I love snow.  Hold up…let me rephrase.  I love visiting places where it snows.  I’m not sure if I could handle snow all winter long, but for a week or two at a time, I’m game.  I was excited about this trip and not just for the usual snowball fights and hot chocolate.  On this trip, I was going to learn how to ski!

Traveling to Colorado required a fairly early wake-up call.  Thankfully, it was a direct flight to Denver.  Since this trip was all about snow, I brought Rollie, the polar bear, with me.  I like to bring along stuffies so they can experience their natural environment.  Rollie was a natural choice for this trip. 

We had an uneventful flight, my favorite type of flight.  We got our rental car and headed out to Keystone.  The drive was more eventful than the flight.  About halfway there, it started snowing and snowing hard.  Thankfully we had four-wheel drive.  We didn’t have any issues navigating the snowy roadways, but many people did.  

We finally made it to our apartment, got unpacked, and played a few games.  There was a new board game in the apartment called Life.  Hehehe, Ma and I bought this game for Pa, but it was still wrapped under the Christmas tree.  I had to keep that a secret the whole trip.  It was hard, but I managed.  

KidsTopia

The next day, it was finally time to get out in the snow.  We woke up and took the gondola to the top of the mountain.  It was one of the first days for KidsTopia to be open.  It was amazing.  There were tunnels, a maze, and slides all built into the snow.  These things made a Texas boy very happy!  

The views up top were amazing as well.  You could see the peaks of so many mountains across the Rocky Mountain range.  All the trees were covered in fresh snow from the storm the previous day.  It made for a picture-perfect Colorado winter scene.  We could not have asked for a better day!

Skiing Professional

The next day was what I had been most looking forward to from this trip.  It was time to gear up and learn how to ski!  We started early in the morning.  I was in a class with a couple other kids who had been skiing for a while.  I think I was the only newbie!  

We learned a lot about the basics of skiing.  How to maintain your balance and how to stop.  It turns out that stopping is incredibly important in skiing so you don’t end up flying down the mountain and crashing into a tree.  

Finally, the instructor took us out to practice what we learned.  It was so fun.  There was a moving walkway built into the mountain so you didn’t have to struggle to get back up.  Super cool!  

By the time Ma and Pa showed up I was almost a professional, I think. I was zooming down the mountain and hopping back on the moving walkway with ease.  Unfortunately, I was only able to do one lesson.  Next time, I’m going to do a few more so I can become an expert!

Nature in Winter

I slept really good that night.  Skiing is exhausting.  Then, the next day we headed out into nature.  We started with a short hike.  It ended with this amazing view of a frozen lake with the Rocky Mountains in the background.  Just such an awesome place….to visit!

Our next stop was Loveland Pass to see the continental divide.  We saw a continental divide a couple of ofi years ago in Canada.  It’s crazy to think that this is the spot where rivers either go east or west.  

Our final stop was a sleigh ride.  The ride was through the Soda Creek Valley.  The sleigh was massive.  It was drawn by two beautiful horses who mosied around the valley.  I can see why Santa enlists magical reindeer, because these horses took their sweet ole time.  The ride was wonderful though.  It was a great way to end the winter trip.  

Snow makes me happy. Let me rephrase…visiting snow makes me happy.  I can’t wait to get back for more skiing and hiking!