Awhile back when we were at our LifeGroup with LifeChurch we were doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. During one of our discussions, someone mentioned that we should budget for a ski trip and take a little vacation together. The discussion might have started off lighthearted, but it soon became a serious conversation. We initially were looking at going over Christmas Break (there are a couple teachers in the group) but one of the couples had trouble finding a babysitter during that time. After arriving in Steamboat and hearing that around Christmas time it was -5 degrees in the morning time, I was sure happy we came when we did. Obviously we decided to go over Spring Break. I was definitely a little anxious before going because I had never been skiing before.
We decided to meet where we normally have LifeGroup and leave from there. We left around 9:00pm on Tuesday night and decided to drive through the night.
This group was definitely fun to travel with. We played a prank on the other car and had Reagan sneak in the back of their car and scare them about 20 miles down the road. We also downloaded this app called voxer and it was like a walkie-talkie. We used it all week, it seriously was one of the best things for the whole trip! The guys played 20 questions over the "walkie-talkies" which turned out to be a lot harder than I think anyone antipated. We arrived in Denver about 6:00am and decided to eat at a breakfast place called Snooze. It was really good and they gave WAYYY too much food!
We then continued our journey until we finally arrived in Steamboat!!
Thankfully, our resort let us check in early, so we headed to our condo and got settled in a bit. All of us were needing some lunch then, so we headed down to the bottom of the slopes and found quite a few restaurant. We ate at Bear River BBQ (I think :)). We were all a little delirious from lack of sleep, but I think the food was pretty good.
We then headed over to the ski rental place, Christies, to get our gear. This definitely got me even more anxious!
After we got everything situated in our condo, we headed to the grocery store to get some necessities for the week! When we got back, Reagan made her delicious soup for dinner! Definitely thankful for some good cooks this trip! After dinner we hung out for bit, but went to bed shortly after dinner since no one slept much Tuesday night!
Thursday morning we got up pretty early, since we went to bed so early, and then made breakfast. Each morning as we were eating breakfast we would have great discussions over questions regarding the bible and such. It was really neat just listening to everyone's views and reasonings.
I was really nervous going into Thursday, as I had no idea what to expect from skiing. Thankfully, I had the most patient teachers and encouragers (thanks Chad and Reagan!!) I was definitely a bit wobbly when we started, but I think I caught on pretty quickly. I just didn't like going fast at all! I was totally content taking my time while doing the "pizza". "Slow and steady wins the race" was my motto.
I stuck to the bunny slopes for a bit until I got the hang of it!
I eventually made it pretty high, we took the gondola up as high as we could, but it took me the rest of the day to make my way back down.
I think Trevor was a little annoyed at this point that I was so slow, but I just freaked myself out every time I started going fast. It didn't help that at one point the mountain lost power, so everyone in line for a lift started heading down the mountain and just zooming past me.
While we were making it down the mountain, the others in our group just kept on going higher on the mountain. They were much faster coming down.
When Trevor and I got back to the condo, we hit up the hot tub! Probably one of my favorite parts about this trip! Such good conversations in the hot tub! After the hot tub we all got ready and headed to dinner. We ate at a little Italian place called Riggio's in the downtown area of Steamboat. We got home so late from dinner that we just crashed when we got back to the condo.
I was probably more nervous on Friday than on Thursday because I knew what to expect and I knew I wasn't that good at it, so I was anxious to give it another try. But Friday was so much fun. I hung out at the bunny slopes for a while and then got the courage to go a little higher again.
Around lunch time we all met at the bottom of the gondola and decided to take it up to have lunch together.
After lunch everyone decided that I should try a blue, so I decided to give it a whirl! I LOVED it! Some parts where a little tricky, but they were almost easier than the greens.
After several runs, my legs were worn out, so Trevor and I headed back to the gondola and I rode the gondola back down while Trevor skied down some blues and blacks!
We headed back to the condo and again, got in the hot tub! It seriously felt so good after skiing all day! Everyone eventually joined us and we decided that the guys were going to make us dinner that night. So the guys headed back to the room and started making us dinner while we hung out in the hot tub! It was seriously delicious!! They made us BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes (I heard they put 2 sticks of butter in them!), asparagus and corn! Yum!!! Reagan also made a chocolate cake that was to die for!! That night we hung out and played Cranium. We never made it to the end of the game, but I know that Trevor and I were pretty well losing when we called it quits.
When Saturday came I was a little sad that it was our last day skiing, but I know my knees were excited. They were pretty sore by Saturday. We did the bunny slopes a couple times and then we headed up the mountain.
We had originally planned to just do a quick dinner, maybe order pizza or something and hang out that night, but the guys really surprised us! I think we were all feeling a little spoiled by our men because they made us a delicious dinner Friday night while we hung out in the hot tub and then they surprised us with this sleigh ride/dinner on the mountain Saturday night. We went and got on the gondola and then from there we boarded a sligh to take us to Ragnar's for dinner!
The dinner AMAZING!! I can't even really tell you what we ate, but it was delicious.
Then we took the sleigh back down to the gondola.
I didn't get any pictures on the way down the mountain because it was just so beautiful, a camera could have never captured the moment! It was just so neat being on the mountain at night! So serene!!
That night we got all packed up because we were waking up at 4:40 to leave the next morning. The trip back went pretty well. We played quite a few games of 20 questions through the "walkie-talkies" (that app was just perfect for this trip!)
I know I've said it a bunch, but I just had an amazing time with these families! They have truly been an inspiration to me and Trevor. Can't wait to go back!!
