Denver, CO to Breckenridge, CO
We woke up the next morning to texts from Mike’s stepdad, Mark, confirming that they had arrived in Denver and would meet us in Breckenridge that day! As a Christmas gift Mike and his brother treated his mom and Mark to a ski vacation. This is the 3rd trip like this we’ve taken and it’s always so much fun!
The two hour drive through the Rockies wasn’t too bad - luckily the weather cooperated. It’s funny that when we are faced with a two hour drive now we think it’s nothing, piece of cake, we’ll be there in no time.
We arrived in Breck a little too early to check in so of course we went to the dog park! Merlin was burying his face in the snow and plowing around, and he ended up caked from head to toe! One of the other park patrons told us to look for Musher's Wax in the local pet stores and use it on his paws to prevent snowballing. This turned out to be a hot tip - we got it and it's awesome! Highly recommended for shaggy dogs in snow country!
Next we met up with Barb and Mark at our home for the week - Beaver Run Resort. We chose Beaver Run because it is a ski in/ski out resort, dog friendly and offered a reasonable price. I had planned this part of the trip and was a little nervous to make sure everyone was happy with the accommodations. Our suite was perfect and just what we needed with a full kitchen and a comfortable dining/living room. We had great views of the mountains from our bedroom windows!
Once we were settled we walked downtown to catch the Ullr fest parade. Ullr is the nordic god of winter and Breckenridge holds an annual festival (and many parties) to repay him for his gift of snow! We happened to arrive on the big night of the parade and town bonfire!
The parade was awesome with lots of merriment and imbibing - within the parade and in the streets. Two standout floats were the Forest Gump themed float and the mini ski jump, where little kids actually ski-jumped off the float and onto the road! Merlin also spotted a Sasquatch!
Following the parade we stopped at the big town bonfire where people donate their used Christmas trees to pile on the fire! It was an incredible site to see all those trees lit up, and the silhouettes of everyone’s horned Ullr hats.
Later we grabbed some pizza and prepped for our first day on the slopes!
