Friday

Friday was filled with relaxation and good food. Dustin, Sarah and I began the morning by heading to Mountain Brew, a local coffee shop, while Thom worked out. Mountain Brew has been ranked best coffee place of Steamboat for the past 4 years. I got a chai tea and coffee crumb cake-both were delicious. We then took it back to the condo to sit, eat, and drink by the indoor fire pit. 

Once Thom had finished working out we headed to the downtown area to explore some shops. Downtown had cute shops, some very expensive. We enjoyed lunch at a place called Backdoor Grill. They have very unique burgers. I got the Mahalo which had pineapple, Swiss, and teriyaki on it. Thom got the G6 which had quest, pepper jack, and jalapeños on it. We also got sweet potato fries. I enjoyed a Colorado Cider beer. All was very good, but Thom said his stomach hurt later. 

We then headed back to the condo to get ready for dinner. We got down to the mountain around 5:15 and looked in some shops before heading to the gondola. When we got down toward the base of the mountain they were doing a lighted parade  down the mountain. It was neat. There was also a DJ and a fire performer. 

We lodes the gondola at 5:45. On the gondola ride we made two very abrupt stops. Clearly the new kid was running the brakes for the gondola. We swung quite a bit and it was kind of scary. We made it to the top and were offered hot chocolate while we waited for our sleigh ride. We enjoyed a seat by the window so we could see the lights of the town down below. 

We went on sleigh number 2. Although we were wrapped in our blankets, we could not help getting the snow in our faces from the snow cat. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. The moon was bright and the sky was clear. 

When we arrived at Ragnar's we were seated. We enjoyed a smorgasbord platter that had cheese with a berry jam on it, chicken liver (gross), a homemade sausage, and salmon. I tried it all and thought the chicken liver was disgusting. Sarah and I ordered a bottle of wine to enjoy and the boys had IPAs. We also got bread to enjoy.  The next course was an apple and parsnip bisque soup followed by a chefs salad. For dinner I enjoyed a filet and Thom had duck. I really enjoyed my filet. It came with potatoes and asparagus. It was very good. Dessert was chocolate fondue. It was super yummy. We then took the sleigh ride back to the gondola. The starts were out even brighter. And took the gondola back to the base. Once returning to the condo we packed up to leave town. We are sad to go, but ready to see Teddy. 

Thursday

Today was filled with skiing. It waspacked on the mountain. By the time we picked up our heat and got to the gondola there was a 20 minute wait. We started by doing a green (easiest) run called Why Not. My first go at it didn't go so well. Within the first 20 minutes I had fallen 3 times and tears were shed. I was worried I wasn't going to get the hang of skiing and it would all be a waste. Luckily, the run evened out a bit and I began to get a little more confidence. We discussed going back down to the base of the mountain and riding the gondola back up,but decided to stay on the mountain by taking a lift back up. We then did some random greens before heading to the right side of the mountain and doing a green over there. That "green" was NOT a green! At one point Dustin, Sarah, and myself were all on the ground. There were moguls on the green-who does that?! At one point I skied right out of the "in bounds" areas to the "out of ski area bounds" I got stuck and had to remove my skis and Thom had to try and pull me out. After some scary greens we stopped at a food court restaurant on the mountain.

After finishing our lunch of pizza we headed back out on the slopes. We decided to make our way back to the side of the mountain that we thought had smoother runs. We even saw some noise in the distance! We did those until about 2:00 when Dustin and Sarah decided they were done skiing. Thom and I decided to go back up and do a couple more runs. We chose to do a run we liked however it was only thinly covered in snow and was not nearly as enjoyable as we had hoped. We were constantly dodging ice and rocks. At about 3:00 I decided to head all the way down to the base to meet up with Dustin and Sarah while Thom went back up to do some more challenging runs. After returning my skis I met up without dustin and Sarah. In just that shot time, Thom had finished his very challenging (double black) 47!/ and decided he was done for the day. After returning skis we decided to take the gondola back up for a drink at the top of the gondola and to enjoy some beautiful views. Unfortunately by the time we got there the bar at the gondola was closed, but we still got some pretty photos. We took the gondola back down and went to the Gondola Pub and Grill for an appetizer and some drinks. Sarah and I enjoyed Moscow Mules while Thom and Dustin enjoyed a locals IPA.  We had jalapeño poppers and sweet potato waffle fries.

Once back to the condo we headed to the hot tub for a little relaxation and ordered pizza. Sarah and I had Hawaiian pizza, but it had cashews on it! It was very good. Everyone was exhausted and in bed and asleep by 9:30! It was a great day. Many falls, but we got up every time and no broken bones!

Wednesday

 We got a little bit of a late start this morning. Once we were up and moving we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel. We then loaded the car, and headed to AutoZone to check the check engine light. Thom and Dustin prove to be quite the mechanics. It seems  that the new air filter became loose which cause the engine light to come on. It was about 10 by the time we got on the road. We had to make vocational stops for gas, bathroom, and lunch, but we made it to Steamboat Springs in good time. We arrived  around 430.

Once we checked in and unloaded the vehicle we took the shuttle to go into a square to get our skis and boots. It all went rather smoothly. We were even able to store our skis there so we didn't have to transport them.  Once we got our lift tickets, Dustin and Sarah the base of the mountain where we would be getting on the gondola tomorrow. We asked some workers where they recommended for dinner and it was recommended to head back to the downtown area. Mark, who is driving the shuttle, suggested a place called Carl's.

After quickly stopping at the condo to drop off our boots we joined Mark in the shuttle to head to Carl's.  We didn't have a reservation so we were told it would take a two hour wait. However the hostess found us a high top where we could sit before we could even decide to head elsewhere. The food was good Thom and Dustin tried an IPA from Tampa which they liked. I had a delicious Moscow mile. Thom got a Ruben for dinner and I got a rotisserie chicken bacon sandwich.

We then called Mark and he took us to the grocery store before we came back to the condo. We relaxed once we were here. We are all looking forward and a little nervous for skiing tomorrow. I am a little disappointed because we booked a reservation for a sleighride dinner on the mountain for Friday. Turns out it isn't on the mountain and I'm not sure if we can cancel without losing some money. I'm going to call first thing tomorrow. We'll see how it turns out. 

On the road again

Here we go! First long vacation away from Teddy. It is currently 12:51am and we just checked into a Comfort Inn in Kearney, Nebraska. We dropped Teddy off with Mom and Drew around 7:00 and hit the road after enjoying dinner at Potbellys. I have successfully taken two little naps on the ride to Kearney. As we pulled into the hotel parking lot the check engine light came on in the vehicle. Hope it's nothing serious! We are going to get it checked out before we head out on the road. More to come later!