COLORADO VACAY Part 2: Breckenridge & Mountain Adventures
After four days in Denver and waving a sad goodbye to my mom and Aunt Doreen, we were headed west to Breckenridge.
Neither Josh or I have actually seen mountains bigger than the brown ones you see driving between Las Vegas and Los Angeles and we couldn't WAIT to get actually IN to the rocky mountains. Although the drive contained a lot of winding roads, steep hills and a few areas where the wrong move would've sent you flying down thousands of feet, it was GORGEOUS. Breathtaking actually. Thankfully, we were in no rush to get to Breckenridge so we stopped several times along the way so I could do what I do- take pictures.
Here are some nuggets from our time in Breckenridge and mountains majesty:
1.) Georgetown Lake- FINALLY, a lake with mountains in the background! That's the dream! We stopped here, literally on the side of the road, ate our lunch and basked in the beauty.
2.) Georgetown Loop Railroad: We saw billboards for this gem in Denver and had to learn more about. Taking a train would be something the boys would love, doing it with mountains and babbling brooks, and bridges would be something I would love. I also learned that Josh had always wanted to take an old fashioned train ride like this since he was a little kid. It was a win, win, win for the whole Hundt clan. The train ride was stunningly beautiful and breathing in such crisp, fresh air was quite something. The ride was about 75 minutes, which was probably about 30 minutes too long for the little people I was with, but overall, we are SO glad we did that! The little town of Georgetown is ADORABLE too.
3.) Lake Dillion: Enter the place I would move to if living in Colorado. The town of Dillon is cute with shops and restaurants while also having a Target and Office Max and THE LAKE! Oh my goodness. I made Josh pull over in at least three different places so I could take photos (boys were sleeping after the railroad trip in the back). I am obsessed.
4.) Views, views, views: I'm certain you must be sick of hearing me talk about how obsessed I am with taking photos and how important pretty nature is to me, but let me just go on and on a tiny bit more. When we were researching and trying to figure out where in Colorado we actually wanted to stay, we decided we totally wanted to have a city experience and also wanted something IN the mountains. I was very hard to please with this second one. I didn't want to be too far away and only see them in the distance and I didn't want to be at the bottom of a mountain making my view compromised because of other structures. We looked at a LOT of cities and a LOT of places to stay and then found this condo in Breckenridge that was about 11,000 feet in the air. SCORE. This was our view. I can't get enough of pretty nature to stare it.
6.) Swimming Fun: While in Breckenridge, we were able to have access to hot tub and rec center where we could fill some of our days having fun swimming. We love to swim so it was awesome to do it on vacation, awesome to have the mountains out your window while you did it, and awesome to have a super warm kiddie pool to enjoy. Swimming also helped Josh feel a little better during his altitude sickness. My little guppies rock out pools.
7.) Halloween Party: Nolan decided, on our second day in Breckenridge, that he wanted to throw a Halloween Party. I'm not sure where that came from, but we were game. They made a little sign, set up the family room how they wanted it, and we rocked out to some Halloween jams. Halfway in, we decided to dress up too and used the only costumes we has with us: Josh and my clothes. So Nolan and Judah dressed up as us and then decided to talk and act like us too, which was hilarious. We ended the party, not with candy, but with ice cream ;)
8.) Playgrounds: We can't go anywhere without seeking out all kinds of playground-going excursions. These three boys could "playground" all day, every day. Thankfully, Breckenridge has a couple of small play areas right in their main downtown area. There was also an awesome train museum place with a playground at the bottom of the roads we took from our condo to get down to the actual town of Breckenridge. There was also a park named Carter Park. We HAD to check that out ;)
9.) Sawmill Reservoir: As we were looking for some fun things to do in Breckenridge, this place came up and was not too far away so we decided to check it out. It offered beautiful water, beautiful mountain views, and very, very easy hiking, which was a huge bonus. You have to hike while in Colorado, right?! We had a great time exploring and were able to get one family picture before my camera's battery died (WHEW).
10.) A week altogether as a family: That is incredible no matter where we are.
Yes, driving there wasn't all super. Yes, it was often hard to entertain three very busy humans when we weren't familiar with our surroundings. Yes, it is difficult to feed people or go out to dinner as a whole clan. Yes, packing and unpacking to go to different locations was tiring. And yes, not adjusting to the time change made mornings VERY long (what in the world does anyone do at 4:30 or 5:00am?!
But giving these boys experiences of mountains, seeing foxes walking around a parking lot, hiking with walking sticks, going to a new children's museum, seeing a fantastic zoo, driving THROUGH a mountain tunnel, and being together for an extended period of time with no other commitments is so worth it. I am grateful to have had a fall break this year so we could really make Amy's wedding turn into a trip! What a trip it was! Colorado, we will see you again for sure!!
Neither Josh or I have actually seen mountains bigger than the brown ones you see driving between Las Vegas and Los Angeles and we couldn't WAIT to get actually IN to the rocky mountains. Although the drive contained a lot of winding roads, steep hills and a few areas where the wrong move would've sent you flying down thousands of feet, it was GORGEOUS. Breathtaking actually. Thankfully, we were in no rush to get to Breckenridge so we stopped several times along the way so I could do what I do- take pictures.
Here are some nuggets from our time in Breckenridge and mountains majesty:
1.) Georgetown Lake- FINALLY, a lake with mountains in the background! That's the dream! We stopped here, literally on the side of the road, ate our lunch and basked in the beauty.
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| Boys taking in Lake Georgetown |
3.) Lake Dillion: Enter the place I would move to if living in Colorado. The town of Dillon is cute with shops and restaurants while also having a Target and Office Max and THE LAKE! Oh my goodness. I made Josh pull over in at least three different places so I could take photos (boys were sleeping after the railroad trip in the back). I am obsessed.
4.) Views, views, views: I'm certain you must be sick of hearing me talk about how obsessed I am with taking photos and how important pretty nature is to me, but let me just go on and on a tiny bit more. When we were researching and trying to figure out where in Colorado we actually wanted to stay, we decided we totally wanted to have a city experience and also wanted something IN the mountains. I was very hard to please with this second one. I didn't want to be too far away and only see them in the distance and I didn't want to be at the bottom of a mountain making my view compromised because of other structures. We looked at a LOT of cities and a LOT of places to stay and then found this condo in Breckenridge that was about 11,000 feet in the air. SCORE. This was our view. I can't get enough of pretty nature to stare it.
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| Family pic from our balcony |
5.) Altitude is legit- Because of my need to have this type of view, we were up, way up in the air a lot, which was nothing we had ever done. I know people warn you about altitude and what it can do to you and I don't think we took that very seriously. From being extra winded while dancing at Amy's wedding, to having to rest after climbing a bunch of stairs at Red Rocks, to Josh completely succumbing to altitude sickness (dizziness, nausea, headache, throwing up... like a lot), being high up is nothing to mess with. We loved all these high up cities, don't get me wrong, but as we got back into the Midwest and sea level, we were grateful.
6.) Swimming Fun: While in Breckenridge, we were able to have access to hot tub and rec center where we could fill some of our days having fun swimming. We love to swim so it was awesome to do it on vacation, awesome to have the mountains out your window while you did it, and awesome to have a super warm kiddie pool to enjoy. Swimming also helped Josh feel a little better during his altitude sickness. My little guppies rock out pools.
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| My boys in the hot tub |
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| Sign so people knew where the party was and who was throwing it |
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| Judah dressed as Josh, Nolan dressed as me- this is how they think we take pictures together ;) |
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| Carter at Carter Park |
9.) Sawmill Reservoir: As we were looking for some fun things to do in Breckenridge, this place came up and was not too far away so we decided to check it out. It offered beautiful water, beautiful mountain views, and very, very easy hiking, which was a huge bonus. You have to hike while in Colorado, right?! We had a great time exploring and were able to get one family picture before my camera's battery died (WHEW).
10.) A week altogether as a family: That is incredible no matter where we are.
Yes, driving there wasn't all super. Yes, it was often hard to entertain three very busy humans when we weren't familiar with our surroundings. Yes, it is difficult to feed people or go out to dinner as a whole clan. Yes, packing and unpacking to go to different locations was tiring. And yes, not adjusting to the time change made mornings VERY long (what in the world does anyone do at 4:30 or 5:00am?!
But giving these boys experiences of mountains, seeing foxes walking around a parking lot, hiking with walking sticks, going to a new children's museum, seeing a fantastic zoo, driving THROUGH a mountain tunnel, and being together for an extended period of time with no other commitments is so worth it. I am grateful to have had a fall break this year so we could really make Amy's wedding turn into a trip! What a trip it was! Colorado, we will see you again for sure!!
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