Full Speed Ahead

Skiing.  It's what we do in Breckenridge in the winter.  The conditions were ideal our first day out, and then the weather and visibility tanked for almost a week.  I mean, temps that never made it to the double digits (in Celcius, they never made it above -12, as the high), the wind that blew, and almost no visibility.  All conditions that kept us home.  And then we sucked it up when it hit anywhere above 15 degrees.  No matter - it was fun.  A blast, really.  And I only have a few snaps and videos to prove we were there at all because we were too busy running the slopes.

First lift, the first day.

Before really heading down the first run.

Holiday's always mean a line at the bottom.  So we try not to hit bottom.

Instead, we stay mid-mountain and keep riding up.  But then the lifts are slower.  This gives me time to take great snapshots when sitting, but I am not sure it saves us any time.

She posed for me so I could show how bad the visibility was.  We are pretty close to the bottom.  We should be able to see the runs of Keystone in the background...

This is what it was like on the way up.

Final Run.  Final Day.

Hot chocolate for the gondola ride home.

And of course the many entertaining faces of MadHatter.

Until next time Breck.

Snowmobiling Fun

Some of you may remember our snowmobiling fun last year.  It was our first time, it was at sunset, and it was also when I gave myself a black eye.  You don't remember?  You can refresh your memory by clicking here.  This time we were seasoned.  And we weren't going to the top of the peaks to catch the sunset.  I was pretty confident I could get out of this unscathed.  And thankfully, I was correct.  The only thing I might have changed about the whole thing was the girl that was handing out our snowsuits erred on the side of too big for each and every one of us.  Like 3 sizes too big.  I could have fit both kids in my suit!  And that left me a bit chilly at times as too much wind could get in through the gaps in the neck.  But all in all - a fantastic afternoon spent with family.  I can't wait to do it again when the girls are old enough to drive their own sleds (only 3 years for MadHatter as you only need to be 15!).

Ready to go!

My sidekick.

Sam and I at the top.

Splitting the continental divide.

Snowshoe Paradise

Christmas afternoon and MadHatter and I were getting a bit claustrophobic.  We decided the way to cure that was get outside and do some snowshoeing around the neighborhood.  Luckily for us, the neighborhood is part of the Nordic Center's trails so we have free and easy access.  Since it was a leisurely stroll, I let MadHatter lead the way and stop whenever she wanted (which was a lot).  Mostly she stopped because she saw a cute tree, or wanted to figure out where we were or needed to eat some snow.  Once she stopped to pose just like the man in the pictures on the trees telling us that we were on the right path (the wrong path is the cross country ski trail).  Mostly we just had fun being silly and getting out in the fresh air.

Getting a selfie with us is a feat...

MadHatter declared this the cutest tree in the forest.

A few days later, the temperatures and visibility dropped below zero Fahrenheit so we decided that skiing was just not an option.  MadHatter just didn't want to be out in the cold so I took a solo snowshoe, this time through the back yard and down around the city.  I could move a bit faster than I can when I have people with me, but it doesn't mean I didn't stop to enjoy the beauty that surrounded me.  And snap a few pictures...

The backyard swing.

Visibility is so poor you can hardly make out the ski slopes.

Three trees, growing up together.

About all that was visible of me that day in the cold.

Windmills and Cheese Wheels

Thursday morning, we were up bright and early as we had important touring to do.  The groom's father (B's uncle) had planned a full-day excursion for our side of the family and friends to see some iconic sites just outside of Amsterdam.  With a deadline of being back in the city and ready for a cocktail party thrown by the bride's side of the family at 7 pm, we needed to get an early start.  And getting 80+ people to meet up before 8 am, in a foreign city where no one knows the directions, can be a bit of a chore.  But we managed, and our bus was on the road just a few minutes late.

Our first stop - the UNESCO protected village of Kinderdijk. 

With over 40% of all land in the Netherlands below sea level, the Dutch have become experts at battling the encroaching sea that keeps trying to put them under.  Over the millennia, they have devised environmentally friendly dikes, windmills, and sluices to keep water at bay and their feet dry.  And their expertise is never more apparent than at the Kinderdijk, and you won't find anything like it anywhere else in the world (literally).

Construction in the area began in the Middle ages, and by 1740 all 19 of the present windmills were completed.  But that doesn't mean the work was done; not by a long shot.  Construction continues to this day, as it has uninterruptedly since the very first day.  Today, the site allows visitors to experience all of the features of technology the Dutch have perfected over thousands of years and includes reservoirs, pumping stations, administrative buildings and, of course, the windmills. 

As Dutch as Dutch can get.

We were a reasonably large group!

 We all stopped for a dutch treat - Poffertjes are like a fluffy pancake served sprinkled with powdered sugar.  And Beto, as always, had ice cream.

Photo ops with the cousins, the bride and groom and we stopped to learn a few things along the way before we got to climb to the top of one of the windmills.

We piled back into the bus and headed off to our second destination - the city of Gouda.  Yep, just like the cheese.  Nope, not pronounced like that though (I am assuming you are not Dutch - if you are, you probably got it right).  Turns out I (and probably you) have been pronouncing it wrong all of these years.  It is in fact pronounced gHOW-duh (click here for a sampling of how to do it right).  Now that we all know how to pronounce it, we might still want to go back to saying goo-da, so people will understand what we are talking about.

We didn't have much time to explore the city since we had lunch reservations and then had to hightail it back to Amsterdam since we still had that cocktail party to get ready for.  But I did get to snap some pictures and learn a bit of history as we walked to lunch.

Cheese wheel decorations!

The old City Hall.  Back in the day, cities could be granted the rights to weighing and selling a type of cheese.  Gouda was one of them.  You can still bring your giant wheels of Gouda to the town square on Thursday afternoon for weighing and then try to sell it to the passersby.  We just missed them as they were packing up as we came by.

The older cousins.

After a fabulous lunch, which of course included lots of Gouda, we all napped on the bus ride back to town.  All of that fresh air and cultural learning can really wear you out.  Which was just fine with all of us because we had another round ahead of us in just over an hour.