Adventures in Keystone

We got to spend last weekend in the mountains, with the Marshalls and their friends. We all met up in Keystone, where the adventures began!

View from the top. It was beautiful! And the picture doesn't do it justice of course, there are mountains as far as you can see.

Our slopeside condo, reserved at a fraction of the price with Mike's military discount. It pays to serve! The condo had a full kitchen, two bedrooms, and a living area. We grocery shopped and had most meals in, played games at night, and laid on the couches in front of the fireplace talking for hours! It was perfect.

Mike and I at the top of the mountain. He skiied, I did not. But we rode to the top in the gondola together and went snowtubing from here one evening.

Here, the girls snow-tubed. Tracey, Genese and I rode these giant inner tubes down man-made snow cutes at 35 mph. It was crazy and fun, and I nearly lost my voice from screaming and laughing all the way down. It was great too, because they had a conveyor belt to drag you and your tube back up the big hill after each run. We did most runs together, on seperate tubes holding onto each other's. I had never heard of such a thing, and it was definitely the funnest part of the vacation for me!

Mike skiing. This was the first time I'd seen him ski, and let me tell you - he's a natural. He was so fun to watch, tearing up the slopes and spraying us with snow :) He and Brian skiied together the entire weekend, they are very well matched skill-wise and had a great time on the slopes.

Mike and Brian.

Derek, Tracey, Genese and I on our snowshoeing adventure one afternoon. I had been before, but it was the first time for the others and we all had a blast! It was bitterly cold so we were bundled up like marshmallows, with hand and toe warmers stuffed in our gear - but we actually got pretty warm once we started moving. It was a beautiful hike, on a trail at the top of the mountain (we rode the gondola up) from one peak to another. It was really untouched country, and it was awesome.

Genese and I goofing off. The snow off-trail was probably 16 inches deep, and powdery soft. We plopped down in a drift to rest. I felt like a little kid :)

It was so, so good to see Genese and Brian again. And really fun to meet their next door neighbors and friends from Illinois, Derek and Tracey. We all had a great time hanging out together and catching up. There was plenty of adventure, plenty of downtime and even a little outlet-mall shopping to be had. What could be better?

Thanks for coming out guys, that was so much fun! :)