Recreation

What are we going to do for four days?

We're trying to be super budget conscious.  There are a few things listed below that take a little funding.

 Thursday:  This will be a snow day. The subdivision we live in is an LPS, which stands for "Land Preserve Subdivision.  Between land jointly owned by HOA members and leased state land, we have over 2,000 acres to play on.  We have some great sledding hills.  BRING YOUR SLEDS, SNOW SHOES, and CROSS COUNTRY SKIS. We have two snow mobiles to use for transporting gear, but we will discourage using them for recreation (i.e. injuring ourselves on home-made jumps...)

Friday (New Years Eve):  Bring candy and decorating supplies for gingerbread houses.  We have a request for a team competition. On Friday evening, we'd like to do some ice-skating on a pond near our house.  Bring any skates you can round up, including some to loan if you have them.

Saturday: Ski day!   Not everyone will be skiing.  There will be enough adults going to escort the older kids.  The main resort, Mt. Werner, is expensive. Unknown to visitors, we have a local hill, Howelson Hill, that is only $12/lift ticket for teens, and not much more for adults. It's a small hill, but on top of pointing out that it's a great buy for beginners, let me also point out that Howelson Hill is where the US Nordic Ski team trains. Yup, that's right. AND they took silver at the last Olypmics. (Todd Lodwick is our dentist's husband, Johnny Spillane's mom is a local teacher...) Howelson Hill is also the oldest operating ski hill in the U.S. Unlike the old days, we now have a small chair lift and and a motorized tow rope! We also have a small terrain park, and some really big jumps. (If you are accomplished, you can jump several hundred feet on them. Otherwise, you just die.)

Anyone who wants to get out and do some exploring on their own is free to go (adults, that is.  We aren't sending the kids to town alone.)  Check out: 

Shopping: Steamboat has a really fun downtown shopping area. Old fashioned main street, but incredibly modern prices. However, the most important shops are reasonable, (Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, for instance.) and there is a lot of really fun window shopping. Yummy coffee shops.

Hot Springs: Two choices. Downtown Steamboat is a really nice hot springs. $7/kids, $10/teens, $15/adults. $5 unlimited slides or $2/slide. http://www.steamboathotsprings.org/ .  There is also a really nice, rustic hot springs north of Steamboat: http://www.strawberryhotsprings.com/ . In the winter, it's required to use chains or snow tires, or take a shuttle, which is pricey. Pool entry is $3/kids, $7/teens, $10/adults.

Or, a hot air balloon ride...