As one of Jon's Christmas presents, he (we) was gifted a trip to Icarus Rocky Mountain Gaming Vacation in beautiful Breckenridge Colorado. This was like the perfect vacation for us. Lots of board gaming, coupled with a great outdoors environment for various activities! But first we had to get there...
Going to Colorado (17 hours away) provided a good opportunity to check out mom and dad's new place in Kansas for the first time. Colby is only (?) 13 hours away, so doable in one (long) day if the roads and weather are good. Gromit was a trooper and we survived our long day and spent a few days there playing games and hanging out with mom and dad. Jon preached at their little church and we did special music, we celebrated Father's Day, and then left Gromit with mom and dad while we headed to Colorado! It was so great to see mountains again! The elevation was crazy. At one point we were as high as at least 11,000 feet before settling into 9,500 in Breckenridge. I've lived at 5,500 (Albuquerque), and more recently about 5,000 (Rigby), but nothing very high lately and I don't think Jon's ever spent that much time in such high elevation. Icarus did warn us about it, but there's not a whole lot you can do to prepare for it other than drinking water to help your body deal. So the first few days everyone was feeling the elevation (dizziness, light headedness, lack of energy, etc.).
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| Mountains! |
So the first couple of days we took it easy, playing lots of games, exploring the cute town of Breckenridge, etc.
Our roommates were great! Five out of six of us were vegan, which provided a lot of commonality with all the things that often go along with being vegan. Our townhouse was pretty spiffy. We each had our own room and bathroom, and then there was a shared living room and fully stocked kitchen, as well as a washer and dryer and garage, a pool for the resort, and several hot tubs, including one right outside our front door :)
We were only a short walk from town, and even though there was a busy road between the resort and town there was a cool pedestrian tunnel connecting the two. In town there were lots of cute shops, coffee houses, and restaurants, as well as a free gondola taking you to the top of the mountain where there was skiing in the winter and a summer fun park with alpine slides, zip lines, etc. in the summer. There was also a lovely running/biking path that went for miles that started in town and followed a creek, which I used several days while we were there.
Their game library was massive, the picture doesn't even do it justice since I couldn't get it all in the picture, but it gives you a good idea of the selection we had :) There was a big room open for gaming available from 10am-1am most days, with staff there to set it up for you and teach you, or you could borrow a game and take it back to your town house. Another cool thing was that there were some celebrities (of the board game industry) there, including famous reviewers and even game designers (we got to play a game with one of the designers!) Over the course of the week, our goal was to learn as many new games as possible (we came with a list) so that we knew whether or not we wanted to buy them. We ended up learning 31 new games in 5 1/2 days :D
Delicious food abounded during the week, including sweet and savory crepes, falafel waffles, veggie burgers with cilantro lime jalapenos, watermelon quinoa goat cheese salads, and delicious smoothies and wraps. And those were just some of the dinners! Breakfast and lunch food was more or less provided, which was nice. One of our awesome roommates even made pies a couple of times during the week!
On Wednesday we had our first little excursion of the week, horseback riding! Something Jon and I had been trying to do together basically ever since we started dating! Glad to finally make it happen, and in such a great place! It was a lovely 1.5hr trail ride through the Colorado mountains. Two of our roomies joined us for the outing, so that was nice.
Thursday for the morning and most of the afternoon we were white water rafting on the Arkansas River, which was super fun. I've never rafted in such cold conditions before; usually we just put on a swimsuit and life jacket and off we go. This time we put on wetsuits and rain jackets before heading out, which was much appreciated. The rapids weren't too bad, but still fun.
Overall, it was an epic week of relaxation, gaming, hiking, activities, and general fun in the mountainous sun (the best kind). What a great Christmas present! Thanks mom and dad!
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