All good things must come to an end

The last two days of our staycation, Max and I spent soaking up the winter sun and skiing the back bowls of Vail.  I'm happy to report that I found some ski legs so I didn't have any more epic wipeouts after our first day at Breckenridge.  

I guess chill easy ski days make for boring blogs...sorry.  

I guess you'll just have to settle for some pics.  

The view from the top of China Bowl, Vail.  

The statue of the 10th mountain army division soldier that greets you as you enter Vail Village and another view from Blue Sky Basin.  

The view from my favorite run, Big Rock Park, and random pictures from Vail Village.  

After 5 days of skiing on 3 different mountains, a dinner at the Cookhouse, and 4 restful nights of going to bed early and getting up late...it was time to make our way back to Denver.  We were both missing our little man and I think my parents were ready to be relieved of their babysitting duties.  

Two short hours later we were back at home, hugging our little guy and saying goodbyes and thank you's to my parents.

Is there any feeling quite as good as returning home after a vacation?  I love vacations, but there is something so great about stepping back into your routine, your home, and your spot in life.
Max wasted no time picking up just where he left off...

Sanding his ski press...don't worry...I don't understand how all of this fits together either, but as soon as I can make logical sense of it all...I will put it together in the blog for you.  

More sanding

Marti loves spending time in the back yard while Max works on his projects.  

I was just excited to play with my little man.  We spent the afternoon at home cleaning up, starting on our laundry, and relaxing.  

We ended our staycation at a restaurant on Larimer Square, downtown with our friends in celebration of Katie's birthday.  

Italian food, good wine, and good friends! Yes...please!

The birthday girl!

Laughing our way through dinner. 

Nick and Megan enjoying the pizza.  

A toast to the birthday girl.  

Happy Birthday Katie! I don't know what I would do with out you.  

Beaver Creek, the Superbowl and a Cookhouse

The second day of our staycation was easy and relaxed.  We left Breckenridge late on Sunday morning.  I woke up right on cue at 6am, but quickly realized I did not have to get up for anything.  It took me another 30 minutes to will myself back to sleep, but once I did I slept until 9am! It was glorious!!

Of course, I had to make a quick phone call to my mom back in Denver and check on Chance before I could start my late day. After confirmation from my mom that Chance was in fact fine with out me and that we did not need to rush home...it was time to head farther west into ski country.  

Max and I loaded up the Jeep and headed out to Beaver Creek and our condo in Avon.  Beaver Creek is my favorite mountain.  Probably just because I know it the best.  It helps a lot to know what is where so you don't end up on any "dark riders" on accident. It's hard to explain, but something about Beaver Creek is just relaxing to me.  Plus, I love skiing with Max when it is just the two of us.  When we are skiing together he is really patient and gentle with me. It's weird... I know but I don't ask questions.  I just go with it :)

We enjoyed every minute of each other's company and had a great day skiing and catching up on life with each other.  

We left the mountain in great spirits and decided to go and shower and relax before we headed to Nick's condo for the Superbowl. We always have fun at Nick's house.  All of his friend's are so inviting, relaxed, and easy to get along with.  Everyone pitched in for Superbowl snacks.  We completely overindulged on chili dogs, chips, cheese, and some awesome cajun shrimp.  

I think everyone watching the game wanted the Giants to win except for John who was born and raised in Boston and a die hard Patriots fan.  At least he was a good sport about the loss.  I'm sad that we have to wait months before we can relax while watching another football game.  Sigh...

The next day Max and I skied Beaver Creek together again and just enjoyed the morning.  I was super excited because I had made us reservations at the Tennessee Cookhouse for dinner.  A friend recommended this place to us and I am so glad that we went to check it out.  I think we have found a new spot to take all of our out of town guests too.  Check out their website and make reservations if you are ever in the area! This was one of the best date nights Max and I had ever had. 

http://tennesseepass.com/the-cookhouse/

You start your dinner experience at the base of Ski Cooper.  You get the option to rent either nordic/cross country skis or snow shoes to make your way to dinner.  Dinner is a one and 1/2 mile hike to a yurt on top of the pass.  

Max convinced me to try nordic skiing for the first time ever.  At least in the before picture we look confident and like we might know what we are doing.  

Holy bananas! Why are all new things hard.  What is that saying?  Try something that challenges you every day...check.  I definitely do that!

(Max said that he fell coming around this corner so he had the camera set up and ready for action.  He knew I was going to fall and wanted the perfect action shot...well done babe!)

Wait is that Cook?  When Cook's girlfriend had to go home to Denver and I learned that he was the only other one of our friends in town for the night...we invited him to dinner with us.  We just didn't have the heart to make him sit in our condo alone while we went on a new adventure. Besides, Cook is part of the family and we love having him around always.  

This is the path that we skied to dinner.  It was absolutely beautiful and lined with tall trees and breathtaking views the entire way up!

Getting closer.  I can't wait for dinner on the mountain top.  

After about an hour or so skiing we arrived at the Tennessee Cookhouse.  One little yurt in the middle of no where.  It kind of reminded me of Alaska which may have been why I loved it so much.  

We were quickly greeted with the wine list as a reward for making it to the top.  We decided to try out the Peter Lehmann Clancy's.  His name has two n's but still...it was a sign. 

The entire place was very warm and inviting.  It was completely heated by this old wood burning stove.

They had a fully stocked bar. 

Mostly, I was just happy that I got to snuggle up to my guy.  

Appetizers were bruschetta, figs filled with goat cheese, and pork sausage.  All of it was amazing!

The next course was a choice of a soup or a salad.  I got the salad with feta, pears, and a pomegranate vinegarette.  

Max and Cook both chose the soup and said that it was amazing as well.  

For the main course, I ordered the rack of lamb.  It was absolutely perfect.  Max and Cook both had the elk tenderloin.  

Last but not least, dessert was a strawberry rhubarb pie.  I'm not a huge pie person, but this pie was divine! 

What made our dinner and experience even more unique was we ended up being the only people there for dinner all night.  We had the entire place to ourselves. 

After dinner we were treated to a full moon and the most relaxing and fun ski down.   

Who doesn't love a good meal and a new adventure?  Can't wait to go back!

Staycation Day 1 Breckenridge

Last Saturday morning, we were up bright and early to head to the mountains for our 5 day get away.  My parents were settled in and confident that they were ready to take on the challenge of caring for our little Chance man.
After a few hugs and kisses we were out the door and on the interstate headed west.
To be honest, driving on 1-70 still kind of freaks me out.  I almost never drive it alone, especially when there is snow on the road.  However, I never get tired of the drive.  It is always beautiful and surreal.  I'm just glad that I have Max to drive for me so that I can take pictures of the scenery :)

A short hour later we had arrived in Breckenridge.  We had made plans to meet with Kevin and Katie York who had went up the night before. Cook and Elise were also coming up but they had decided to ski on their own for the day because Elise is a beginner snow boarder.  When I called Katie to see where they were, Katie said that they were already on the mountain and to meet them at Peak 10....GASP....I don't ski Breckenridge very often but I  remembered that Peak 10 was the hardest and steepest peak.  I called Cook to tell him we were headed to peak 10, I almost wanted to say I'll just meet you on the beginner mountain instead, but I didn't.  I tried to psych myself up. For some reason I always get really nervous when I have to ski hard runs with Max.  I think it is because he is soooo amazingly good at skiing.
I decided to leave my camera in the car because I knew we were headed to Peak 10, and well...I knew the chances of me falling were very high.  I didn't want to break my camera so the next few photos are my version of a re-dramatization of the days events.

This is the actual map of peak 10 at Breckenridge.  I knew I was in trouble when we headed left off of the lift.  

The first chosen run of the day (by Katie) was "dark rider" a double black diamond.  

Whatevs...I told myself...I haven't skied double black diamonds in a while but skiing is like riding a bicycle right?  If you've done it before you can do it again?  

I had convinced myself that I was just being a wimp and inside my own head, so I decided to follow everyone else down the "dark rider".  

I skied half way decent down the first part of the run.  I even began to think to myself, see how silly you were being.  I almost convinced myself that I belonged on that run.  

I felt like this...

When everyone else felt like this...

But this...is what I actually looked like!

 That's right! I'm sure you're shocked.  As it turns out on the first run of the day.  I crashed and burned on a mogul run.  I ended up losing both of my skis and sliding about 60 yards down the mountain.  (I completely wish I was exaggerating).  Max, Kevin, and Katie were all already down the run just looking at me when I finally stopped rolling down the mountain..  Once they all knew I was okay, Max shook his head, and Katie busted out laughing.
I had to hike back up to my skis, figure out how to put them on in powder and moguls, and then still ski down that god forsaken run.  At least, I was with friends and able to laugh about it.
Lesson learned.  The rest of the day I stuck to blues and blacks (without trees and moguls) which seemed to go a lot better for me.
We all ended the day at the Coppertop Bar and Grill laughing about the day's shenanigans.
After Coppertop, Katie invited us all to her parent's home for the evening.  She said that the house was empty and that we were all welcome to stay.   She then said that she already had groceries to make enchiladas for dinner and that all we needed to bring was something to drink for everyone for the night.  It sounded like a deal and the perfect way to spend the first night of our staycation.

 Wait a seond...Max...this is our staycation! Put the computer and all of the engineering drawings away!

Kevin and Katie York.  Our gracious hosts for the evening.

Champagne to start the evening.  Just because we can!

Cook and his girlfriend Elise

Apparently, expensive champagne can make you agree to crazy things! Like play beer pong, for example.  

 Begin the battle for the beer pong champion.  Guys vs Gals.  The guys won, but only by one cup.  Sadly, I think I am better at beer pong than skiing.

Staycation day #1 was an absolute blast.