Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Snowy weekend in the 'boat

I've never had an unfun trip to Steamboat.  The town has a great vibe, we've got good friends there, and there are always a boatloat (heh, heh) of things to do there, in any season.  But to catch an iconic, classic under-forecast, machine of a winter storm is another level of fun altogether.  Add to that the fact that both kids are emerging powderhounds and you've got a recipe for non-stop smiles.

The snow started Saturday morning and pretty much kept going for 36 hours:




It was Winter Carnival in Steamboat.  They parade out all their Olympians and drag all the local kids down a snow-filled main street behind horses. But the main attraction is the Saturday night show at Howelsen.  A dude called the "Lighted Man" skis down the slope with a backpack launching fireworks, the Winter Sports Club kids all ski down in the dark, and they top it off with a fireworks show that puts the 4th of July to shame.








Sunday morning started with a quick skin of almost 2000 vertical feet to check if the snow report was right (15" in 24 hours at the summit).







Yep -- seems about right.  ;)



And a few shots of the family enjoying an all-time powder day.











Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Friday, January 25, 2013

Resuscitation

Can't say if the blog is dying a slow death or just taking a break, but at least it's alive for now.

A deep-winter family trip to Florida brought out the shorts, tee-shirts, and swim trunks along with the big camera.  We designed a trip to avoid crowded freeways and theme parks -- not an easy undertaking in the Sunshine State!

A quick overnight in Fort Lauderdale and we we're off to the everglades:

Dodging alligators on Shark Valley Road:

Alligators?  Yep -- they're used to humans, basically harmless, and impossible not to see.  But still quite a treat to check out for this Colorado family.

Here's a Mama alligator with a baby on her back:

To get the full swamp experience we booked a kayaking trip with a guide down the Turner River.  (They call it a river, and apparently water does actually flow through it, but it was more or less like paddling in a wetland/swamp).

The kids learning some swamp paddling skillz:

The paddles had to go in the boat for a few places:





A turtle in the swamp:

 And a butterfly:


From there it was on to the beach:
Not too hard to find a shell on this beach:






Z Made the most of a few small waves:

Sun and Sea put on a good show every night: