July 5 - 7: Denver to Orlando

 July: 5: Steamboat to Denver

On Sunday, July 5, we drove from Steamboat to Denver. The ride was somewhat eventful - just outside of Kremmling on a two-lane highway, a mini-van heading toward us lost control of the vehicle, we aren't sure how, but seems to overcorrect and steer off the road, where their vehicle rolled over right as we we passed them. It was very scary to watch and we called 911 to report the accident (others had reported it as well.) Luckily we were only a few miles from Kremmling and we saw several emergency vehicles within minutes pass us on the way to help. It wasn't until a few miles later we realized that the debris that the van had thrown onto our vehicle had caused a crack in our windshield on the far right. The whole thing shook us up a bit and we hope everyone in that vehicle was ok. 

As we got closer to Denver, traffic increased, and Waze told us to take the Loveland pass to save us about 30 minutes, so we took a different route into Denver. It was nice to drive bt Arapahoe Basin and get some different views of Colorado on our way into Denver. 

We arrived at Casa Bonita for our 2:00 lunch reservation early but it was no problem and we were seated upstairs in a different area than we've been sat before which was nice. Our server was great and the food, as last time was much improved over our first visit. Grant got the taco salad with the pork carnitas (and I need to remember I like the pork carnitas better than the brisket, which was ok, but not as good - and Katelyn liked the brisket as well.) I got the brisket tacos, Geoffrey got the Enchiladas Christmas style and Katelyn got the chicken tenders. After dinner, we enjoyed Black Bart's cave, the puppet show, Sorcero's magic show, earning gold coins helping Black Beard taunt the sherrif, taking photos with man-bear-pig, and watching the diving show. 

After lunch, we headed over to Blake and Helena's for a little bit to see Helena, Anthony, Hanna, and Cannoli before checking into our hotel.

July 6: Flying to Orlando

We checked out of our hotel and went back to Blakes to hang out for a bit. We are leaving our car at Blake's and while we are gone someone will be able to come out and replace out windshield, so it should be good as new when we get back. Blake drove us to the airport. Denver airport recently upgraded their security areas and it is amazing - with new queuing areas, and new machines that don't require you to remove liquids or technology from your bags, we were through screening in less than five minutes, It was awesome. 

For lunch, we went to terminal B and ate at Snooze. Then we headed to terminal C and boarded our flight. We landed in Orlando a few hours later, got our rental car (a Kia Sorento) and went to dinner at Miller's Ale House. Our first timeshare is Bonnet Creek, which is a really nice timeshare on Disney property. Our room is on the 9th floor in tower 4. 

July 7: Settling in

Today we ran a few errands to Target, the outlet center, Aldi, and had lunch at Sickies. We came back to out hotel and went swimming - our resort has two lazy rivers and several pools situated around a lake, so we went from pool to pool checking out each one until the lightning came forcing us out. 

We headed to Disney Springs for some shopping at World of Disnet and Uniqlo, and dinner at Jaleo - Spanish tapas. Now we are back at the hotel and super excited for our first day at Epic Universe! 

Steamboat: June 27 - July 4

 Steamboat: June 27 - July 4

Over the weekend and the early part of the week we continued to enjoy relaxing in Steamboat. On Saturday, we made meatball calzones with the intention od bringing them to movies on the mountain.... unfortunately, the winds shifted and the smoke rolled in from the Utah fires so we opted to stay in and play board games instead. 

On Sunday, the winds shifted again, and with clearer skies, we decided to take the gondola up and hike down from Thunderhead along Why Not, a beginner ski run we are very familiar with. We hiked again on Monday on Howelson hill on trails I absolutely love, but are also heavily used by bikers which makes them a little busy. On Tuesday, Grant and Wrigley hiked some more while Katelyn and I did sound meditation at the botanical gardens, and then we all had dinner at 8th street Steak House. In between our outdoor adventures we played board games, watched TV, and enjoyed time in the jacuzzi. 

On Wednesday, we cleaned the condo and did some room switching, and Mom and Bobby arrived Wednesday evening! They came to spend a few days with us, and then they are staying with Wrigley at the condo while we go to Orlando next week. We hung out on Thursday and did some shopping around town and enjoyed spending time togthether. 

On Friday, we took a drive together called the Flattop Scenic Byway which connects Yampa and Meeker through the Flattop Wilderness Area. This pass is only accessible during the summer and goes over some truly stunning alpine passes. We had a nice picnic lunch and enjoyed some beautiful views and walks through various stops along the way! 

Saturday was Fourth of July. We headed to downtown Steamboat to watch their 4th of July Parade. We got a good spot and enjoyed the hometown parade of service vehicles, horses, floats, and local performing groups (but no marching bands!). The Steamboat Sports School float had several Olympic athletes on it! Then we went to Howelson Hill, where they had the annual 4th of July ski jump contest! This was so fun to see in person! I didn't know they could do this without snow and it was fascinating to watch these talented athletes! We had a yummy brunch at Yampa Vally Kitchen before heading back to the condo to cool off and relax. 

I was super excited to head to the base to see the 4th of July drone show, but was disappointed to discover that they decided not to do the drone show this year! I don't know why, the article just said they "decided to go in a different direction this year..." so the base area just had a band and a kid's bike parade. I thought this was very disappointing considering it was the 250th anniversary, but what can you do? I will say, Steamboat was very respectful of firework laws - we didn't hear or see a single firework all night long. 

We ended up just staying in and watching fireworks on TV, doing laundry, going in the jacuzzi, and packing for Orlando. Geoffrey had a cold earlier in the week and I had been fighting a cold for the past few days so resting was definitely nice. 

Tomorrow (July 5th) we head to Denver, and then on July 6th we head to Orlando! 

Steamboat Springs June 22 - June 26

 

Monday June 22 - Friday June 26

This has been a very relaxing week for us! It's been a lot of fun to just kind of wing it every day! 

One of the things we are focusing on this week is updating the condo. I mentioned in the last post about changing the beds around. On Tuesday, the new twin beds were delivered. They fit in the room look nicely and the room looks really good so far! We still need the headboard to be delivered, but so far so good! The 2nd master bedroom also looks good as well with the king bed in it, but unfortunately, the side chair doesn't fit in the room anymore. While moving the chair, we discovered that one of the legs was broken on it, and we also discovered the same leg was broken on the matching chair in the other master bedroom! So now we are on the hunt for a replacement chair for the first master bedroom (which does have room for a side chair) and debating if we need any sort of chair in the second bedroom that might fit without feeling crowded, 

Other things we've done is explored some local events in town. On Tuesday, Grant, Katelyn, and Bobbi went to the Botanic Gardens and participated in a very relaxing Sound Bowl Meditation. On Thursday, Grant and I went to an 18+ Open Mic night at the Wild Horse movie theater. One of the theaters has been converted into a concert space  - the first few rows of the seats were taken out and love seats were put in, and the back four rows are traditional movie theater seats. The floor area in front of the screen has a piano, drums, amps, lights, monitors, and mics. There were about 8 people who came up and sang 3 songs each while playing guitar or piano. It was an interesting evening! On Friday, we went to the base area where we listed to Low Down Brass Band, a high energy band from Chicago. The base are was hopping! 

We are out a few times throughout the week - we did late night Happy Hour at 8th Street Steak House and Truffle Pig, had brunch at Freshies, lunch at Beau Jo's, and dinner at Mo's BBQ. Wrigley came with us to a few of those places - most places have dog friendly patios and Wrigley does a pretty good job with us! If other dogs are around, and are well behaved, Wrigley is too - and if we keep Wrigley close even if the other dog is squirrley we can keep Wrigley calm for the most part. And once the food is out Wrigley has one focus - getting as many treats as possible. lol. 

Midweek, fires in Utah made air quality pretty bad, so we stayed indoors a lot and used the gym rather than hiking. It also gave us some fun opportunities to bake cookies and make chili. We also played lots of board games! The kids even joined us for Kingdomino, Flip 7, and Sushi Go, and Katelyn played a few rounds of Catan. Grant and I tried some new games - Targi and Patchwork. 

Once the air cleared up we did get back up on the mountain. This time we hiked down Why Not - we've never hiked down that route before and it was interesting to hike exactly down a trail we have skied many many times. It even rained briefly on our way down! You can bet after this 5 mile hike, the jacuzzi felt really nice! 

It's been a really nice week here in Steamboat!

Summer 2026.... Let's Go!

Our school year ended with the usual flurry of activities.

Geoffrey wrapped up his junior year with AP tests, finals, and his first job tutoring an eighth grader. To top it all off, his band, North Park, performed in the end-of-the-year Battle of the Bands. Katelyn, meanwhile, performed as Tweedledee in Alice in Wonderland and Oliver Hix in The Music Man, alongside numerous end-of-year show choir concerts and dance recitals. This whirlwind culminated in her eighth-grade promotion from Sowers Middle School.

Thursday, June 18 – Friday, June 19: Driving to Steamboat

On Thursday, the day after Katelyn's last day of school, we hopped into the car and headed out to Steamboat Springs, Colorado!

We took the longer southern route to get there. We have Wrigley with us this summer, and he is a fantastic car traveler! It was also wonderful having three drivers to split up the miles. Grant drove the first leg from home to Bermuda Dunes, where we stopped at Mom's house for lunch and a quick stretch. I took over the wheel to Phoenix, where we filled up on gas at Sam's Club and grabbed drinks from Swig, one of my absolute favorite soda stops. Geoffrey then drove from Phoenix to Payson, Arizona, where we met Dad for dinner at a BBQ restaurant with a great dog-friendly patio, and then headed over to check out Dad's house. Finally, Grant drove from Payson to Holbrook, where we checked into our hotel for the night.

The next day took us right through the heart of the Navajo Reservation. I drove us from Holbrook to Monument Valley, where we stopped to take the obligatory photos in the middle of the road at Forrest Gump Point, watching the valley's iconic, towering sandstone towers rise up like giants against the horizon.

Geoffrey took over the driving from Forrest Gump Point to Grand Junction, Colorado. Along the way, we pulled over at Wilson Arch. It’s a spectacular, massive Sandstone structure right off the highway, and we couldn't resist taking a short, steep hike right up into the center of the arch for some incredible views.

We also stopped in Moab to grab some dinner before Grant drove the final stretch to Steamboat. We finally rolled in a little past midnight. It was a long day of travel, and it felt so good to end it "home" in Steamboat!

Saturday, June 20 – Sunday, June 21

On Saturday, we happily slept in and spent the day settling in. We unpacked, hit the grocery store, went to the gym, and just enjoyed being here.

On Sunday, the real muscle work began as we started moving furniture. Currently, the second master bedroom has a queen bed, and the third bedroom has a king. The plan is to move the king bed into the second master, and put twin beds in the third bedroom. We spent the day swapping the heavy beds and their matching furniture so that when the new twin beds arrive on Tuesday, the delivery team can easily haul the queen bed out and set the twins up.

After playing Tetris with the furniture, we took the gondola up to Thunderhead and set off on a scenic 5-mile loop hike. We connected the Chisholm Trail to the Sunshine Trail, cut across to Rendezvous and Duster Road, and made our way back to Thunderhead. It turns out Wrigley is just as great of a hiker as he is a road-tripper!

Back at the condo, we made dinner, relaxed in the jacuzzi, and Grant and I tried out a new board game called Patchwork.

Cheers to summer!