In September, after I'd gotten to spend just a few hours with Courtney while in Houston, Nathan called and asked if he could surprise her with a combination anniversary/birthday trip to see me in December. (Her birthday is Dec. 17.)
We are headed to Disney World that week, so we backed it up to this weekend instead.
Friday night, since Amber couldn't join us for the whole weekend thanks to a work commitment that was taking her to . . . Houston, go figure . . . she picked Cjo up from the airport and they got to spend some time visiting before we met up at our favorite place, Los Dos, for dinner.
Courtney hasn't flown on a plane or had any kind of a vacation away since her boys were born. (They are now not-quite-4 and 18 months.) So this weekend is primarily aimed at having absolutely no time requirements, no wake-up calls, bedtime whenever you want it to be, let's see how we feel and do what we want kind of weekend.
I hadn't taken advantage of my company's condo in Breckenridge yet, but the same week Nathan called and set up the trip, Lisa sent out an email saying if anyone hadn't signed up for a weekend there were still some open and she was about to start offering those to clients. On a whim, I emailed asking about this weekend and, surprisingly, no one had reserved it. So, free place to stay in the mountains!
After dinner Friday night, we just visited and turned in. Took our time in the morning over breakfast and packing and made our way up into the mountains and to Breckenridge around 1 in the afternoon.
stopping in for groceries and found a Snoopy Photo Op
Now, I have to say, I had no clue what the condo was like. And now that I do, you can bet I'll be signing up for my choice of weekends from now on! Holy guacamole, how spoiled are we?
It was snowing all day, so the skies were gray, but here, even in snowfall, was the breathtaking view:
and the kitchen:
dining
living
halfway up the stairs to the loft, looking down
.
the loft, which, with the futon out of view, sleeps 10!
Cjo checking out the place
And the view below, including gondola-turned-shed:
Needless to say, my favorite spot in the whole place is this magnificent window seat:
I bought Courtney the obligatory Colorado ski hat :)
So we made lunch and enjoyed the fireplace and the view and just talked until it was time to walk a couple of blocks down to the Main Street Christmas festivities. They were having their annual Santa Run ahead of the Christmas tree lighting ceremony and Santa's arrival.
The running of the Santas was great fun, with everyone who signed up for the race in Santa-gear
Get ready, get set . . .
GO!
They run 7 blocks, which consists of up and back to the start line, so you can catch them both coming and going. And in this altitude with a hill, 7 blocks is plenty!
After that we wandered and got Starbucks as we waited for the tree lighting.
There was supposed to be a parade of Bernese Mountain Dogs ahead of Santa, and I even asked the Mayor of Breckenridge (wearing Santa #1 Bib) which direction they would be coming but it never materialized. This was the closest we got.
I did get to meet the baby Bernie. Her name was Birdie, and she's 8 weeks old.
On our route back up the hill to the condo, we came across Santa in his carriage, which turned out to the be empty one we'd passed walking in that afternoon
At about 15°, we'd only been outside for a couple of hours, but the darkness made it seem much later. We got back to the condo to our crockpot of soup we'd left warming and watched the lights over town before turning in.
Oh! and chocolate :)
Perfect day.
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