Rob had an exclusive Tailings and Mine Waste Conference (Whoa. Snoozer!) to attend in Keystone, CO. We have always loved driving through the area on our way to Denver so we all had to tag along. Rob was in meetings, presentations, and work dinners most of the time but the kids and I got a lot of enjoyment out of our few days of down time.
We picked up dinner in Vail and picnicked at our most favorite park, the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens. It’s hard to see in the pictures but there are multiple, multi-level wooden play structures among the trees and each has a breathtaking view. Throw in the gorgeous alpine botanical gardens and it’s a place you never want to leave!
I didn’t include a ton of pictures now but here is our post from last time we were here.
This park where Caroline enjoyed her very first swing and her almost first time walking.
This is a picture from our last time here. Madeleine wanted me to take a picture of her reenacting it. Isn’t this the cutest?! She got the pose and facial expression just right!
We stayed at The Swan Mountain Resort condos which were a perfectly preserved blast-from-the-past. The kids were ecstatic about the trash compactor in the kitchen, the spiral staircase, and the sliding accordion door.
The property had an indoor pool and hot tub that we swam in every day. We played air hockey and learned how to play foosball. Nate and I had some pretty good competitions!
One of the nights Rob was out late so I took the kids swimming in the clubhouse. I left my phone on the charger in the room. To get the foosball and air hockey puck we needed to leave our condo key with the front desk. I didn’t realize they closed early that night and they all left with our key still inside. That made me keyless and phoneless. Great!
Luckily there was an old wall phone outside the office. I didn’t dial outside numbers , including Rob’s. He was soon going to be waiting for me to pick him up, having no other way to make it back to the condo. We were wet, and it was dark and cold. All I could use the phone for was to PAGE a staff member. Page?! I haven’t paged anyone since I was probably 15 years old and I couldn’t remember how to do it. The phone was so old and the buttons barely even worked. After a few tries I thought I finally got it to work. Sure enough, a few agonizing minutes later, the phone rang back. Someone had to drive back to the office and get my condo key out. What a fun time! Not really.
The weather toward the end of our stay was very windy and cold so we stayed inside playing board games and marathon-watching Fixer Upper. I did take the kids to a few parks to play while I bunkered down in the warmth of the car. We explored Frisco a bit and had maybe my favorite pizza ever at Peppino’s Pizza and Subs. One night we all drove to Breckinridge for a bison burger and a walk around town.
On the one semi-warm day the kids and I went to Keystone Village to play. It was barely open as it was between the summer season and the winter season so we had the place pretty much all to ourselves. We didn’t mind one bit!
This is the pedestrian tunnel going from the parking lot to the resort. We played giant outdoor Checkers and giant outdoor Connect 4. Inside we played Jenga and the Wii (we don’t have one so it was super cool for them).
The colors were stunning so I don’t understand why it’s not a more popular time of year. Renting a paddle boat and buying a bag of fish food was the kids’ very most favorite thing about the trip. We were swarmed on all sides by hungry fish and they kept jumping out of the water and head butting our boat in order to get their kibbles.
We played at the playground and the river before taking a nature walk through the trees.
This is Lake Dillon. It was cold so we didn’t stay long but so pretty with the clouds, mountains, and trees.
On the drive home we stopped in Glenwood Springs and walked across the pedestrian bridge. In this picture I cropped out one of the MANY green cross marijuana supplier signs we passed during our stay in CO. It became legal just before our last time in Denver and they were just beginning to pop up then. Now only a few years later, in just in our couple of wanderings around the few little towns we visited we passed maybe 20 shops? Quite the demand for the stuff, I suppose!
We had our picture taken on this bench our first time here when Madeleine was just 3 months old. When we told her about it she insisted we do another reenactment. How funny! We got Nate on the wrong side but Madeleine is spot on. Ha! Man, she looks so big now!
It was a quick trip but worth it. Thanks for letting us schmooze off of your business trip, Rob!
Rob & Julie Snow Family Blog 