I took a million pictures on our trip, so there will be lots of parts to my recap.
The condo complex we stayed in was not very busy at all and we hardly ever encountered another person. It was nice, because we were able to use the pool, hot tub, gym and pool table without any worries.
We grilled burgers on our first night and then checked out the hot tub and played games.
We had bought gondola tickets online for Beaver Creek, so the next morning we took the gondola up to the top. On the way up you had the option of taking the gondola or chair lift and our kids had never been on a chair lift, so that is what we chose. It was another gorgeous morning out and the chair lift ride was already an adventure for the kids.
Once we got to the top we decided on a little hike. This was kid friendly hike that had lots of things for the kids to interact with.
It's amazing how different it feels to walk uphill at 10,000 feet
The views were amazing
On the way down we had to take the gondola and Hannah went right for the splits again.....
We went back to the condo for lunch and then decided to ride the gondola back again in the afternoon and hang out for a while....
The clouds were moving fast and we got sprinkled on for just a few minutes.
Most afternoons we could start to smell the wildfires, because the wind was blowing harder and it got a little hazy.
The next morning we headed to Vail for a horseback riding tour. We booked private tours where we could, which was really nice.
Evan was old enough to ride all by himself. He was pretty pumped.
Nora had her own horse, but she didn't have reigns. Her horse was attached to the guides horse. She was a little sad that she couldn't "steer" by herself.
We were allowed to take our masks off during the ride, but it was SO dusty out that it felt nicer to keep them on.
A couple of our horses had a mind of their own.....Scott and Evan's horses kept trying to go off the path. At one point Evan's horse went way up and off the trail and he couldn't get it back down, so the guide went after Evan to help him out. The guide followed Evan up this steep hill followed by Nora and then we just heard Nora say "You know I am attached to you, don't you?". It was so funny!
I was right behind Scott and let's just say his horse must have eaten something it didn't agree with :)......it was another good reason to keep the mask on.
Oh boy! It kept us laughing the entire time though.
We gained quite a bit of elevation and could see the trees change. We entered the Aspen forest and it was beautiful.
It felt like we were riding through a Disney movie set.
The guide also told us that the white powder on the bark of Aspen trees can act like sunscreen, so we kept trying to get our hands on the trees and then rub it on our arms.
The enchanted forest
We all agreed that the horseback ride was way more fun than we anticipated. It was a great 1 1/2 hour tour.
Since we were already in Vail we decided to take the Vail gondola up and go for another hike. We hiked across to the other Vail gondola and then had to walk through the town back to our car. Vail was way more busy than Beaver Creek, so it was not quite as comfortable for us.
But the views at the top were great!
While hiking we got caught in another little sprinkle and it really cooled off quickly for a while.
This hike was made possible by an ice cream bribe.
We made it to the other gondola.
We walked along the creek through Vail back to our car.
We went back to the condo for dinner, hot tub and more games.
That night you could see the glow from the wild fires in the distance from our balcony.
So sad.
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