Last Satuday Andrea, Billy, Bobby and I hit the road for Colorado. We spent the first night with Billy’s best friend Brian and his family. We stayed with Brian’s parents who basically treated us to the best B&B experience ever!!! We started off by catching up and laughing until we cried!
This is what happens when Brian and Billy get together! Hi-jinx and goofiness ensue!! Brian and his wife Jamie basically kidnapped us by tempting us with a brewery stop and Whirlyball!!! If there is a better way to kick off vacation, please tell me because I can't think of one!
Andrea saw this jousting helmet and had to try it on! The bartender really does use this!
There are no photos of Whirlyball because we were too busy flying around and scoring! Obvi!!! Andrea’s favorite move was shouting “I’m gonna mess you up!” And throwing her paddle across the floor! It was a blast!
The next day we realized that we are basically ready to be Olympian’s so we went to join the US Olympic team. The Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs is really cool! Great for anyone to check out! Well, except Brian and Jamie’s oldest who was not having it with this pic!
We hadn’t drank in hours, so we headed to this cool restaurant/brewery in an old schoolhouse.
We made it to Georgetown to meet up with the whole crew. We had 19 people in all!!! We timed it perfectly because we showed up and they had grilled brats and had s’mores ready to go!
Monday arrived -so let the hiking begin! First up-Chief Mountain-this one is short and incline almost the whole way up. Great hike for beginners who want to get to a peak with great views!!
After hiking with our hiking crew (missed the group pic on Chief), we met up with the whole gang for lunch and drove up to Mount Evans. If you don’t like heights or get car sick, this is not the drive for you. I closed my eyes on the way up, but the views were fantastic at the top! Plus, we saw so much wildlife!!
One of the Mountain Goats pretty much came nose to nose with Sulley! Andrea went into mama bear mode and got him out of there and the goat wandered off!
We had been in Georgetown for almost 24 hours and still hadn’t made it to Guanella Pass Brewery! It happens to be our favorite, so we made sure to stop in for a beer. They had a new Bard Peak Wit that is refreshing and perfect for an afternoon drink!
Tuesday called for more hiking. We were trying to get ready for our big hike!! This time we went to Square Top Lakes and we got a group pic! This hike is longer, but with a lot of flat spots. You can either got to the peak or do what we did and go to the lakes.
Pho Bay is newish to Georgetown, so we decided to check it out. It was fantastic! They have a huge patio on the creek and the food was delicious!
Wednesday=4th of July!!! What is the best way to kick off America’s Birthday?? Baileys and Coffee, Bloody Marys, cold leftover pizza and some fruit because we are healthy like that. When in Colorado Springs, Jamie introduced us to this amazing Bloody Mary mix. It’s The Real Dill-habanero, horseradish, dill...The pickles and mix. Fan-freaking-tastic! Just add vodka (and bacon as garnish if you’re so inclined) and stir. Nothing else needed!
Now that we started the day off right, it’s time to head to town for the parade. It was everything I hoped it would be! Fun old cars, they handed out tons of candy to the kids, the Happy Cooker made an appearance, and it ended with a man walking his dog and burro. Perfection!
Another day, another stop at Guanella Pass Brewery....aka-where you can find us every day in Georgetown! This time we brought the gang and tried all of the dark beers. The Imperial Stout was the hands down fave!
What would a holiday be without matching shirts?!? UA Represent!
Rain prediction on Thursday meant that we slept in and went to Happy Cooker for breakfast before heading to Breck for the afternoon. Cocktail hour at Breckenridge Distillery...
Followed by a great afternoon at another fave! Broken Compass. The dogs were in heaven!
Dinner at Coopers in the Creek...it was so nice out.
No more delays. Time to conquer a 14er. Grays Peak is one of 53 fourteeners (mountains of over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in elevation) in Colorado. 14,278 to be exact. Most people hike up Grays and then head over to Torreys Peak which is only about a mile away via a saddle.
We were off to a rocky start since none of us drank water in Breck, but 6am arrived and off we went. I must say that it was worth every step at the top!
Amazing views!
Guanella Pass Wit came along too! There was quite a bit of snow on Torreys so we just did the Grays Peak of the Grays and Torreys combo.
A little R & R before heading to dinner with the crew.
We had so much fun with the whole gang!!! I can’t wait to go back!
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!
Cheers!
~Leslie