’s always a gamble.

Gosh darn are we grateful we got so lucky.

Bis bald, friends!

2023: A Year in Review

Published on January 5, 2024January 5, 2024 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Not a bad way to spend the beginning of October <3

Another one bites the dust, my friends! So here we are, with 2023 in the rear view mirror, and what a year it was. Travelwise, it was simply stellar. Things in the world, of course, continue to throw me (and everyone paying attention) off kilter. With that always in my mind, I continue to be forever grateful for the opportunities I have with my family to explore and enjoy what’s beautiful about this great big earth we all live on.

So, without further adieu, here’s what we got up to in 2023!

January

Celebrating 10 years married (!) in New Zealand!

At the beginning of the year our family was still on the other side of the world. Chris and I rang in the New Year (ahead of everyone we know!) on our anniversary trip in New Zealand, then finished up our Australia visit with a trip to Chris’ families’ favorite beach, Forster. The girls got to check out the Sydney Harbor area for the first time, too!

The girls and dad at the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Forster with the fam. We love you Auntie Sare-Bear!

Once we were back in the states, Emilia and I packed our bags (again) and turned around fairly quickly for a trip back east to meet my new twin baby niece and nephew!

February

In February we had a visit from some of our New York besties, so we did our best to show them the Colorado sites!

We also checked out Meow Wolf, which was so trippy!

March

In March we celebrated “spring break” with SO MUCH SNOW at Grand Lake! We stayed in a tiny cabin, walked on a lake, rode sleds off our roof and traipsed through Rocky Mountain National Park up to our knees in fluffy powder. It was a delightful (if somewhat cold) time!

April

April was a big month, what with ME TURNING 40 AND ALL! We celebrated with a tick off my bucket list: A trip to Glacier National Park in Montana. She was all that I could have hoped for and more. So stinkin’ beautiful!

You can’t go wrong with a hot tub in nature!

Polebridge Mercantile was an extra-special treat, especially with the puppies we played with outside!

Thanks for making my bday extra special, Montana. She was one I’ll never forget <3

June

The Museum of Natural History was such a highlight on our kick-off-the-summer trip to NYC!

Right when the girls got out of school we hit the road! We headed back to one of our favorite spots — New York! — but this time with a twist. We stayed in one of my bestie’s Brooklyn brownstone basement apartments and let our family come to us! We traipsed around the city and took in so many sites (blogged about here, here and here). It was the trip of a lifetime, and so much stinkin’ fun!

Meeting up with the fam in Cold Spring was a big perk <3

We love the Museum of Natural History whale!

But really … it was about being with our loves <3

July & August

I blogged about making the most of summer here (because we really, really did!), and our three amazing press trips (to Grand Colorado on Peak 8, the Park Hyatt in Beaver Creek and C Lazy U Ranch outside of Granby) all definitely helped!

Second baseball game for the girls! Seeing the Rockies play in Denver, this time.

Rode the gondola up to the mountain resort above our hotel.

August

Meeting up with my oldest friends from elementary school in Savannah Georgia!

To celebrate the big 4-0 for all of us, three of my besties from elementary school and I met up in Savannah, Georgia, for a weekend filled with fun and walks down memory lane! We had the best time catching up, checking out a new town, and just generally cheers-ing to life!

We took a historic tour and a nighttime haunted stories tour, both of which I would highly recommend!

September

For Labor Day weekend we headed back to New York (as I was fond of saying, New York was needy this year!). My little twinsies were baptized — and Chris & I were the godparents! — and we got to see all our fam again, which is always the best. I even went back to New York at the end of September — all my myself — for my cousin’s adorable and delightful wedding.

Always reminded of how very, incredibly blessed I am <3

Such a fun time watching my baby cousin get married in such a beautiful place!

October

Oh, October, how delightful were thee! I consider October to have been split into two EPIC events — the first was our trip to Disneyland with Grandpa! and the second was Chris’ 40th birthday adventures with ALL HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY IN TOWN FROM AUSTRALIA!

Look. The joy I felt in Disney — watching the absolute love on my kids’ faces — was very, very real.

Thanks, Grandpa, for joining in on the fun/mayhem!

We were home from Disney for two days before Chris left for a work trip to Disney World, and then his parents arrived two days after that! Little did Chris know, though, that the rest of his siblings — all four of ’em — were also Colorado bound. It was so. much. fun!

Happy birthday babe — thanks for giving us another reason to all be together <3

December

We started our holiday season with a quick trip back to New York (yup, again!) for Grandpa’s surprise 60th and a delightful visit with our besties in the city for some holiday shenanigans!

The girls saw their first Rockette show!

Bryant Park is a delight during the holidays, even in the rain 😉

To close out our holiday season — and the year! — we took an EPIC European holiday trip to Germany and France, Switzerland, and Iceland with Chris’ parents. We visited Christmas markets, ate delicious food, soaked in a geothermal hot tub and just generally had the time of our lives.

Phew … what a year! And now, blink, it’s 2024. We can’t wait to see what unfolds.

Bis bald, friends. Thanks for being here 😉

Summer Weekends in the Mountains Part I: Grand Colorado on Peak 8

Published on November 15, 2023November 15, 2023 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Happy fall, friends! Back in July of this past summer, we were lucky enough to check out Grand Colorado on Peak 8 in Breckenridge for a press trip. I couldn’t share our adventures until the story came out, and now that it has, I’m so excited to drop some mountain love here, as well.

We stayed at the resort from Friday night through Sunday afternoon. And even though we hit some gnarly traffic on the ride home, it was definitely worth it. Other than a small accident that put Emilia in urgent care on Saturday night, we all had a blast.

Friday Night

We arrived to our suite late afternoon on Friday, and holy hell was it impressive! Our living room had amazing views of the mountain, the Adventure Park activities and the pool area down below. In general, the hotel was very well suited for families, and the girls had the best time exploring.

Dinner at Robbie’s Tavern, located in the resort, was so yum. As were the drinks 😉

Saturday

On Saturday we explored the resort a bit more (pools, kids’ crafts & cafe), and drove into town to check out the Breckenridge Alpine Garden.

Is there anything better than a blue-sky mountain day??

The Alpine Garden was the perfect substitute when we discovered that the hike we wanted to take was closed, and the other had no parking. Small enough to enjoy at a kids’ pace, and the kids love being in nature.

The girls and I caught the free gondola from town back to the resort!

More fun games with a breathtaking backdrop.

After a morning spent exploring, we picked up some crafts to paint back in our room while we had some lunch.

Chris & I switched off on having amazing massages in the afternoon while the girls rested, then we hit up the pool. We had evening plans to head back into town, but after Emilia’s accident and urgent care visit, we decided to lay low back in the room and let her rest. Rest assured she was totally fine and back to her adorable, rambunctious self in no time 😉

Sunday

We were given passes for the Epic Discovery Adventure Park, which the girls made great use of, starting with this amazing bungee jump trampoline!

We also opted to ride the ski lift, which was so beautiful and only about 75% terrifying with littles!

Emilia was unphased by Mom’s anxiety, particularly after her head trauma the day before!

After checking out we headed back into town for lunch at Breckenridge Tap House and ice cream at Higgles.

The girls got to ride the Gondola with Chris this time <3

After filling up on treats, it was off to find the Breckenridge Troll! (Please know that you can easily park in the huge parking lot near the troll and walk about 400 feet. We started off trying to hike there from the downtown area, and this was so. much. easier!)

The hike to and from the parking lot is short but beautiful. My favorite kind 😉

And that was it, friends! 10/10 recommend this place for adventurous, outdoor-loving families looking for a fun getaway! Until my next press trip post (we had THREE!) … bis bald, friends!

Hiking a Colorado 14er: Quandary Peak

Published on August 22, 2019August 22, 2019 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

My husband and his friend from New York have started a tradition of hiking 14ers, or mountains that exceed 14,000 feet in elevation, and this past weekend they took on the task of hiking Quandry Peak. Colorado has a lot of 14ers, and there are usually multiple ways you can get to the top, including hiking, mountain biking and, sometimes, even driving. (We did this for my birthday back in April when we visited Pikes Peak.) Needless to say, hiking a 14er isn’t on my Colorado Bucket List, so I’m glad that Chris has found a companion in Gavin to tackle these adventures.

I asked Chris to do a little write-up about the trip. Here’s what he had to say:

Continue reading “Hiking a Colorado 14er: Quandary Peak” →

Your 2019 Colorado Summer Bucket List

Published on June 19, 2019August 21, 2019 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

I mean … G is barely even in this photo, but you get the gist — Colorado is amazing in the summer, and summer is right around the corner! I mean, it’s pretty amazing all of the time, but the summer is a great time to check out the mountains, lakes, hikes, breweries … and everything in between.

To help you out if you happen to be in the hood, here are a few of our fave hangouts when the weather gets warmer:

Continue reading “Your 2019 Colorado Summer Bucket List” →

An Adventure in Camping With a 10-Month-Old

Published on June 26, 2017June 26, 2017 by Cheryl Lock2 Comments

Well friends, we did it — Lotte’s first camping trip! And we survived! (Mostly.)

This weekend we packed up our Forester (which seems to be getting smaller and smaller on us, theses days!) and joined my cousin and her family and some of their friends out near Boreas Pass Road at Selkirk Campground for some straight-up tent camping with our 10-month-old.

I can hear you now saying we’re crazy, and maybe a small part of us is, but we just had to give it a try! We settled on one night — Saturday — to ease ourselves into it, and while Chris gave the overall status of the trip a 60% grade (more on why later), I’d say it was more like a 75%. Don’t get me wrong — the daytime was amazing, an A+! The night, however … well that was another story.

Here’s a couple things I learned from camping for the first time with my 10-month-old:

One night is not enough for everything you have to do to get prepped for camping. With all the food and gear and baby gadgets we had to get together, I felt like we should be leaving for a month, not 24 hours. Still, I think having just the one night ended up working out okay since, as I mentioned above, things didn’t go so well at night. However, if/when we camp again, I think we’ll shoot for at least a 2-night minimum.
Prepare for all contingencies. Anyone who has gone camping will already know this, but when you have a baby with you, put that on your list three times. I had checked the weather before we left and saw it was meant to dip down to the lower 40s at night, so we were ready, but it actually ended up dipping to the lower 30s (?!?!?! That’s mountain life for ya!), so I was extra happy we were prepared.
Don’t think you’ll sleep. At all. Get in all the rest and relaxation in the days leading up to your camping trip that you can, because camping with your baby will not be relaxing. As I mentioned already, our night wasn’t so great. Lotte was up about every two hours, and while she mostly went back down relatively easily, still, she was up crying every. two. hours. So no sleep was had by anyone (including the family in the tent closest to us … sorrrryyyyy!). I don’t think she was cold, necessarily, since her nighttime attire included a long-sleeved onesie, socks, fleece pajamas, her winter sleep sack, socks on her hands, her winter hat and a fleece blanket (plus eventually we brought her over to our mattress to sleep with us, so she had our blanket on top of her, too). I think it was just the overall weirdness of being outside and in a tent that she just couldn’t get used to. Whatever it was, she wasn’t having it!
Be down for anything. For as frustrating as our night was, the day was gorgeous and filled with fun. We hiked and watched the sunset and made smores and they had hammocks and there was a beautiful stream, so it was very fun. The one thing I hadn’t really thought about, though, was that at this crawling age, we couldn’t really put Lotte down anywhere (dirt, and anything else, goes right in the mouth these days), which meant Chris or myself was holding her all day long. Again this was fine, especially for one night, but it definitely wasn’t something we thought of ahead of time.

Anyway, after unpacking when we arrived, here’s what we actually got to see and do. It was pretty spectacular …

^^ I am never not taking glorious mountain photos from the car window when we drive places around here!

^^ My cousin’s daughter is one year almost to the day older than Lotte, and they are just the cutest together!

^^ The relaxin’ in a camp chair in the sun part of camping? Lotte had that part nailed 😉

^^ Look at these glorious views! I would definitely recommend this area for camping, just be sure to bring your rugged, all-terrain vehicle because some of the roads were quite bumpy to navigate.

^^ There’s my man, settin’ us up for the night. We actually don’t have any camping gear ourselves besides one cooler … is that crazy? We borrowed this stuff from our camping-pro friends, though, and it was pretty amazing.

^^ This. Little. Face. All dirty and scratched up 😉

^^ Dubious tent face :/ A sign of things to come!

^^ These two <3

^^ When Lotte wouldn’t sleep, we went for a walk with her, which at least meant we were able to catch this glorious sunset … so thanks for that, Lotte!

^^ We woke up to 34 degree temps, and I needed to breastfeed Lotte, which I was not about to do in that frigid weather. So we started up the car, put the heat on and Lotte and I hung out there for a little bit in the wee hours of the morning. Oh, parenthood 😉

^^ Maxin’ and relaxin’ while we all pack up.

^^ My cousin with Lotte. We were so thankful for the invite and had so much fun tagging along the trip … thanks Court!

^^ We made a few pitstops on the way home to take in the views, too.

And that was our camping in a nutshell! Super gorgeous, very fun and entirely exhausting 😉 And would I do it all over again? You bet I would!

I hope everyone has a fun Fourth of July plans. We’ll be heading out of town to the Twin Lakes area to check it out. Until next time, bis bald!

A Weekend Getaway in Breckenridge With Friends

Published on February 6, 2017February 6, 2017 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

Hey friends,

Happy Monday! Things are in full swing over at the Connor house today! Our new nanny who was supposed to start today never showed up (grrr), but our basement remodel has begun (I’m so excited!) and it’s my grandmother and her twin’s 95th birthday, so we’ll be facetiming with them later to send some love.

Meanwhile, we spent the weekend in Breckenridge with my old college roommate, her husband and their one year old, plus my friend’s mom, who was a little angel and watched the babes for us while we snowboarded/skied on Sunday. How lovely is that?

And what a gorgeous day we had! It honestly was the perfect weather for a day out on the slopes. Here’s our weekend in photos, friends.

^^ We stopped at Breckenridge Brewery on our way into town for lunch and Lotte was, as usual, perfect 😉

^^ My friend found the place we stayed at, so I can’t take any credit for that, but it was perfect — right on Main St. and about a 10 min walk to a gear rental place/one of the lifts. I would highly recommend The Loft at Ruby Jane for a group of friends wanting a weekend in Breck.

^^ These two together are just too cute for words.

^^ See what I mean?!

^^ I didn’t have the best day snowboarding (aka I fell A LOT), but it was still super fun and so nice to be outside in such beautiful weather. And I did more runs than I’ve ever done in my life so, you know, go me 😉

^^ I love this picture. I wanted a photo of all four of us at the top of the mountain so badly, but I could not stand backwards on my board if someone paid me to, so I ended up holding on to Ryan for dear life, while Chris could barely get himself in the shot. Oh well, we tried!

^^ And this one of Ryan and Carla would have been so gorgeous … if Chris weren’t sitting right smack in the middle of it, totally oblivious 😉 I guess the lesson is, snowboard on the mountain — don’t try to take perfect pictures.

^^ Of course I kept trying anyway.

^^ Our loft was right above this store right on the adorable Main Street in town.

We’re off to Steamboat next weekend to hang with some family that’s in town, too. I’m glad we’re making it to the mountains a bit this season, even with our little baby. It’s super fun bringing her places, and she really is a good traveler. Shout out to you, little Lotte, for being so totally awesome.

Bis bald, friends!

The Year 2014: A Review

Published on December 30, 2014August 27, 2019 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Well, friends, it’s been quite the year! When I’m old and grey and looking back on my travels, this will certainly be one of my favorite years to reference. Here’s how our adventure-filled 365 days played out:

Continue reading “The Year 2014: A Review” →

Spring Break Day 3: Breckenridge, Colorado

Published on April 23, 2014 by Cheryl Lock1 Comment

On our third day into our trip to Colorado last week, we loaded back into the car in Boulder and headed on the two hour ride to Breckenridge. (Thank you for always saying that you would drive, Brian! I absolutely did not love driving that tank of a car we got from the rental place!)

Anyway, the road into Breckenridge is a long, windy, at times hazardous one, and we’ve been told by the locals that during peak seasons, the traffic can get pretty backed up.

Which makes sense, because Breckenridge is amazing! Simply put — it’s gorgeous. And quaint. And if you love snowboarding or skiing (which both Chris and my sister’s boyfriend do), then there’s almost nowhere better for that.

We checked into our hotel —the DoubleTree by Hilton … I love how they give you warm cookies when you check in! — and immediately turned the humidifier on in our room.

So a note about Breckenridge — it’s high up in the air, friends. At 9,600 feet above sea level, lots of people (my sister included) tend to get altitude sickness here. You may get a headache or feel lightheaded. It could be difficult for you to catch your breathe, you might feel like you’re breathing through a straw or your mouth and nose could get dry. Steph’s altitude sickness wasn’t too bad (just general tiredness and a headache), so that was lucky, and none of the rest of us seemed to feel it at all, which is great, because I was worried. Chris and I are heading off to climb Machu Picchu in the fall, so I was using this as a sort of test for how I might do in those high altitudes.

So far so good, friends. Phew!

Anyway, as the boys headed to the mountains (they could ski there directly from our hotel!), Steph and I hit up the outdoor hot tub at the hotel, then headed into the town (there was a free shuttle service both to and from our hotel as well, although it really wasn’t all that much of a walk to get into town, anyway), for lunch and a little shopping.

^^ So cute — and look at those mountains in the distance!

^^ Meanwhile, the boys were here …

^^ Gorgeous views.

While in town Steph and I stumbled into one store in particular with a salesman who I can really truly only describe as curmudgeon-ey. He was an older gentleman — perhaps in his late 70s, early 80s — and when we told him we were from New York (he asked!), he proceeded to regale us with stories about how you can die from altitude sickness within 24 hours, and how the local doctor recommends drinking 8 ounces of water every hour, and how we really, really needed to be careful because it’s actually quite scary ….

Thanks, Mr. Curmudgeon. We didn’t actually ask you for that info … but thanks for sharing?

Anyway, it was pretty much right after that store that Steph decided she had had enough of the town and wanted to head back to the hotel to rest.

Coincidence? I think maybe not 😉

Anyway, I was happy to oblige. So off we went, back in the free shuttle (same driver. He was a young kid just out of college who had spent a semester traveling around Africa and his first winter break as a college graduate working the slopes at Breckenridge. His next plan was to move to Florida for the summer and get his license to work as a deckhand. Nice life, buddy!) to the hotel, where we chilled in the swampy, humidifed air until the boys came back. (With beers, of course!)

That night we headed back into the town to the Breckenridge Brewery, sans Stephanie, for dinner and drinks. The brewery was very chill, totally relaxed, and exactly as we had by now come to expect from the plethora of Colorado breweries.

We didn’t hang out too long in town after dinner, since Steph was back at the hotel, but we did manage to talk the little one into coming back down to the hot tubs to hang out with us for the evening, which turned out to be quite lovely.

An outdoor hot tub. The setting sun. Some Colorado beer and your hubby. It’s a pretty happy scene — am I right?!

The next morning we were checking out to make the approximately 90 minute drive to Denver, but first we headed to the Blue Moose Restaurant for breakfast. (And Bloody Mary’s and coffee, of course!)

And that, my friends, was our Breckenridge experience. It was short, but oh so very sweet! (For those of us who didn’t feel sick, of course. I think it’s safe to say Steph may never be going back …)

Tomorrow it’s on to Denver, my friends! Bis bald!