snowboarding Archives - Weary Wanderer

January 2026: The One Where We Spent Every Weekend in the Mountains

Published on February 1, 2026February 1, 2026 by Cheryl Lock2 Comments

Welcome to 2026, friends, and welcome to February! I hope you have incredible adventures planned, lots of time for relaxation, plenty of opportunities to hang with loved ones, and a realization that you’re incredible just the way you are.

Sorry. Feeling my feelings, guys. Let a girl live 😉

Anyway, my little family spent our entire January livin’ that mountain life. Chris and I decided to enroll all three girls in full-day ski lessons in Winter Park every Saturday in January and it was incredible. Not only did the girls’ skills improve drastically, but Chris and I had SIX HOURS every Saturday in January to be by ourselves.

Life changing.

Not only that, but Winter Park is also the sweetest little spot. It’s only a little over an hour from where we live, the base is full is fun shops and restaurants, and the girls pretty much got to know (and love) the mountain like the back of their hands.

Time (and money … sheesh, the money) well spent.

Bis bald, friends!

The mountains are also the perfect place for a little self care.

Self-care includes hot tub time, of course!

These girls have gotten so good! Grace even unlocked her hidden talent — skiing backwards 😉

On our second weekend we stayed at a ski-in-ski-out condo that was super close to the mountain. This was the *most* fun, even if ski-in-ski-out is a bit of a misnomer because you often have to be a pretty good skier to get down the runs that get you to your home. Emilia couldn’t have done it, but it was fun for the rest of us when we got the chance.

This girl served up some real looks in the month of Jan 😉

Snowman — Emilia’s beloved stuffie that used to be my mom’s — has seen some real adventures.

Emilia truly fell in love with skiing on that second round of lessons and she was so good!

The girls actually didn’t have ski lessons on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, buttttttt … we didn’t know that. Wah wahhh. So, back we were!

Emilia actually took a bit of a scary fall at the bottom of this run (and ended with a nice shiner to show for it). It was the wake-up call we needed to realize that although she’s getting better and is totally fearless, she is brand new.

My brave girl was back at it the following day, but on easier runs where she could practice speed control and pizza stops!

I didn’t mind the easier runs to hang with these ladies (who are WAY faster than me on anything thing else we do).

It was a delightful weekend, despite the head injury. I think the whole no-snow and fear of crowds thing kept the crowds away. The mountain was EMPTY and it was a delight!

On our fourth and final weekend stay, our VRBO had a VCR player. WHAT?! Despite the fact that we can – and do — watch all the movies that they had on demand, the allure of popping in a CD, watching the trailers, and hitting “Play” or “Scene Selection” was such a treat.

Just a couple of parents with kids in ski school! (Despite how freezing we look in this picture, the temps actually weren’t that bad, and the fresh snow was very welcome. It’s been a DRY season out here, friends …)

Ending a full ski day with a mocktail and a hot tub soak is always a good idea.

We’ve become big fans of stopping at a little hole-in-the-wall donut and coffee shop in Georgetown on the way home. Their donuts are truly the definition of delicious.

I had a book event on the final Saturday of ski lessons, but the girls finished out strong, and Chris used his solo time to take a tour of the mountain with a guide. (It’s free!)

It was a long, long January, friends, but spending every weekend in the mountains certainly helped keep it entertaining and gave us something to look forward to.

Now … we’ll be taking February off! So until our next trip … bis bald, friends!

A Wonderful Week in Winter Park With Our Aussie Family … and Then Some

Published on March 29, 2022March 29, 2022 by Cheryl Lock3 Comments

Our Aussie family has finally been able to visit!

But HOW is it the last week of March, I ask you?!

I know — we all end up saying the same thing every year. The time flies, and suddenly your kids are so old you can’t believe it. It always amazes me.

Anyway, I digress. The REAL news to report this week is that WE FINALLY GOT TO SEE OUR AUSSIE NAN AND POPPA! After far too many years of Covid-induced distance, Chris’ parents were at last able to hop on a plane and fly back to see us. Lotte & Grace had not seen their grandparents since October of 2019, and Emilia had never met them. So to say that this was a monumental event for everyone is an understatement.

The Connor’s trip coincided with the girls’ spring break, which was lovely because we were able to spend a week in Winter Park together, as well as have them experience taking the girls to and picking them up from school.

They’ve attended ballet class.
We’ve visited the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
We had a nostalgia-filled dinner at one of our favorite restaurants from when we first moved to Arvada.
We’ve played dress-up and walked to Majestic View Park and played games and watched movies.

In other words, we’ve simply had the most amazing time and I refuse to believe that it will be ending soon. Our plan is to head out to Australia for Christmas this year to catch up with all of our Connor family, so we’re all very busy keeping our fingers and toes crossed that that can still happen.

In the meantime, we have no less than 20,000 photos to keep on loop from our time over the past two weeks.

This little one has thoroughly fallen for her grandparents

Chris and his dad cooked a yummy traditional Australian bread for dinner one night

Nan & Poppa bought us ice creams in the park BEFORE dinner one night — doesn’t get better than that 😉

Lotte had two ski lessons while her grandparents were here, one of which they attended and cheered her on throughout

Pizza tasting at Crosscut in Nederland before skiing in Eldora was a highlight, as well

Besides having Nan & Poppa here to just live our lives with us for the past two weeks, the trip out to Winter Park was so much much. We stayed at this Airbnb, which was the perfect location for viewing the best times to visit the hot tub and swimming pool (a favorite activity amongst our group), and it was a short walk to the sweetest little sledding hill with community sleds to share. The girls also had an absolute blast hanging out in the bunk beds together.

Our itinerary included a visit to Grand Lake, as well, which was one of our stops on our first-ever vacation as a family of five last year. Chris cooked delicious food, we played games, explored a new-to-us ski town, and generally had a delightful little getaway.

Grand Lake is so much fun in the winter!

Chris and I snuck away for lunch and margaritas at The Ditch, which was SO TASTY

You might imagine that two visitors from Australia would be exhausted after all of the above, but that’s just not how my in-laws roll. They are up for absolutely any and everything, and they are happy to do as many activities as possible when visiting their grandkids. So, we thought taking them to visit the Denver Museum of Nature and Science would be a fun activity for the girls’ last day of spring break. This place is so fantastic for kids, since it’s created for them to be able to run around and touch whatever they’d like. We had the best day, followed by a lovely dinner at Jack’s, one of our favorite neighorhood joints.

Dinners out with three kids is SO MUCH BETTER with grandparents 😉

And now we’re staring down the final few days of our visit with these lovely people which, to be honest, we’re all a bit in denial about. Seeing family is always the best thing in the world. Saying goodbye … not so much. To have something to look forward to — like our trip in December — does help soften the blow, I’ve found.

I hope you all are having a wonderful start to your spring season. Until next time … bis bald!

Whistler Summer Snowboard Camp — Complete!

Published on June 24, 2015 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Hi friends!

So I picked Chris up from the airport last night after his 5-day summer snowboard camp in Whistler, and I think it’s safe to say he had an amazing time (and may have even actually learned a pretty cool trick or two).

Chris will be back hopefully early next week with his own very special guest post on the experience, but until then, enjoy the view above 😉

Bis bald, friends!

A Snowy Christmas Celebration in Stowe, Vermont

Published on December 30, 2013 by Cheryl Lock2 Comments

Hi friends,

Holy cow tomorrow is New Year’s Eve.
Holy cow tomorrow is the very last day in 2013.
Holy cow as of tomorrow Chris and I will have been married for one. whole. year!

Just … that’s a whole lotta holy cows!

So Chris and I had a lovely, action-packed holiday week last week, and the fun will continue this week with some anniversary activities. But last week …. let’s see. We spent Christmas eve into Christmas morning in New Jersey with family, then hopped to upstate New York to spend the rest of Christmas with my mom and stepdad, and drove the day after Christmas to meet up with my aunt, uncle, two cousins and cousin’s boyfriend for a little extra Christmas celebrating in Stowe, Vermont. My aunt had booked the place for us as our Christmas gift, and we stayed in a Stoneybrook cabin with a fireplace, huge kitchen and gorgeous views.

^^ The view from the back porch of our bedroom on Friday morning, after it had snowed all night.

My sister and her boyfriend, my uncle and Chris and I were excited to head up to the mountain to ski/snowboard. I would be taking another snowboarding lesson (I think after this time I finally got it down!), while the others went off and did their “we’re already good at this” thing.

Unfortunately we arrived too late on Friday for me to catch the lesson. (Word to the wise for any of you snow bunnies who might want to take a lesson at Stowe — they start at 10 a.m. on Fridays — maybe every day but I can’t say for sure — and they go for an hour and a half in the morning, then break and meet up again at 1 for another hour. And they’re expensive! With my gear rental and the group lesson, I ended up paying around $230. Ouch … but worth it!)

Anyway, since I wouldn’t be snowboarding on Friday, I did this instead:

^^Found the bar …

^^Had an extremely delicious Bloody Mary while I waited for everyone to meet me for lunch.

Saturday was different, though, my friends — Saturday I actually took a lesson! And let me tell you — by the end of it I wasn’t half bad 😉 It ended up being a private lesson when no one else showed up for the class, so that’s always a good thing.

Of course I never left the beginner’s hill but hey — I need to leave something to aspire to, right?

Saturday night we headed into town to the Vermont Ale House, which had awesome beers, amazing music and tables made of chalkboard so you could draw on them. It was pretty much the best.

We left yesterday to make the drive back to the city (in a snow and rainstorm, no less!), but Chris still got in a half day of snowboarding, I took a hike with my uncle and cousin’s boyfriend on the trails right near our cabin and Steph and I checked out a bit of the town.

I think it’s safe to say Stowe was a major success, and that we’d all love more than anything to make this trip an annual thing.

Bis bald, friends! I seriously cannot believe that tomorrow will be my lost blog of 2013. Time really does fly when you’re having fun …

Where In The World: Mountain Creek, Vernon, NJ

Published on February 13, 2011February 13, 2011 by Cheryl Lock3 Comments

DSCN0241 — Snowboarding at Mountain Creek in New Jersey

This past weekend Chris, Steph and I took a trip upstate to my aunt and uncles for what has become an annual ski/snowboard adventure. Last year I didn’t head over to the hill (otherwise known as Mountain Creek), but this year I decided to try my luck at snowboarding. Unfortunately for Steph, Chris, and my uncle, they are all a lot better than I am, so I may have slowed them down a bit. But it was still a great time. I even took a lesson, which I highly recommend for anyone trying to learn how to snowboard or ski. It was my second lesson, and even though I hardly ever get out there to snowboard, I finally do feel like I’m starting to pick it up.

DSCN0246 — Thanks to Auntie M for having delicious food ready for us when we came home

Bis bald, friends! And be careful out there on all your own ski and snowboarding adventures!

Where in the World: Alpine Meadows, North Lake Tahoe

Published on January 26, 2011 by Cheryl Lock2 Comments

bg-main-6 — Looking for a new ski spot? Why not try North Lake Tahoe?

It was exciting to see one of Chris’s clients listed on the Frommer’s homepage today—Alpine Meadows. According to the write-up, Alpine Meadows is known for its low-key atmosphere and one of the best backsides in the Sierra, with 25% of its runs designated as easy, 40% as more difficult, and the remainder as black or double-black. Click the above link to see some of the great deals they have going on right now.

Bis bald!

From the Archives: When in Banff, Play Like the Locals

Published on April 14, 2010April 14, 2010 by Cheryl Lock2 Comments

The beautiful town of Banff is completely surrounded by mountains.

About two years ago, and after I had only known him for three weeks, Chris packed up and left the U.S. to head over to Banff, Canada, for a five-month long trip to work and play.

Lucky for me, we continued to talk while he was gone, which meant that right around the two month mark after he left, we both felt it was time for a trip. I was headin’ to Banff! I wouldn’t have a lot of time off of work, since it was only one month after I returned from Hawaii, but you’d be surprised, as I was, with everything you can do in Banff in only 4 days.

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Arigatu Mr. Roboto

Published on March 15, 2010June 29, 2015 by Cheryl Lock2 Comments

Finally, Chris’s account of his Japanese adventures from a few weeks before. Buckle up, and beware of the snowboarding stories:

14 hours later and touch down, g’day Tokyo, niced to meet ya!

Here I am, land of the rising sun, snowboard bag on my shoulder, ready to take down Japan.

Just a couple of Tokyo subway rides, a short walk and I arrive at hotel heaven… K’s House Hostel in Tokyo is exactly what you want a hostel to be—super clean, super cheap, super friendly and super location (I really stretched my vocab in that description). Seriously awesome diggs —if you’re ever in need of some great accommodation in Tokyo, I couldn’t recommend it higher!

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