Meeting a Fellow Blogger in the Mountains

I was happy to receive a message on my phone that a blogger who lives in Manhattan was going to be visiting Breckenridge, Colorado, for a week and asked if my husband and I had some time to visit.  She wasn't sure how far away we were from that pretty ski town but we told her it was totally doable and set a time and date. I was a little worried that she would feel a bit of a headache and tired from the high elevation--NYC is at sea level and the town of Breckenridge is at 9600 feet (2926 m), and gave her some high altitude hints and told her to take her first few days easy.   We set off for our visit by driving west on Interstate 70 up into the Rockies!  I always love the view you see in the photos above as we approach the Genesee area. (All photos and collages will enlarge when clicked on)

The drive up is always beautiful, especially when the mountains are still snow-capped.

When we drove into Breckenridge I saw that the gondolas that go up to the ski lodge were not moving.  We found out that this was a shoulder season between winter and summer activities at the lodges so they were on a break until later in June.

 

Pat on the left, Carol on the right

Here we are! Carol Zwick of the blog "Buttercup Counts Her Blessings" and I was meeting again after quite a few years!  It was so good to see her and we had a lot to talk about.

We had lunch together at a local bistro in Breckenridge and we then decided to take a drive over scenic Hoosier Pass into Fairplay.   The pass is located on the Continental Divide at the northern end of the Mosquito Range, at an (elevation of 11,542 ft (3,518 m))

We went to the town of Fairplay, located in South Park, at an elevation of 9,953 feet (3,034 m). We were told not to miss their dramatic new sign at the junction of US 285!  The sign gives homage to the fact that the town was founded during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush days.  The town was named by settlers who were upset by the generous mining claims given to the earliest prospectors and promised a more equitable system for its residents

We visited the South Park City Museum in Fairplay. I love this outdoor museum that consists of actual Gold Rush era and pioneer buildings that have been restored and preserved. There are forty-four authentic buildings filled with over 60,000 vintage artifacts that were donated by local Coloradans, and that portray most of the economic and social aspects of boomtown life. Seven of the buildings are on their original sites; the others have been moved from abandoned camps and ghost towns in South Park.  We were told that soon another building would be added to the museum--a county jail!  I've blogged about South Park City Museum before--click here.

The gold and silver mining aspect of the South Park area is shown in many exhibits...

...as well as what everyday life was like during those times from 1860 to 1900.

I could have spent hours examing all the authentic vintage artifacts! Each building has displays!

There are also displays about the Native Americans who once lived and hunted in South Park. The displays above are arrowheads and spear points found in the area.

After our visit to the South Park City Museum, it was time to drive Carol back to Breckenridge. We returned over Hoosier Pass, enjoying the mountains vistas until we reached her hotel.

It was a wonderful day in the Rockies!  We enjoyed seeing Carol again and catching up on New York City news, and I know she enjoyed seeing a part of Colorado she's never visited before and learning some Colorado history at the South Park City Museum.

What is new around here? This past week I enjoyed wonderful birthday celebrations with my family! My husband and our youngest granddaughter and I all have birthdays in early June, so there was lots of cake and lots of fun.  My roses began to bloom on my birthday--always a pleasure to see, and it is the baby fawn season! Aren't they cute?

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A Quick Trip to Breckenridge

In these days of "safer at home," due to the novel coronavirus still being very active, my husband and I have not been going out too frequently, except for food shopping every week or quick visits with our immediate family using social distancing. It has been a strange beginning of the summer for that reason, as we would have traveled quite a few places already if there had been no restrictions. Honestly, we both worry quite a bit about not having a good outcome if we were to get ill with COVID, so staying home seems a better alternative right now.

But that fact doesn't mean we can't relive some wonderful memories that I never had a chance to blog about! In August 2019, my husband's sister and brother-in-law visited us for a week from their home in Arizona, and we drove them to some of our favorite places while they were visiting.  We were excited to drive to the ski resort town of Breckenridge one day, which is about an hour and a half drive from our home.  Since Breckenridge is so close to where we live we've visited it many times in the seven years we've lived in Colorado.  We've seen it in all seasons,  We saw the winter ice castles, took a sleigh ride, saw the snow sculpture competition, and enjoyed the summer fun park and hiking on the mountains top when my older brother and sister-in-law visited, which included a thrilling ride down a mountain on a snowcat during a thunder and lightning storm!  If you want to see those posts you can scroll through all them all on this search label on my blog: Breckenridge.

The view in the photo above is the iconic first view of the Rocky Mountains from Interstate 70 going west.  It never fails to take my breath away!

Traveling west we cut through the Colorado foothills.

Every now and then we could see tall peaks peeking through on the horizon.

Mountain driving is always an adventure! We drive through the continental divide through the Eisenhower Tunnel.  At an elevation of 11,158 feet, (3,401m), it is the highest vehicular tunnel in the US, and the longest mountain tunnel and the highest point on the US Interstate Highway System.  The downward grade is rather steep on exiting the tunnel, so there are quite a few "runaway truck ramps" on the side of the road in case a truck loses its brakes.

We soon begin to see ski runs on the mountain slopes as we approach Breckenridge.

 As soon as we drove into town we decided to take the gondola ride up to the ski resort village.

The mountains of Breckenridge have 5 peaks, 187 trails, 2,908 acres, and the highest lift-served terrain in North America. The resort village has dining, an alpine slide, and other rides, a ski chair lift, horseback riding, rafting, golf, fishing, etc. We had lunch at the grill and had hoped to take the chair lift to the top of the mountain to see the views and hike a bit, but, unfortunately, our brother-in-law began to experience some altitude sickness.   Since we were over 12,000 feet elevation we knew we had to go back down to the town's lower elevation where he would feel better, and took the gondola ride back down.

We gave our brother-in-law water and he rested at the Breckenridge Welcome Center, where he felt much better. He told us to go on and enjoy the town so we took a quick walk up and down the main street to show my sister-in-law the sights.

The Victorian core of this former mining town is preserved as the Breckenridge National Historic District, running primarily along Main Street, with colorfully painted buildings from the 1880s and '90s housing shops, galleries, and restaurants.

A vintage wagon

The town is very scenic!

A couple of interesting sculptures--click on the photo to enlarge it and read about "Tom's Baby"

Since we did not want to leave our brother-in-law sitting alone at the Welcome Center for too long we soon returned and drove back to our home which is at a lower elevation of around 6,000 feet on the front range. He was fine--except for a slight lingering headache.

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Back to our house and feeling 100% better!

My sister-in-law found the funny t-shirt for him in a Breckenridge shop and we all had a good laugh about our dizzy high altitude adventure!

Happy 4th of July!

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International Snow Sculptures in Breckenridge, Colorado

On a  beautiful sunny day last week my husband and I and oldest granddaughter, plus some friends, drove up to Breckenridge, Colorado to view the 27th annual International Snow Sculptures.

All photos in this post will enlarge if clicked on, for easier viewing of details.

When we first moved to Colorado four years ago one of the first things we did was to visit the Ice Castle in Breckenridge--see this post--but since that attraction is no longer available, most likely seeing the annual Snow Sculptures will become a tradition for us. 

This year, International Snow Sculpture Championship was sponsored by Toyota and the sculpturing began January 24-28. Public viewing took place January 28-February 5th, 2017.  The abundant warm Colorado sunshine begins to deteriorate the snow sculptures after they are completed, even if the air temperature is cold, so viewing time is limited. 

The inaugural International Snow Sculpture Championships began in 1991 in the ski town of Breckenridge, and over the years the reputation of the event grew and it attracted many competitors from around the world.  The applicants submit drawings and the theme of the sculptures they hope to make and the top design teams, consisting of four members for each team, are chosen from those applications.

The chosen team of artists from each country are required to use only hand tools to carve their design from a 20 + ton cube of snow that measures 10 by 10 by 12 feet tall.  The teams do not compete for cash prizes, instead they are given first, second and third places medallions, and ribbons. The artists are given a stipend to help cover their travel expenses and are provided with lodging and meals during the competition.  It is definitely pride in their artistry, and the thrill of being chosen to compete, that motivates the teams!

The snow sculptures are located in the area around the Breckenridge Riverwalk Center, at 150 West Adams Avenue. During the sculpting week visitors to the event can vote for the People's Choice by giving a dollar donation for one vote. The money goes towards supporting the International Snow Sculpture Championships.

USA Breckenridge sculpture was entitled "Life Saver," and depicts the National Ski Patrol, first established in 1938.  It won the "Kids Choice Award" from votes from children who came to see the exhibit.

Mexico -- Xiuhmolpilli -- The Prehispanic Century

Team Sweden won the Silver Medal with their "4(Ever) Wheels Reflection." This sculpture depicted two cars tied together, and expression of both freedom and dependency.
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Turkey -- Wormholes of the Universe

USA Loveland -- Square Root

Team Mongolia-Erdene won the Bronze Medal for "We are One Family." This sculpture reflected the idea of animals coexisting with humans and nature.  This sculpture also tied with Mongolian-Tserendash sculpture below.

The second tie "Artist Choice" winner was this sculpture entitled "Before It's Too Late, Protect Earth From Today." This reflected the idea that protection of the earth and its animals are in our hands. This snow sculpture also won the "People's Choice" award from votes from visitors to the exhibit.

Great Britain -- Spiritual Beasts of the North Wind

USA- Vermont -- (What's Your) Sine Wave

Finland -- The Swan of Tuonela

Team China won the Gold Medal with their sculpture entitled "Mermaid" that depicted a mermaid swimming underwater among fish.

USA - Wisconsin -- Transcendence

Germany -- Process of Adaptation

Iceland --Ancestry in Ice

India-Callisto -- The Making

Italy -- Stop!

This sculpture of a Snow Cat Truck was built as an extra non judged sculpture by the staff for children to go inside and slide down a snow slide. Obviously, this was our granddaughter's favorite sculpture of all!

I enjoyed seeing all the sculptures and could not pick one favorite, although I thought quite a few were exceptional. Did you see one that you particularly liked?

After viewing the International Snow Sculptures we had lunch in town with our friends before we returned home. Breckenridge is a pretty town to visit any time of the year, and you can see more about it on my blog on this post when we visited it for the first time, or when we visited with relatives in the summer and went down the alpine slide and hiked on one of the mountain tops on this post, or when we went for a sleigh ride on this post, or this past summer when we again visited the town with relatives and I also met a fellow blogger who lives in Breckenridge.  As you can see, we love Breckenridge!

I'm still editing photos from the Princess Cruise to Western Mexico that we recently returned from--hope to show you some photos from that trip on my next post.

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