Rocky Mountain High

So we made it to Breckenridge and back. We left Ames about 3:30 Thurdsay afternoon. We picked up Pat's friend, Natalie, in Des Moines about four. Then we were off.

We stopped at Beertopia in Omaha, and found ourselves trying to get back onto the interstate after a major accident. We were stuck in traffic for forty-five minutes, but played trivia to pass the time. The rest of the trip went uneventful until we got around North Platte, Nebraska when the sky decided to open up and let loose with tons of rain and lightning. It slowed us down a bit, but we kept going.

We arrived in Breckenridge at four in the morning mountain time. (That's five for central.) We were able to get into our condo early and we promptly unloaded and went to sleep. (This is a picture from our balcony.)

Friday morning, the group that we were with decided to head down to downtown Breckenridge for breakfast. We went by Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company and they invited us in for lunch. (It was almost eleven at this point.) We had a yummy lunch, then walked over to the visitor center for information on things to do. The group trekked back up to their respective condos and some of us decided to go on a hike. I went hiking with the group that decided to go. It ended up being a 3 1/2 hour hike. The scenery was gorgeous! Unfortunately, the hike ended up pushing me into altitude sickness. I had a headache and nausea for the rest of the trip.

Jason had decided to stay at the condo and wait for the other people in our condo to show up. After the hike, he helped move the grill from one of the condo's to ours so we could have a group grill out. They cooked brats and hamburgers while I made Alpine chicken. Everyone had a good time and had plenty to eat. Dan declared that the Kringla I made was excellent and he would need the recipe for Stephanie. "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" played in the background. We had a good time talking to all of our guildmates and trying to remember their real names.

Saturday morning, everyone was invited over to our condo for breakfast casserole, and to discuss the days events. It was decided we would take the free shuttle to the Breckenridge Brewery for lunch and then most people were going to walk through the town and do some shopping afterwards. That night, Natalie's brother had given the group a few tickets to his orchestra concert. Jason and I babysat while the concert goers were gone. We watched a lot of partial movies since the DVD player wasn't working the greatest. After everyone showed back up after the concert, we played a game of "Apples to Apples" and took group photos.

Sunday morning there was a lot of hugging as most of us were leaving to go home. Matt had to drop off his rental car, so we picked him and Lana up at the Denver airport. The trip home was pretty uneventful. We followed a bad storm into Iowa, but it didn't get as bad as the one on the way to Colorado. It was a fourteen and a half hour trip home by the time all was done. We had a very meowy little kitty. She was very upset with us and didn't sleep at all. She got kicked to the upstairs around five.

Jason did have a little altitude sickness on Sunday, but it seemed to go away after we got to Denver. We had a really good time, despite some afflictions, and loved meeting everyone. I put our photos up on our flickr website. (If there not there yet, they will be soon!)

A note for my mom: We saw signs that said "Avalanche Area" and it reminded me of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". I tried not to yell.

To Colorado

We start our trip for Colorado today. We should arrive early in the morning. We can't get into our room until noon, but we do have some people willing to share their room with us until then. Jason's excited because we were planning on stopping in Omaha on the way to have supper. I said we could stop at Beertopia as well. He was thrilled. I figured we'd be getting to Omaha about 5:30 which is a little to early for supper, so I figured a short side trip wouldn't hurt.

Happy Birthdays!

This post is a little late in coming. Ethan's birthday was Friday, and while Jason and I couldn't go back for his party, I'm sure he had a wonderful time. (It's hard to believe he's already two!)

There was also and unofficial birthday on Saturday. Our vet decided that Zara's birthday was the first of August. We didn't do anything except come up with this great idea for a toy. She loves playing with her mousies and she's been able to play with one of the balls of yarn I have. We tied one of her mousies to the yarn and it's her new favorite toy! Jason played with her with her new toy until she was exhausted. She flopped over on the bed and laid there panting. She would try and bat at it a little, but she looked so tired. The next night I took some video of it.
Today she slept for most of the day because she's been so worn out from playing. It's her own fault because she's always at the basement door to go downstairs to play.

Jason and I went to a local park where I rollerbladed for a little while. I haven't done that in a couple of years. When Jason got them for me for our anniversary, I was practicing in our driveway. That's not a very good place to practice. After I was done rollerblading, we shot some hoops. It was fun to do some different exercise and be outside.

On a sadder note, my best friend Heather called and left me a message. Her boyfriends' father passed away last week. I'm sorry for his loss and we'll keep them in our thoughts in prayers.