Colorado delight...

March 2012 in Breckenridge, CO on Peak 8, 11,000 feet above sea level...can literally take your breath away!  The mountain views are stunning and the Lodge at Peak 8 was amazing. The oxygen levels being less at that altitude also leave you breathless! Apparently, it is also the perfect spot for a certain writer from the Atlanta area to put pen to paper.  Whomever could that person be?  Friends of ours who have several time shares there invited us out for a week.

Loved hanging out here!

It was snowing!  Which was so
wonderful for us as the ATL had
nary a snowflake this year.

It is a "ski in - ski out" resort.  Basically, you walk out your door and get on a lift.  That is if you actually ski!  I have skied only once in my life and that was eons ago while dating my hubby.  Let's just say I am not a "natural" when it comes to skiing!  Hubby is an awesome skier!  Ryan (son) mixed it up with some snowboarding and skiing.

This would TERRIFY me!

This skiing business is "old hat" for hubby!

Ryan's skiing for first time!

Snow shoeing was more my speed! It was such a beautiful day and our guide was quite knowledgeable about all of the flora and fauna. 

You can make tea with the pine needles!  They taste citrus like.

If I didn't have the snowshoes on the bottom half of my body would be stuck in the snow!  Hey you can burn about 500 calories and hour doing this!

Horseback riding is a family favorite and we try to go on a ride whenever possible.  This area of Colorado is truly so beautiful as mountain ranges surround you everywhere you look.  Our ride started out very cold in the open valley.  As we entered the forest we rode in a ridge protected dry river bed which was also an old stagecoach road it was much more pleasant as the winds were now buffeted. We were fortunate enough to see a small heard of moose traveling through the ridge and resting in between the trees.

Notice the town name!

This is an old building which was part of the Stagecoach stop.

Here on the top of the ridge...Brrrrr!

Our ride was fantastic and the urge to go "Dude Ranching" is stronger now than ever.  Looking for any other couples who would like to join us in that adventure in the future!  On a sad, but memorable note...there was a "horse leg incident".  While riding out I remember my horse walking over what I thought was a tree branch.  Half of it looked like a tree branch and the other half didn't.  The dog that went along with us was very interested in it.  I said "I think that branch is a little too big for you dog!"  Fast forward to the end of our ride.  Our guide, Mike, asked us to stop while he removed "Curly's" leg from the trail.  Ding, ding went my conscious mind...it wasn't a branch it was a leg!  Whoa!!!  Before you get too sad, horses naturally will leave the heard when they are sick or dying and basically leave this world alone.  As nature would have it, the coyotes were taking care of the rest and unfortunately dragged his leg onto the trail.  Mike wanted to move it before any children went on the ride.  Understandably so!  The ranchers are very "Eco-friendly" in that they do not like to euthanize the animals because those chemicals would then move further down the food chain.  The ranchers let nature take her course.  Curly will surely be missed!  It still was a wonderful ride taking in all of the scenery and beautiful mountain vistas.  I am always a bit sad when the horse back ride ends!  I had my first pony at 4 years old and owned my last horse around 22 years old.  I miss that part of my life very much and need to make more of an effort to find places to ride and fill that need!  Would love to own one again, but I am also really enjoying this "travel stuff"!

What a great day!

Next up on our wish list...Dog Mushing!  We were so excited that they offered Dog Mushing in CO.  The dogs were so beautiful!

Ryan could have taken any of these dogs home!

Hubby likes them...but our freedom more.  Right now at least!

We loved each other!  I could have taken him home!

The sled, it has no handles to hold on to!

The amazing thing is that they really love their job.

How do you mush?  There is one person riding on the sled and that person has nothing to hold on to...at all.  It is interesting to keep your "seat" as the sled bounces up and down hills while surrounding a curve.  The "Musher" straddles the runners at the back of the sled.  To slow the sled down going down hill you need to balance yourself on one leg and "pump" the brake to slow the sled down.  I am thinking the dogs would not appreciate a sled running into their behinds!  Also you need to lean your body into the curve to help the sled go in the right direction.  It is more physical than it looks but so much fun.  Being the "rider" is fun too.  What you don't realize is how much snow and ice the dogs kick up while running and it stings your face when it hits!  It is quite a rush!  We all loved it and were just laughing the whole time.  There was the three of us and a woman with her dad.  At one point her dad lost control of the sled and it flipped over with her still in it and she experienced a cold "face plant"!  I wonder if she ever did put that on Youtube!  She was fine and we all had a really good laugh!  We highly recommend this experience if you ever have the opportunity.

On our way back to town, our driver very kindly showed us "South Park".  Not too much to see, but we all got a kick out of it!

Shucks!  We didn't have a chance to make some pottery!

This town ain't big enough for the three of us!

Downtown Breckenridge is filled with quaint little shops, vintage buildings, breweries and great places to eat.  

an old building in town

Vintage balls hanging outside on a tree.

In front of this very artsy fun shop!

Beer!

         

A statue man saying "ya'll come back again!"

Our trip to Colorado was definitely a memorable one!  Lots of fun new experiences and lots of great memories.  The only thing missing...the only person missing was Jen our daughter.  We know she is having an awesome time living in Japan, but we

missed her on this trip.  

Dan and Rose, and their boys Austin and Morgan are great people.  They are fun to be around and very generous inviting us to their snowy get a way!  They are a skiing family through and through and did not accompany us on our dog sledding or our horseback adventures, but we think they would have loved it!  And we missed them!