Vail, Colorado

This past weekend we spent up in the posh resort town of Vail. Can you say ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS? What can I say, going to the mountains in the fall is one of the best times. The aspens are all turning gold so the fall colors are amazing, plus it's not crowded so it's easy to get around, unless you have a stroller. (Vail is NOT stroller friendly, therefore not wheelchair friendly either.)

We had a great time. We drove to Glenwood Springs on Saturday (just an hour west of Vail) to spend some time at a place called Glenwood Caverns. You take a gondola up to the top of a mountain, tour a cave, (pretty cool and the kids were great. It was a 70 minute tour) rode the alpine slides and had fun.

We walked around various "villages" of Vail. We stayed in Lionshead Village which is just as nice, but smaller than Vail Village. We walked around The Betty Ford Alpine Garden which boasts it's the highest (elevation wise at 8200') bontanic garden around. Very beautiful.

Betty Ford Alpine Gardens

Vail also has the nicest playgrounds I've ever seen. (Can you say ka-ching? Lots of money flows through Vail in the winter.) I thought the playgrounds around Castle Rock and San Jose were nice, but the ones in Vail tops those. I have one picture of the kids on one. I wish I took others, but I was usually feeding Curren in the car while the kids played at the playground.

We also spent a little time in Beaver Creek. Now that's a POSH place. Talk about beautiful and VERY, VERY expensive. It's like its own gated resort nestled in the mountains. I could totally live there or have a 2nd home there...that is, if I had millions of dollars to spare.

It was so nice to get away even though it was a trip for our family and not a vacation. (A preschool mom told me the difference. A trip is with kids, a vacation is without kids...don't you totally agree?) One of these days I dream of another vacation with Rick...that's a story for another time.