Steamboat {Colorado}

What an absolute blast! My wife and I spent the weekend traveling to Steamboat, Colorado with some great friends. I can’t believe how fast time flew by. The Nystrom’s secured one of the best condos we’ve ever had the opportunity to spend time at. If you ever have the chance to go to Steamboat and are looking for a place to stay, check out Trappeur’s Lodge. It is located 2 blocks from the Gondola and ski lifts and offers a complimentary shuttle which drops you at the base of the mountain complex. Our condo held 5 couples comfortably, each having our own room and bathroom. Dinners were prepared by our groups talented cooks and we were definitely treated to some wonderful meals. We ate out of course and did some shopping. We planned to go skiing/snowboarding 3 days. I snowboarded one day and just couldn’t do it again. I guess I’m just now feeling my age. Ha! So I spent the last day on the mountain shooting photos of our friends and random things that we experienced during our trip. Thanks to the Geurin’s, Nickell’s, Kessler’s and Nystrom’s for making the trip so fun and memorable. I hope these photos captured our experiences just the way you remember it!

Trappeur's Lair
It was a snowy day at Trappeurs Lodge. The resort offers complimentary coffee, hot chocolate and on certain days, they have an open bar with free appetizers, which is a great way to end a day on the mountain. I don’t think you will find a more affordable property which offers as many amenities as they do. See for yourself by visiting their site.

As you can see by this photo, there was plenty of snow in the area before we arrived. Just look at the strata on the roof top! On the mountain I believe we had over a 71 inch base with perfect weather.

You couldn’t ask for better weather than this on the mountain. This gondola ride whisks you to an elevation of 9,080 feet which is about mid way up the mountain. On this day I purchased a $10 gondola ticket which allows unlimited rides. You can also turn this ticket in at the restaurant and apply its value towards anything you want to eat or drink. What a bargain! I had a full day of snowboarding already and was pretty sore, so I decided to take it easy and ride up with my friends and document their adventure on the mountain.

On our off day (Day 2) of our trip a few of us decided to go into town and shop. The girls enjoyed it, as expected and we even found an awesome breakfast/lunch spot. If you are in the drop into Creekside Cafe. I’m from New Mexico and have cravings for Hatch Green Chile, and when I saw a bowl of green chile stew on their menu I had to have it… along with a breakfast burger. Whatever your cravings, I’m sure you will find it there.

So, let me explain this photo if I can… I should title this “The Many Faces of Jason”. He kept us laughing the whole time. On Saturday we played cards and let me tell you, look out. He is p-r-e-t-t-y dang good. Poker is his game and I was thankful we played for chips that night, or I’d be stuck in Steamboat Springs waiting tables. Later that night all 10 of us went to the Strawberry Park Hot Springs. I would have loved to take photos at this place, but due to the fact that it was probably 15 degrees outside in the dark, and near a body of water, I wanted to spare myself the anguish of losing damaging my equipment =). Nonetheless, the hot springs were amazing. Underneath the glistening stars of the Milky Way Galaxy nestled in the snow covered mountains was the 106 degree temperature water waiting for us. It was a bit of a challenge to get out of our warm clothes and into the pool, but once you were in it, you never wanted to get back out. Well, Jason is modeling his attire for the evening at the hot springs. We all wore our complimentary terry cloth robes and as ridiculous as it sounded then, it was the smartest thing we accidentally did!