25th B-day trip:Breck,CO

So my trip to Breckenridge, CO was SOOO much fun. At first it was just suppose to be me and Elliot; but ended up being 6 additional friends from AZ came along too. They were all friends I got to know very well while living in AZ. It was so good being able to see all of them again. The condo we rented was about $1000 dollars Friday night to Monday morning, but since so many people ended up going it was cheaper than getting a hotel. Plus it was so much nicer than a hotel. It made the trip all the more fun w/more people going too! I flew into Denver last Thursday to stay w/my good friend Elliot. The rest of people weren't flying in till Friday afternoon. Me and Elliot went out around downtown Denver. We met up w/his roommate and his girlfriend for dinner. Denver has one of the cleanest downtowns I've ever seen. The weather was perfect that night; I almost didn't need my winter coat. The next day Friday, we met up w/our friends at a convenient store that was on the way to Breck. I was riding up w/them. Our other two friends were driving from AZ that day and were going to pick up Elliot on their way into Denver. The drive to Breck was very pretty. It was nice to see snow. Luckily we beat most of the Friday traffic to the Breck. Typically Friday nights and Sunday evenings traffic is the worst going to and from the mountain. On my way back I had a shuttle take me back to the airport end up taking us 3hrs to get there; normally is only an 1 1/2 drive. On our arrival day, none of us had actually seen pics of our condo. As soon we walked in we were so impressed. Our friend Andrew was the planner of everything, he did such a great job coordinating everything. I would love to stay in condo every weekend if I lived near one I think. Even if you're not skiing it was fun. Everything was w/in the walking distance of the condos, lots of things to see and do, or just enjoy the outside weather. Everything was furnished completely in the condo. The beds were 10xs better than you get in a hotel. We bought food for snacks and for breakfast; but went out the other nights. The food was really good. We went to a lot of microbrewery bars/restaurants. The weather was so perfect the whole weekend. It never a bitter cold wind considering we were up at 12,998 feet. It was a freshing mountain cold and such beautiful and fresh snow. We had some fresh snow on the day Saturday we went skiiing. I actually got hot the day I was snowboarding. So only I and this guy Ricardo were the first to have ever gone snowboarding. About half us did boarding the other half skiing. So for a beginner I didn't do too bad. I only fell once really really hard on my bum, was pretty sore for a couple days even after I got back. My wrists hurt the most from catching my self when falling. But I definitely had plenty of moments of the rush of flying down the mountain. I got little scared during some parts of it and would purposely fall back to keep myself from freaking out even more. I went sit in the snow to gather myself then look down the mountain and mentally prepare myself to make it down the mountain. I only embarrassed myself a few times falling off the ski lift towards the end. Not as easy getting off the lifts w/the board as skiis. I was only able to board one day Saturday, but did it for about 6hrs or so. We all were very tired by the end of the day. The best part too is I never got altitude sickness or anything; never got out of breath. Unfortunately one of our friends got pretty bad altitude sickness. The first run down the mountain, he ended up having ski patrol take him down the mountain. But ended up being okay thankfully. My last day everybody else went to another ski resort (Keystone) that Sunday afternoon, but since I had to leave that day I just hung out in Breck w/Elliot. I hadn't had a chance to take lots of pics of Breck and just be a tourist. So I had nice relaxing last day in Breck while the other guys went to Keystone. So all in all my trip was GREAT! Next time I want to try skiing though. So I have no complaints about my mini vacation trip. I got to do something new and fun which is what I wanted for my b-day. I want to go back to Breck in the summer time. I saw photos of it then; looks beautiful!!

Above: View from Elliot's apartment in Denver

Above: L to R - Josh, John, Andrew, me, Brad, Elliot. Josh was someone new, I had never met him while living in AZ. He and Ricardo (not pictured) were the only two I didn't know

Above: Front view of our condo; we had the very top. This was taken the morning we were going to skiing. Fresh powder as skiers call it; was perfect for our skiing day

Above: Another section of our condo next to ours. My transportation bus got stuck to the left of this condo the day he was getting me. Took him at least 30mins to get out of the snow. Started to scare me; thought I was going to be late getting to airport

Above: Another view of our condo on a clear day


Above 2 photos: Beautiful views from our condo

Above: Master bedroom w/a bathroom. We all of course let Andrew have this room since he had coordinated the whole trip and planning

Above: I ended up having my own room. Sometimes at night I wish I was still sleeping in this bed. Was sooo comfortable. Not sure if you can tell, but was soo high. It was at least 4ft of the floor. I remember having to bring my knee up to my chest just to get into bed. I wouldn't get a bed that high. Good thing I don't fall off beds; it would a long and hard fall if so.

Above: A nice kitchen and sitting table

Above: Big spacious living area, a gas burning fireplace, and the couch turned into a full sized bed
Above: Upstairs was a loft. Had a bunk beds and full size bed that overlooks the living room. So you can tell no one was w/out a bed.

Above: me and my good friend Brad. He was my teacher for boarding. We are inside the Gondola; which what you take from the base of Breck to the ski lifts at the bottom of the mountain. Is completely enclosed and was very cramped because you all your gear w/you too. Was about a 10+ minute ride; a nice scenic ride.

Above: This was the bottom of the mountain. A nice indoor restaurant w/anything you could want to eat or drink was here. They even served alcohol. Which doesn't seem safe to do, but people told me it was normal to serve it

Above: Lilli, me, and Brad

Above: Ricardo and Andrew


Above: Views from inside the Gondola

Above: the Gondola down at Breck as it's passing over the street toward the mountain

Above: The restaurant at the base of the mountain. All met there for lunch. Everything from healthy to non-healthy food


Above: Brad, John, and me. Saturday night we went to a nice microbrewery restaurant for dinner. Then we went to all the nice bar/hangouts the rest of the night. We found a nice Irish pub bar we hung out for a few hours

Above: Elliot, Brad, John

Above: After having dinner that Saturday night and the Irish pub bar Elliot got pretty sick and heading back to the condo. It was only about 1:30am at this point. I wasn't ready to back yet. So me, John, and Brad went to the next place. We found this bar place that had air hockey table. So we stayed their for while. I beat the pants off poor John and beat him every time we played. I told I was good, guess he didn't believe me. But he was a good sport he didn't have trouble admitting he lost to a girl. But I told John if ever seen him again, he better practice up; because it's on the next time.


Above: After our time at playing air hockey. Me, John and Brad were really hungry. So at this point now it was about 2:15ish am. We found this Crepe place that I think stays open all night. So we had such fresh stawberry crepes. They were mmmmm good. We sat outside by the little wood burning stove and just laughed and talked w/eachother and others that sat next to us.
Finally we made it home about 3am, and definitely passed out to sleep a little after that. What a long day that was from being up 8am to go boarding to 3am for bed. I love being young still!!


Above: A gigantic ice sculpure of a Budweiser bottle and glass of Bud beer. The headquarters for Budweiser brewery is in Denver, CO. You can take tour and get free beer at the end. Had planned on going there; but didn' t have time too.


Above: this was China's team

Above: The International World Ice Sculpture Contest is in Breck every year I belive. I remember China, Canada, Vermont, Alaska etc. So we went around and awed at some of the sculptures. The teams start on Friday and have until Sunday morning to finish. We saw them out there till past 12am working them. So apparently it's taken very seriously. I'm not sure who won, I'd have to look it up.





Above: My last day their me and Elliot had lunch had a nice cafe

Below photos: All my photos playing tourist my last day. Taking photos all around Breck





Above: This is one of my favorite photos I took there