Breckenridge, Colorado

So, I did a thing.

It was research.

My family was lucky enough to be invited to stay in a friend's townhome in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Colorado, you say??

Uh, yes please!

So, we all quarantined and drove out.

I've never been to Colorado, and if you've never been there either I have one piece of advice- GO. It's...stunning. That's the only way I could describe it. I was really impressed by the way they were handling Covid, too. Masks were required EVERYWHERE. Even outside on Main street and on the ski slopes. There were limits for how many people could be in the shops, and all of the restaurants had takeout and/or outdoor seating.

And also, take advantage of the bottles of oxygen they sell everywhere, unless of course, you already live at a high altitude and you're used to it. As you know, I'm a chubby girl, but I do exercise on a regular basis and my lungs are actually in pretty good shape. At least, I thought they were, until I got to 9,000 feet above sea level.

One of the ladies who worked in a store there told me it took her three weeks to acclimate to the higher altitude. Alas, we were only there for two. But seriously, I'd get all out of breath rolling over in bed. LOL

This trip played in perfectly with the fact that I was about to start writing a new shifter book! AND, it's a Christmas novella that needed a location where there was snow.

Now, most of y'all know I live right outside of Austin, TX. Snow is not a normal thing here. HOWEVER, three days after I left for Colorado, we got the worst snow and ice storms here that we've seen in maybe 30 years, and I missed it all. But the worst part about it was my oldest was here at our house alone with our two pets. He lost power for FOUR days in single digit temps, and the roads were so bad we couldn't even get home to help him.

WE ARE NOT BUILT FOR THAT IN TEXAS.

Luckily, he survived, as did our furbabies, and actually looked at the whole thing like an adventure. (I was freaking out, but he did good.)

So, that's when the vacation really started...

First, we went on a sleigh ride! It started really snowing while we were out, too. But luckily, we had lots of blankets.

Our horses names were Chicken and Waffles. Fun fact- Did you know a single draft horse can pull up to 8,000 lbs?? I didn't either until I googled it because I was concerned about these babies.

We went tubing! This was SO much fun. We were at the top of the ski slopes, and it was SO gorgeous. The pictures don't do it justice.

Also, you'll see my youngest sister rocking our Mom's yellow ski suit from the 80s. She got so many compliments. LOL And my little 4 yr-old niece was fearless. (Why, yes. She IS wearing a unicorn hat because why not?)

I've got some video of this on my Instagram: https://Instagram.com/LEWilsonAuthor

Luckily, they didn't make us walk back up.

One of the best parts? Snowmobiling 2 miles up! Yes, we were at 12,000 feet above sea level. It was awesome.

My goggles were totally sliding down here...LOL

Here we're posing in front of Mt. Elbert (14,440 ft above sea level) and Mt. Massive (14,428 ft above sea level), the two highest peaks of the Rocky Mountains.

All in all it was an amazing trip, even if we were somewhat limited in our activities because, you know, Covid. So there was no eating out, no group activities too close to other people etc. but we still had a great time and it was SO good to get out of the house and refill my creative well! I started working on the new Christmas novella while we were there, and I'm totally loving the process again!

The novella won't be out until around the holidays, but I've got lots of other stuff planned for this year!! I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Much love,

L.E. (and Joe Joe!)