Weekend Ski Trip

At this point, it should be no surprise to you that my husband is completely obsessed with skiing. And while I love it too, it's a little easier for me to start getting bored doing the same thing over and over. Every weekend we drive for way too long, ski places we're pretty familiar with, and get stuck in traffic on the long drive home. Don't get me wrong, I still get excited to do it. It's just that, every now and then, I need a little change.

Early in the new year, we turned our weekend skiing into a little more of a vacation. And I like vacations. We went up to Steamboat Springs for two days with our friend, Dave. Really, it was the perfect plan for us. Matt got two days of skiing new (to us) terrain with his buddy, and I got a hotel stay and some vacation-y small town exploration. Awesome.

After our long, but beautiful sunrise drive on Saturday morning, we went straight to the resort. The temperature in town was a little terrifying (-20 degrees Fahrenheit), but thanks to the lovely inversion effect, it actually wasn't too bad at the top of the mountain.

Skiing! My favorite run was Frying Pan, just because of the name.

Matt and Dave

After a lovely day of skiing (and a little sitting and resting for me while the guys went crazy), we attempted hanging out in downtown Steamboat. We had tapas and drinks at Mahogany Ridge Brewery and Grill before enjoying dinner at the famous Rio. (It's actually a small Colorado chain called Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant, but it's generally referred to as The Rio. It's pretty famous across the metro area for delicious, but strong margaritas.) While our two stops were enjoyable, that was about all we saw of the town. It was just way too cold to wander the streets or pop in and out of shops. We gave up early, hit the pool and hot tub at the hotel, and retired for the night. After all, we had to be well-rested for day 2 of skiing!

Pretty morning.

The second day was pretty good for me. I felt like I was going a little faster than usual, and I didn't even crap out early.

After a quick pizza stop, we had to head back to Denver. But it was certainly nice to get out of town for a couple of days. It's amazing how easy it is to head up in the mountains and forget about your worries back in town. It's like a short vacation. And I like vacations.

Mini Vacations

As you may have noticed, I'm a little behind on posting about the goings-on in our lives. With a very busy schedule and a new blogger interface that makes posting take forever, I just wasn't sure if it was worth it - especially considering my measly number of readers. But, as you may have read in my last post, I have a renewed interest in documenting my life - particularly my experiences in Colorado.

Ironically, this first post has nothing to do with Colorado...

Anyway, it may take me a little while to fully catch up on everything that has happened these last few months. But I suppose one good thing about being so behind is that I can connect two events of a similar subject in one post, even if they happened weeks and weeks apart. For example, during my spring semester (I can't help but separate all events in my life into semesters: fall, spring, and summer), I took a couple of mini-vacations to get some breaks from school. The first was way back in February when Matt and I flew to Washington state to visit friends who recently moved up there. Katie is completing her residency for veterinary surgery in Pullman, WA, so she and Dave will be living there for the three years of the program. Hopefully, they'll make their way back to good ol' Colorado when the three years are up.

While the weekend was a short one, it involved lots of beer and skiing. And lots of hanging out, too.

After saying hi to Roxie and Kanzi...

We went to check out all Pullman and the surrounding area had to offer. Which was basically the college (Washington State University), a few restaurants and breweries, and some grizzly bears. Yup, grizzly bears:

Behind the many fences are the bears. They're a part of the Bear Center, which is a research and conservation program associated with the university.

A couple of the restaurants we visited. An old European place with awesome potato pancakes, and a delicious fine dining restaurant where Matt had the best steak he's ever had. Yum.

Beer! Palouse Falls Brewing Co.

On day 2, we made our way to Dave's local ski resort a couple of hours away. These pictures might look familiar because I think I already included them in my skiing post. Oh, well. It's always fun to look at ski pictures.

At Silver Mountain Ski Resort in Idaho.

Driving through Idaho and Washington.

It was a nice trip, and it was great to see Dave and Katie.

The second mini-vacation was a girls' camping trip to Moab, Utah during my spring break. I was super excited to go to a destination I've been wanting to visit for years, but it was a little bittersweet because I went without Matt.. While I really value girl-time and time with friends, I also love sharing my experiences with my husband. Fortunately, I only saw a fraction of what Moab has to offer, so we'll definitely go back sometime.

Camping!

We basically had one full day to see Arches National Park. We tried to hit the big sights, which included the Windows, Delicate Arch, and Landscape Arch.

Viewing an arch from the underside.

Walking around at the Windows.

Besties!

Hiking to Delicate Arch.

At Delicate Arch.

Meryn climbing something. She did this a lot, and it got a little boring standing around as she climbed random rock after random rock. This was, like, the10th thing she climbed. At least she was having fun!

Walking to Landscape Arch.

Landscape Arch.

After a night of awkward camping on the side of the road (a little planning goes a long way, kids) and a breakfast by the river....

We went to Dead Horse Point before Kirsten and I headed home. Amazing views!

Look how close I got to the edge!

It's always nice to get out of town for a couple of days, and it helps me keep my sanity at my stressful job.

Fall 2011: A Romantic Weekend for Two

Back in October, my buddy Rachel and I were a little stressed. And by "a little," I mean "a lot." I was still trying to figure out the whole two-school thing, and Rachel was completing her comps for grad school. It was an exhausting time for both of us, so we decided some rest and relaxation was desperately needed. We made our way into the mountains for a girls' weekend at the Indian Hot Springs in Idaho Springs. To save a little money, we booked their monthly special, which was definitely marketed towards couples. The package included a room, entrance to the geothermal caves, a certificate towards dinner in town, and a discount on massages and a private bath. Because we are comfortable in our friendship, we decided we could handle the awkwardness of people thinking we were a lesbian couple, and we booked the trip (electing NOT to have the couples massage, of course).

The quaint (if a little rundown) facilities.

We began our weekend with massages, which helped release a little of the stress. Then we went to check out the geothermal caves. It was a very cool environment, as we were literally inside a cave. Unfortunately (or not?), I don't have any pictures. Clothing was optional, and everything was very wet, so cameras weren't very appropriate.

Women's caves. No peeking.

If you must know (nosy, much?), we remained in our swim suits the entire time. Anyway, the place was like a sauna with tons of hot tubs in the ground. The temperatures were so high that the experience was very intense. We had to take a couple of breaks to rehydrate and cool off, but we felt cleansed and refreshed after the whole thing.

We took a walk downtown to have dinner at the Buffalo Restaurant & Bar. We sat and talked for a couple hours, which is always fun.

Walking through Idaho Springs. Pretty fall colors.

The following morning, we had an appointment for a private bath. If you've never taken a private bath, let me tell you that it's weird. We went to a room of questionable cleanliness and sat in a large tub.

It's a bathtub.

It was warm, but not as hot as a hot tub, and without any jets. While we had the tub for an hour, we couldn't help thinking of the creepy things that may have happened in that room... Even if I was with Matt, I'm pretty sure that would have still been creepy - not romantic. Plus, it was really boring, so we left after 15 minutes and went to the hot springs pool instead.

Like the rest of the place, the pool area was a little old and run-down, but there were lots of tropical plants that made it prettier.

And then, too quickly, it was time to head back down. It didn't take long for us to settle back into the stress of life, but the trip was rejuvenating and much-needed for our sanity. And oh-so-romantic, of course.