Thanksgiving Colorado Visit

For Thanksgiving break my mother, father, and I went to visit my brother In Colorado. He just recently moved there to work at one of the hotels in Beaver Creek.  We took a very early flight from Madison to Denver which is about three hours from Vail.

 We stayed in a very nice hotel called the Chateau. Our hotel room had a full kitchen, two bedrooms, and a living room with a fireplace. My room was really similar to a bunk room but it also had just a normal bed next to the bunk bed. Th hotel had a ski locker and a spa.

The first three days of skiing we went to Vail which is a fairly large mountain. The runs there were not very hard. While we were there it snowed most of the time and one of the days was a complete whiteout. We went skiing another four days at Beaver Creek which is a much smaller mountain and the majority of the runs are green. There is also another ski hill called Bachelor Gulch which is much smaller and leads to the Ritz Carlton. All of the days we were at Beaver Creek it was incredibly nice and sunny.

Since my brother just moved there he had not moved into his apartment and he was just staying at the hotel. We spent a few days moving my brother into his apartment. we got him a couch and other apartment essentials. My brother had to work really late on Thanksgiving so we had to have dinner at eleven o'clock (yikes).

After a whole week, we had to go home. The flight back home was really smooth and we got home without any issues. -Zobug:)

European Vacation 2014 Part 5

This was my favorite part of the trip. After our last part of the trip we drove to Grindelwald, Switzerland. We took the train to Kleine Sheidegg. It is at the base of the north face of the Eiger. That is the steepest side of the mountain. There are two other large mountains: the Monch and the Jungfrau. The Jungfrau is the tallest of the three. There was a very old hotel at the base in which we stayed. The hotel was very small and quaint. There were many hiking trails right next to the hotel. The hotel provided breakfast and dinner, they had lunch,but it was extra. One of the days we were there we took a very long hike down the hill to one of the towns, Manlichen. The hike was about five hours down and about twenty minutes taking a train up. The hike down was spectacular! There were many waterfalls flowing down the mountains because we were there during the spring. We had a small lunch in Manlichen. One of the small excursions we had was to the top of the Jungfrau where they have an observatory. It has three restaurants and many other amenities. It has an ice sculpture room and a place where you can walk through the history of the Jungfrau. Back at the hotel, the World Cup was happening. Almost every night we could head down to the lobby and watch a game. One night it was Germany versus America. We were the only people cheering  for America which made it quite unfortunate when we learned how competitive the people it the hotel were.  Sadly, our vacation was coming to a close. It was time to head back home. The flights back were uneventful and we got back incredibly late. Once the flight landed we just drove home and went to bed. This is the end of the European Vacation series! -Zobug:)

European Vacation 2014 Part 4

During the fourth part of our trip we had a few longer stops. Right after we left the Alsace region, we drove to the Burgundy region of France. There we stayed in a chateau with the extended family on my dad's side. Every year we stay in a very large house that can include the entire family of about twenty. When I was little, we were in Montana and drew our names out of a hat to pick the future trips. This year was my year to pick with my cousin's husband. He has family in France, so he decided it would be nice to go visit them. The chateau was from the medieval era. and all stone. I stayed in the side that had all of my cousins (that are not married) and my brother. The chateau had a pool and a small playground for my cousins' children. The food throughout the entire area was phenomenal. One day we visited the town where my favorite mints are made. The town was called Flavigny. Every mint has an anise seed in the middle of it. The seed is coated in layers and layers of flavored sugar! The company was started by a monk in the 1500s. The lady who owns Flavigny Mints even showed us the how they make the mints. They come in so many flavors, I can't even name them all. The town was adorable, and we saw a dog that looked just like ours. The local people of the town make lunch that is served in the square. After lunch we headed straight back to the chateau. We dropped my brother off at the airport to go back home since he had to work. In this region of France they are known for the wine that they produce. I opted not to go on any winery tours, but the rest of my family went on many tours. At one point my grandma's family that lives in Evian, France came to have lunch with my Grandma. She had not seen her cousin in ten years to they decide to have a reunion. This part of the vacation was really relaxing for me because we were not constantly traveling. -Zobug :)