bonus time

One of the bonuses of MeeMee's time share in Breck is "bonus time."  When the Grand Lodge is not fully booked, owners can book nights at drastically reduced rates.  MeeMee and I had been discussing this lately and stayed on top of booking a night, as they go quickly.  After we booked last Thursday, we were able to add Friday night, too.  In the end, Ryan was able to take Friday off and join us.  MeeMee, Ben and I headed up around 3pm on Thursday and I had a delicious bloody mary in hand by 5pm.  The Grand Lodge is the perfect home away from home and I relaxed within moments of arriving.  I actually tear up writing this because I really really needed a break from reality (more on that in a future post,) and I can't explain how perfect and relaxing this quick getaway was.  Being used to staying there a week made it tough to leave so quickly but it was delightful all the same.  

 

Ben was over-the-moon excited to pack his snowboots and insisted on wearing them around the house that morning.  Sadly he "caught an edge," heading down the stairs and when I discovered him there was so much blood I was unsure whether he'd broken his nose, split open his head, or lost a tooth.  In the end it was a bad nosebleed but many shirts and much carpet cleaning later we finally made it to MeeMee's.

The leaves were still ripe for the peeping.

We ventured to town for Empire Burger, a playground visit and jacket shopping.

 

 

one morning Luke barked on the deck upon spotting a GIANT black bear in the parking lot below us.  He walked right behind those blurry cars.

This fox was also a regular visitor.

 

We had the game room all to ourselves.  

 

it was too cold for the waterslide (for the grown-ups) but we spent LOTS of time in the 4 hot-tubs

snow on the mtn and me with my hood on-brrrrr

Where's Wal...er......Ben?

 On Saturday before leaving we had a delightful hike.....

We drove home over Loveland Pass because it's beautiful but often treacherous in winter.  It goes over the continental divide and past Keystone and Arapahoe Basin ski areas.

 

One of these is from my phone and one from a DSLR-crazy!

 

 

Sapphire Point above Lake Dillon

Our last stop before home was Beau Jo's pizza.  It's a Colorado institution and this was Ben's first time.

Ryan had just FINALLY convinced Ben to try the honey on his crust.  They were both delighted.