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!