Fun with the Finger's: Telluride, Colorado

Kelly & I just got back from a wonderful trip to Telluride, CO. We went to have a fun ski trip and were not disappointed! We left last Wednesday and were in Telluride until Sunday. It was such a nice trip for the 2 of us. Kelly had been wanting to take a ski trip out west for a while now. We had only went skiing in N.C. so we wanted to go out west where there was more trails and the most beautiful scenery. Kelly put a lot of time into planning this trip. He originally had planned for us to go to Park City, Utah, but after researching Colorado he decided on Telluride. We loved it! I was a little worried initially because after booking everything he told me that our lodge would be at an altitude of 9,500 ft. Anything above 8,000 ft can give you altitude sickness, especially going from our little 700-800 altitude straight to 9,000 ft. After talking to the resort and our family doctor, we were able to get medicine to start before the trip and during which would help. We did fine with it and other than tiring out quicker and a little messed up sleep we didn't notice much.
On Wednesday after we arrived we just took it easy and then decided to explore the town of Telluride. One of the coolest things about this place was the gondola which was the enclosed chair lift "thing" that took you into the Mountain Village or on into the town of Telluride. We were amazed at how beautiful the mountains were and the town too. I will apologize now for all the pictures! I took so many, and this is just a few but I couldn't narrow them down any more. I have been out west several times but it was still so pretty!

Our lodge...Mountain Lodge

Here is one of the gondolas...our transportation during the trip!

A view of Telluride from our gondola...coming straight down!

Houses in Telluride...I thought they were so cute and colorful!

This river runs through the city and is a big hiking spot during the summer

After dinner each night we would head back to our room and warm up! Even though we knew it was warmer than usual for Telluride, we were still freezing once the sun went down. The days were in the 30s and skiing was great, but it dropped at night and I enjoyed the fireplace in our room!
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we skied all day. Friday we did take the afternoon off to explore the town and shop. I wanted to have some daylight hours and not be totally cold :) The great thing about skiing was there were no lines. We never waited on the chair lifts and the trails are very long so you don't get tired of skiing the same trails over and over. We had plenty to cover. I had been very nervous since it had been a couple of years since I had skied but luckily we both picked it up and even got better while we were there. After 3 straight days of skiing though I think we should have :) Our thighs were glad to stop on Saturday afternoon. I probably took pictures of the same spots over and over but the views were fantastic! I enjoyed looking at the pretty houses along the trails too. Here are some of our ski pictures.

This was a rest spot at the top of the mountain...High Camp

Another fabulous view

This trail went down into the town of Telluride, you can see a little of the town. It was a black diamond so we skipped it:)

Riding the chair lift up the mountain

Another part of Telluride was the Mountain Village. This was right up from our lodge and it has more resorts & hotels, restaurants, and shops. We ate in Mountain Village our last night there. I also had fun taking pictures at night. As you can tell we just really enjoyed ourselves and our little time away. I sure did miss the girls though and we were so glad to see them once we got home. They were in bed so we had to wait until Monday morning. We both decided that our next ski trip will definitely include Cohen. I watched so many young kids in the ski schools and that really made me want to bring her.
While we were in Telluride, it was clear the entire time! We missed out on seeing it snow and I even took a picture of one sign in town saying, "Pray for Snow". I'm just glad we missed out on the negative temps that were there earlier in the week before we arrived. Everyone we talked too said it was so cold that you couldn't stand to be out in it. On Saturday after we were finished skiing, we spent some time in the hot tub. It is really something to be in a bathing suit when its 30 degrees outside. I kept telling Kelly no until that last day and I compromised on going during the day instead of at night when it was colder. It was very nice and we did get hot, but we got a kick out of ourselves walking back down the hill to our cabin in bathrobes and Nikes. I don't think cute winter dresses work out there too much, at least not for me. At night we had thermals on under our clothes so it was a pants night! I loved it though and I do hope to go back to Telluride one day!

A view of the slopes where we skied in & out of each day

Coming into Mountain Village on the gondola

the CUTEST phone booth...I was amazed to still see phone booths!

Mountain Village during the day

Our view from our balcony

Some Fun Night time shots

our lodge

Looking over the slopes into Mountain Village and a view of Mountain Lodge

Mountain Village

The ice skating rink in Mountain Village

Sunrise...you can see where it is starting to hit the mountain. I think this picture would almost look like a b/w if not for that little bit of sunlight.