Winter Vacay Ideas
With the weather turning very chilly here in Colorado and us girls having to spend more and more time in the house, I'm already getting cabin fever! Kody and I decided to start researching places to take a little family vacation before we have to hunker down for winter. We decided we wanted to stay in Colorado since leaving for more than a couple days is always hard when there's cattle and horses to be fed and we hate having to have a friend feed for more than a day or too. Plus, you never know when a crazy Colorado blizzard will hit and we just don't want to be completely out of reach of our ranch if that happens. So looking at place in the mountains, I got excited when I googled "Colorado Winter Family Vacations" and found so many great places to look into. I'd love to be able to go skiing or snowboarding myself, but with two very small kiddos, I really want us to stay together as a family instead of pawning off my kids to a daycare at a resort for the day. Of course, I know that my girls are very young and they most likely won't remember all of the fun stuff we had, but that's why I love pictures! I can show them when they're grown that we did indeed take them off the ranch occasionally!!!
So my little Google search brought up a few great places. Most of them I've visited before we had kids, but every parent knows that experiencing a place with your child for the first time is super special. These are the top 3 places that we're looking into:
1. Colorado Springs- Okay, so I've been here a million times because if your in the world of rodeo, more than once you will have a barrel race or rodeo to go to around Colorado Springs. But there is so much to do!
For this trip a must-see would have to be the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. I got to go to this zoo once when I was a kid and let's just say this zoo blows the Denver Zoo out of the water! All of the animals are up close and you feel like you're actually getting to experience them instead of just peering down at them from above. Plus, you get to feed the giraffes! 'Nuff said! Also, starting in December they have what they call Electric Safari where they open the park at night and have campfires and lights strung all over.
Besides just staying in any old hotel, I thought it'd be fun to look into a cabin or lodge accommodations. Just west of Colorado Springs, I found Rocky Mountain Lodge and Cabins. This is set up with an outdoor hot tub and beautiful mountain views.
On our way down or back up from Colorado Springs, I'm super stoked to check out the new indoor park that just opened in Castle Rock. The Phillip S. Miller Park sounds like a toddler's dream land with swimming pools, trampoline park, and adventure playground.
2. Copper Mountain- When I think of winter fun with a toddler, I think of tubing. And when I think of tubing, I think of a big monster hill with a lift that will conveniently tow you and your tube back to the top of the hill. The biggest hill that we have around the ranch is the manure pile behind the barn and of course there's no lift to bring me up to the top, so we must venture out to find the conveniences that I require. That's where Copper Mountain comes in!
Not only does Copper Mountain have an awesome tubing hill for the older crowd but they have what they call Critterland for kiddos under '36 inches tall. This features a tubing carousel, snow tunnel park and a mini tubing hill. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get Sheridan to leave!
The other great thing about Copper is that you can lodge right there at the park. East village looks like it's the closest to the tubing hill and Critterland, so we'd probably look into staying around there.
3. Steamboat Springs- I'm pretty sure Steamboat offers the total package when it comes to truly experiencing a Colorado winter vacation. It of course has an amazing tubing hill which sounds a little more parent/tot friendly, meaning they let you sail down the mountain with your kiddo. As well as you can take a horse-drawn sled ride. I think of bundling up in a sled with my hubby and two girls and maybe have some hot chocolate to-go and racing behind a trusty steed and taking in the beautiful Colorado winter scenery! Awe, sounds like a dream! And to top off this winter wonderland, something I've always wanted to do is go on a dog sledding tour! They seem to run a little pricey, but I think it'd be worth the cost.
Timberline Lodge looks like a great place to stay in the 'Boat and this condo looks ideal for a mid-price stay. It's got a heated indoor pool and hot tub and the space looks really nice. Everything is close by and resturants are right around the corner.
Where does your family like to go on vacation in the winter? Somewhere warm? Or are you like us, do you like to actually like to partake in winter? I'm open to suggestions!
'Till next time,
Cooped Up Cowboy's Wife- Candace