New Years in Colorado

We decided to go to Denver to celebrate New Years...Sam had said that when she got back from New Zealand she wanted to spend some time with us in the mountains...guess she hasn't had a vacation for awhile ;) So the planning for this trip didn't go so well...we weren't sure who all was going, exactly where we were staying, where we would kennel the dog, etc...we kept going back & forth about the details...do we stay with friends in a condo, or at Ryan's friends house, or get a hotel...in the end it was Ryan, me & Kasey and our niece & nephew and we stayed at Brent's house in Lakewood.

We left on Friday & despite my having to stop & pee every so often we made great time. On Saturday Ryan, Brent & Sam went to Keystone while Nate & I went shopping at Belmar & Colorado Mills and did some sightseeing around town. We decided that we would all go to Arapahoe the next day & Nathan would take skiing lessons there...too bad I couldn't take lessons also! I've never actually been skiing...so I've never had lessons...when I was younger I had so much trouble with my knees that I never thought skiing sounded like much fun. Plus, as I get older I complain more & more about how I hate cold weather so staying in at the lodge & reading a book didn't sound like such a bad idea! Of course, I had a plush image in my mind of a lodge with a nice fireplace burning & comfy chairs...A Basin is not exactly like that! It was more like benches & a cold draft...which was ok because I propped myself up with a pillow & a blanket & settled in just fine. My body temperature has been running warmer lately so the cold doesn't bother me like it normally would!


When we left the mountain that afternoon the weather was blustry & it was still snowing...traffic was at a standstill. It took us about 2 1/2 hours just to drive 15 miles to Silverthorne; yes, it was insane! They had closed the Interstate so we weren't going to be able to get back to Denver that night...which completely sucked because we were going to go to dinner at PF Chang's (mmm, the baby is still craving PF Chang's!) AND we left Kasey with the run of the house at Brent's while his dog was kenneled in his basement! Right, I was mostly just worried about the dog. Thankfully, one of Brent's friends lives in Dillon & put us up for the night & another friend went over to take care of the dogs...what a relief!

On Monday we sat around & watched the live TV cameras to see if they were opening the roads yet...until we got so tired of being cooped up that we had to go & DO something! So we went to get something to eat & then stopped at the Outlets at Silverthorne. Brent & Sam had tickets to the club Vinyl for New Years Eve & we kept wondering if we were ever going to be able to get back to Denver! We finally heard that they might be opening 70 so Ryan & Brent took the Tahoe to check things out...when they returned Ryan had a horrible look on his face; I thought he had been in an accident or something - nope, turns out that the reverse gear had gone out! He had talked to a mechanic friend of ours who said that we should be able to drive it back to Kansas if we wanted to try it! Talk about a crazy time! We decided to at least get back to Denver & make our decision from there. We all made it back ok & the "kids" got to go to their club & party it up all night while Ryan, Nate & I went to see "I Am Legend" at the Belmar theater. Nathan & I really weren't sure what the movie was about but Ryan had been saying for quite some time that he wanted to see it so we were game. Mind you, I LOVE scary movies, but this one was just downright FREAKY! It is one of those last-man-on-earth situations & there are super scary realistic zombie looking people...I was eating Milk Duds & I had completely annihilated the box by the end of the movie. When we walked out of there Nathan & I were certain that the dark seeker people were out to get us & they were going to attack us before we ever got back to the car...let alone the house...which we were certain was not thoroughly protected to keep us safe from the monsters! Ryan thought we were nuts.

We left on Tuesday...after Sam tracked down all the junk that she lost/found/lost again the night before...ha ha, had to throw that one in there Sam! We made it back to Kansas without much trouble from the transmission & we were grateful for that! What an insane but seriously fun trip!