Road Trip to Colorado and NYE

To celebrate New Year's and our 10 year anniversary we decided to drive to Colorado. We took a long route to get there and our first stop was Dallas to stay the night with Scott and Natalie. We went out to dinner near their house in the Bishop Arts District.

Next stop: Amarillo, Texas! We ate at "The Big Texan" -- a bit of a tourist trap, but worth it to see what was inside. None of us opted for the 72 oz. steak that comes free if you finish it, but we did enjoy some original Texas food and afterwards some delicious fudge.

Hotel breakfast the next morning in Amarillo the kids got to enjoy some fun waffles. Everything tastes better in the shape of Texas, right?

We had never been to the TX Panhandle before....and it looked exactly as we imagined. For miles. And miles. And miles....

Next stop: Denver, Colorado! We stayed downtown and ate a a restaurant called the Yard House (very good). It was cold and snowy but we enjoyed seeing the city for one night.

The next morning we headed out for the mountains. The driving conditions were not good, but Matt drove like an expert and the Jeep's four-wheel drive came in handy. (I had about 25 heart attacks during the two hour drive.)

Finally our destination: Snow Mountain Ranch, Colorado!

The kids couldn't wait to play in the snow! (Behind them is our cabin "Blue Bonnet")...

Our first morning there was COOOOOOLD! We stayed in for a little while for it to warm up (when we woke up it was -18). We needed to stay near the fire!

About mid-morning it was at least in the single digits so we headed out for some fun in the snow...

Ice skating...

Tubing...

Our moose friends we nicknamed Snowy and Diamond:

Back inside for rock climbing, roller skating, and pottery...

We also spent New Year's Eve at the roller rink - the Y hosted a NYE party there with games, snacks, music, and a countdown to "midnight" at 8:30 .... just our style!

For New Year's day (our anniversary) we drove to the Rocky Mountain National Forest for some snowmobiling fun! It was a blast. (In order: Kim, Jack, Matt, Kara, Ainsley)

And at night we took a sleigh ride (fun, but super cold)...

Halfway stop for cocoa and marshmellows:

Family photo in front of the sleigh (picture didn't turn out well, but good for the memory):

For our final day we drove to Granby Ranch for a day of skiing. The kids did amazing and it was a fun day!

We loved Colorado and had an incredible vacation. The Y at Snow Mountain provided a really family-friendly environment and a beautiful setting. For us it was the best 10 year anniversary we could have dreamed of -- loads of time together, quality time with the kids, some new adventures, plenty of downtime, and of course laughter.

Good-bye, Colorado, we hope to see you again someday!