Day 4. Hello Breckenridge!

It started to snow as we approached Breckenridge,  the Nordic God of Snow Ullr (more on him later!) smiling on us, forecasting an awesome month ahead.  Endless lines of traffic headed out of town,  up the pass, through the Eisenhower Tunnel,  and back down the mountain towards Denver.   Back to work from their Christmas Holiday's in the mountains.  We smiled, perhaps a bit smug in our  knowledge that none of these folks would be ahead of us in a lift line this week!  If there are any lift lines at all!

We originally thought we would come up here to spend Christmas vacation.  It sounds so nice, doesn't it?  To be here in the mountains for the holidays;  a guaranteed white Christmas!  But honestly,  you pay 2X per day lodging at least, and then have 45-60 min lift lines to ski the rock-strewn icy slopes with 1000 guys named "Dude!".   So,  we decided to stay a lot longer for less.  And since we are staying 30 days,  we don't pay the 10.25% sales tax,  plus get one free night per week,  so this is a bargain compared to the $1000 per night Christmas rates!

The house exceeded our high expectations,  as you can see.  We arrived around 2pm, walked around the house for 30 minutes squealing like kids.  "Look at this living room!" "Oh, wow!  What a great bathroom! ....  Bedroom!  ..  And the KITCHEN! OMG!    Found the hot tub!  WOW!  Hey, there's even a sauna!"

We spent the afternoon nesting and shopping to set up house for a month (you know how it goes;  you need everything from mustard to milk).   So, no skiing yet, but the cross country area is in our back yard (aka the 12th fairway) and I will explore that in the morning (brrrrrr).

The neighborhood here is part of the "Breckenridge Highlands"community;  beautiful homes along the golf course, 5 mins from Breck and 15 mins from Keystone.   We drove around the area and it is magical;  some of the houses have dramatic views across the valley to the ski area, others have quiet settings nestled in the forest or along a stream.

The town of Breckenridge is one of the most picturesque in all of Colorado.   A charming Victorian town (ie, not built in the last 20 years!!!), full of shops, galleries, restaurants, B&Bs, ski shops, and of course plenty of bars.

I am starting to worry a bit, to be honest, that this adventure could have unintended consequences. After all,  IBM doesn't really care where I live, so long as I can go where I am needed and available 24x7 via phone and the net.   Then I remind myself:  SELF!  WAKE UP!!!  It is COLD up here 9 months out of the year!   I recall attending a July 4th celebration here in Summit County in 1993 when it snowed 6" during the fireworks over Lake Dillon.    Ahhh!  Pink Snow Cloud!  Ooohhhh!    Red Snow Cloud !!! .

So, my poolside haven in Austin still sounds pretty nice!
Lynne tells me it is Hot Tub Time!  Wahoo!   CYa!