Welcome to my Winter Park, Colorado travel diary. Blake and I had an amazing time visiting Colorado! We started the trip off solo and then met up with friends the next day. This was so much fun and we got to experience the best of both worlds.
This year we traveled without the kids because honestly we just needed to reconnect and get away from the stresses of life. (Plus bundling up little ones for the snow seemed like an annoying task. LOL) We are so thankful to both of our parents who took turns watching our babies.
Someone asked me during our stay how we are able to travel so often with two little ones at home. In all honesty, we barely went anywhere until last year. We took a few small trips with the kids, but other than that we didn’t get away by ourselves at all!
Last year we realized that traveling is something we love to do and that we needed to make time for just us again. One day we will bring our littles with us on our bigger trips, but for now its a great way to escape and recharge.
Wheels Up – Day One
We took off on the red eye and as exhausting as that was to get up so early… I’m glad we did it. This allowed us time to drive up the mountains after landing and also experience a FULL DAY! (it’s about an hour and half drive to Winter Park from Denver International Airport.)
As I mentioned prior we arrived a day early before our friends. We booked a hotel room here before we would all gather at our friends family home for the following days. Our hotel room was nice and cozy with a fireplace, but honestly nothing glamorous/special. We rested after our check in and later headed out for some drinks and dinner. We enjoyed ourselves for the rest of our evening here at a local inn. We sat next to the fireplace and enjoyed catching up without any interruptions.
Day Two
On this morning we work up to snow!! It was magical for this Texas girl. However, it was SO SO COLD!!! LOL My body is totally not used to living in negative temperature levels.
On this day Blake and I went snowmobiling. We opted to do this instead of skiing because of my ski accident last year. If you are new to the blog: I did a number of things to my knee during our stay last year and had surgery this past August. My knee is in no shape to ski any time soon, and honestly I probably wont try again. I really enjoyed skiing, but the risk is too high and my recovery lasted for about a year and is still on going.
Back to snowmobiling… We took our tour through this company here. The tour was amazing and we had no complaints! The sights were incredible and the experience was top notch. The tour was two hours long and I think on a day where it could be warmer this would have been a good time length. However, everyone was so incredibly cold and it made the two hour time frame feel like a lifetime. I would recommend buying hand and feet warmers if you do attend one of these tours. I was bundled up to the extreme, but it’s so windy and you aren’t generating energy to stay warm like skiing or snowboarding. LESSON LEARNED. BRRR! With that said, the sights were unreal and I really felt like I was in a winter wonderland with all the snow covered trees.
Check out all of Winter Park Activities for Winter and Summer HERE.
Later that evening our friends arrived. We were staying at Craig and Jen’s family home so we got settled in and went to dinner. We all enjoyed some wine and Indian food from here! It’s a tiny little spot but the food was amazing!
Day Three
On day three we cooked breakfast and the men headed out to the mountain to ski. Sarah and I stayed back because she’s pregnant and I wanted to play it safe away from the slopes. We relaxed all morning and enjoyed catching up. Later we met the guys for lunch at the Mary Jane Slopes and had the best AND cheapest pizza around. There isn’t an actual resort attached to Mary Jane for visitors to stay, so if you’re looking to sleep at an actual ski resort, check out Winter Park Ski Resort.
After lunch I convinced Sarah to let me take maternity pictures of her! She was entering her third trimester on our trip and I thought it would be fun to capture her and baby in the mountains! We don’t get views like that in Texas and it was too good to pass up! Thanks again Sarah for letting me capture you!
On this evening we did a group dinner at Devil’s Thumb Ranch. Devil’s Thumb is an amazing place to stay if you want a true resort luxury cabin feel. It’s a little bit further from the slopes but the drive is worth it!
The dinner we had was nice at the ranch, but I honestly think the views at Devils’ Thumb are amazing and would suggest going to lunch here instead. There is a HUGE roaring fireplace in the center of the restaurant and a large window that allows you to see the falling snow and endless mountains.
Day Four
On this day Blake had to leave early for a work trip. Before he headed out, we sat in the hot tub and enjoyed our last moments together with the mountains amazing views. For the rest of the day I stayed behind and hung out with Sarah while the guys did some more skiing. Since the men were off having fun on the slopes, we hit up Devil’s Thumb again for a little spa day. We both got a massage and enjoyed all the spa amenities. I would recommend booking your treatments in advance because they tend to fill up fast!
Let me start out by saying the massage I recieved was literally the best I’ve EVER HAD! LOL I’m usually a little ticklish when I get a massage, but I was so relaxed and the amount of pressure she used was PERFECT! Her name was Jen incase you decide to book a massage there.
After our massage we enjoyed the lounge chairs next to the fire. I enjoyed some wine and we curled up with the most amazing blankets for a few hours. I will link the blanket here. It felt like butter and was half the price of the famous Barefoot Dreams that everyone always raves about.
While sitting by the fire we discovered a table topic game:girls night out edition which I will link HERE. It was so much fun and really contained some great questions that made the conversation meaningful. I ordered them once I got back home because I enjoyed them so much! There are also also editions for certain occasions which I thought would be fun to check out as well.
Following our fireside chat I used the steam room which felt amazing! I showered afterwards and got dressed because I wanted to check out the outdoor hot tub views. I didn’t bring my bathing suit and was kicking myself at my mistake once I walked outside. With my hair still wet, I checked out and the view and it took my breath away! The cold also froze my hair solid in a matter of seconds! I’ve never experienced a hair situation like it! LOL
Day Five
On our last day we relaxed at home and got the house ready to be left. Sarah and I grabbed coffee at a local health foods store and chatted while the men spent the morning skiing.
If you are looking for a cute place to grab coffee this is the place. There was a fireplace, couches, and even some games that could be played while sipping on your coffee.
Later in the day we headed back down to mountain and headed for the airport back to Houston.
We had the best time on our trip to Colorado!! We are also so thankful to our friends Jen and Craig who invited us again to their families BEAUTIFUL mountain home!! Sharing these amazing memories with friends has been so much fun and we can’t wait for many more memories to be made together. Cheers, friends!