Colorado Trip - 2008

So we just got back from a great trip in Colorado. To celebrate Eric's first day as a permanent Wells Fargo employee, we hightailed it out of town. Too bad his 25 days of PTO doesn't kick in until April. It was a great trip, beginning with a quick visit with the Wittenbergs (Augie, Krissy, Addie-age 3, and Hans-4 mo) in Eagle. Got to see the new Say No More! Promotions HQ and visit with the kids for a bit. They were kind enough to loan us a Land Rover and a great pair of skis for me, and we headed to stay with Eric's cousins Josh and Beth Roach (with Michael - 8 and Brett - 4 1/2) who we doing a home exchange at a great place in Frisco.

The next day we went skiing with the Roaches (sans Brett - who stayed with the nanny) at Vail - great day, and then came home. We went to a great restaurant in Frisco called Samplings - yummy small plates, only problem was they were a bit too small. The next day we skiied Breckenridge - one of Eric's favorite places to ski when he competed in freestyle during jr. high. I really enjoyed the runs there - and it was fun to ski with Michael and Brett in the morning and then hit the tougher runs in the afternoon. Eric is getting much more patient in teaching me and I'm getting much better and more confident on the slopes.

The next day we took off skiing and the Roaches headed home. We went to check out Robbie's ice sculpting operations in Avon, and then "treated" ourselves to a $70 lunch at the Wolfgang Puck's Buffalo Bar at the Ritz in Bachelor Gulch. It was a bit disappointing, but we're glad we didn't go to Spago which is at least twice as expensive. Then we headed back to Eagle to play with the Wittenbergs. Had dinner at an Italian Restaurant in Eagle and got caught up with Augie and Krissy. The next day Augie, Eric and I took Addie skiing at Beaver Creek (my new favorite - not just for the cookies) - which was fun. After Addie was done, the au pair Tina picked her up and the 3 of us skiied. Augie hadn't been on skis (boarder only) in years, but he still was much better than me. I did manage the make it down the Bird of Prey race which was exciting.

On Sunday we had breakfast with Robbie and his new girlfriend, Shelby and her son. Augie made his famous banana pancakes. Very nice. Then we got stuck in the snowstorm, so spent the afternoon playing with Hans and Addie. It actually was pretty relaxing as we had been quite busy most of the week and certainly fun to play with the kids. We were able to get out on Monday, along with James Carville and his wife.

The great part of this trip was we were able to cut back on expenses greatly by 1) using miles, 2) borrowing a vehicle, 3) staying with family, 4) borrowing a pair of skis (versus my plan to demo) and 5) getting discount lift passes. All that money saved allowed Eric to get the new pair of skiis he'd been eying all-year - which made the credit card bill really painful this month. Oh well, Eric's now making the big bucks!