We decided on a family vacation in Breckenridge this summer…because I was able to find availability with my timeshare. I haven’t been to Breckenridge since college days of skiing. I have never been there in the summer. The family vacation included the Lyon ladies, Aunt Terri and Grandma & Grandpa.
Saturday, July 6: Road Trip!
Grandpa likes to leave for these family road trips at 5am to beat the traffic. Ok, we bought this when we were kids, but now Terri and I know there is NO traffic in Nebraska. We now leave around 9am-10am for road trips. Grandpa bought a new car a couple years ago. He kept the old car for when are home for the summer…the only time there is a need for two cars. Terri, Grandma and the girls claimed the new car. Grandpa and I took the old car. The first stop on our road trip is lunch in Ft Collins at Beau Jo’s Pizza, of course.
We pulled into Breckenridge around 5pm. As we drove through the downtown, we realized we were going to have some fun shopping. Breckenridge has a very cute downtown. After a few miss turns, we found the Marriott Mountain Lodge. We had a 1 bedroom with 2 bathrooms that sleeps 6 with pullout sofas. We set Grandma and Grandpa in the side area off the living area with their own bathroom. No one wants to sleep in the same room as Grandpa as he snores too loud. Terri, the girls and I took the large bedroom. We brought the blow up mattress from home to put in the room. There was another sofa that pulled into a bed, but that would be too close to Grandpa’s snoring!
We were all hungry when we walked into town. Grandpa did NOT want to spend an hour looking for a restaurant so he picked the first one he liked – Kenosha Steakhouse. Grandpa and I shared the ribs – the best ribs I have ever had! We will need to come back again while we are here.
Sunday, July 7: Downtown exploring…shopping!
We spent the day walking the downtown and playing. We left Grandpa at Starbuck’s while we shopped through the stores. Eleri had fun playing on the playground and the jumpy slide.
At lunch time, we found ourselves back at Kenosha for burgers on the deck. They had excellent buffalo burgers. Since the Marriott is a resort with a kids club, the girls wanted to spend the afternoon making etch glass. They had fun making designs our their vases.
Monday, July 8: More Downtown Fun
Yesterday, we looked at the shops…today, we wanted to BUY in the shops. Breckenridge has many local arts and craft shops. Emersyn found earnings and I found a shop with sweaters on sale! On sale means I can buy more!! I actually need some new sweaters as I can’t remember the last time I bought a sweater. I wear my Shanghai fleece all winter!
Also, the girls wanted to play in the river.
Well, Eleri wanted to play in the river…
We also decided Grandma needed a new hat. She had a “Grandma” hat! There was a hat store for shopping. Emersyn helped Grandma to find the perfect hat and Eleri tried on all the hats! No photo of Grandma’s new hat!!
Art display in town…
Tuesday, July 9: Fishing Or Unfishing Day
Eleri went to the morning paper art project, but Emersyn is a teen and sleeping is more important. Eleri had fun making her paper flower!
While Eleri was busy with her craft, we made lunches for our fishing adventure. Grandpa brought all of his fishing gear for a day of fishing. We packed up the cars for day at the lake. I had read in trip advisor that Fairplay had good fishing. Fairplay was the next town over with a 20 minute drive. We drove to Fairplay and found the fishing store in town. Grandpa brought a fishing licenses and worms. The girls do not need a license based on their ages. We asked for directions to the lake – go to the next light turn right and then left on road 121…sounds simply. We found the signed for 121 and took the left…onto a dirt road. Hum, she didn’t say anything about a dirt road, but we are going to a lake. We were driving on the road for about 15 minutes when I pulled over to tell Terri to let Emersyn drive…nothing like a dirt road with no cars for experience. Grandpa finally decided the next farm house we would stop to ask…sure enough we were on the “shortcut” road, but going the right direction…another 30 minutes to the lake.
When we finally arrived at the lake, the wind was blowing very hard. The girls would have no fun fishing in the wind. For them, the fun part is casting the line and not catching the fish. We had our picnic in the car (forgot to take photos) and drove home. The girls wanted to do the afternoon craft at the Resort.
We did stop for a photo at the Continental Divide. The girls were being real silly with Aunt Terri and Grandma!
We arrived back to the resort in time for the girls to spend the afternoon painting. Emersyn was very careful to paint her cupcake…then, Eleri splatted paint on her pink! Emersyn was NOT very thrilled with her little sister, but some more paint covered the damage!
Wednesday, July 10: Centennial
Today’s adventure was driving to Centennial about an hour from Breckenridge. Grandma and Grandpa like to gambling when they have a chance. Centennial is an old town that is a gambling town. We left Grandma & Grandpa at the slot machines to walk around the town. We toured some old buildings and visited the tour office. A very nice and very talkative women kept us busy.
Grandma was wining with her slot machine so she was buying dinner tonight. We drove to Idaho Springs to a Beau Jo’s pizza which was on the way back to Breckenridge. Terri was happy to get Beau Jo’s pizza, again.
Thursday, July 11: Breckenridge Fun park
Our last full day in Breckenridge. We had talked about going home today because my class reunion is tomorrow. But, we are having too much fun…we just need to leave early enough tomorrow to get home for the mixer at the Gold Course.
Today’s adventure is Peak 8 Breckenridge Fun Park. We drove to the end of town to park and take the free gondola to the top. The ride up is just the beginning of the fun.
It is not cheap at $80 for an adult and $45 for a child under 7. We had decided maybe the girls would go without Terri and I as they can ride together. We purchased 2 adult tickets for the girls.
The first stop was the trampoline as the line would be longer later in the day. The girls did this in Bali and loved it.
At the first ride, we discovered Eleri couldn’t go without an adult…she paid adult prices, but she wasn’t tall enough. We went back to the ticket office to buy Terri and I a ticket. We were able to buy Eleri a child price ticket since she couldn’t go without an adult.
Emersyn was tall and old enough to go alone!
We did about 3 runs on the Gold Runner coast when it began to rain. We did one run in the rain and it was FAST! Since it was raining, all the rides were shut down. We decided to take the Gondola back to town for a quick lunch. We had pizza that wasn’t a favorite for anyone. We should have waited the rain out and had burgers at Peak 8.
When we arrived back to Peak 8, the sun was shining! We did the alpine slide a couple times…
Back to the trampoline…
Back to the alpine slide…
The, the chair lift to the top for a stomp in the snow…
Back to the Gold Coast runner for the last runs of the day…
It was a fun day. Grandpa and Grandma sat and watched us and the people all day – they are really good sports about it!
We needed to leave the peak by 5:30pm to take the fast way down, the Gondola, or we would have to take the bus. Emersyn loves her steaks so tonight for dinner we are eating at Steak & Ribs. Emersyn had a delicious steak, but Grandpa and I vote for Kenosha for best ribs in town. We did enjoy the deck on a lovely summer night.
EVERY night since day one, we have stand in the long line to get ice cream at Clint’s Bakery. Delicious and worth the wait. Tonight, Eleri wanted a whoopsie cookie. A cookie with brownie chunks and chocolate chips. One bite and she lost her tooth. She was excited about losing her tooth and to see what the tooth fairy would bring her in Colorado.
Friday, July 12: Road trip home!
We packed the cars with the goal to leave by 9am. We wanted to stop in Ft Collins for Beau Jo’s pizza and we had to be back for my class reunion.
Eleri enjoy the deck at Beau Jo’s with her new smile…
It was a fun trip to Colorado and we would all enjoy coming back.