We picked up and drove through Denver up to Summit County today. It was a good day for a drive and a lot snowier than we expected. The temperature kept dropping the farther we got. We went from a scenic little lake like this,

to a winter wonderland a few miles up the road.

I loved being back up in the mountains. It’s been at least five years since I’ve been skiing up in this country. We couldn’t have gone skiing this time around even if we wanted to. For one thing, all ski resorts were closed even though they’re still getting a lot of snow. For another thing, all I had to wear was a sweatshirt. I didn’t bring a coat.

I was actually complemented on my toughness while perusing through the local shops. One of the workers was telling us how he knew we were from somewhere cold because we weren’t dressed for it. He called us Michiganders hearty. He may have been trying to make a sale. It didn’t work, but I was flattered.

It wasn’t terribly cold, but every so often the wind would pick up. We asked the local tourist info shop about what types of things there were to do since there was still snow on the ground. I hadn’t counted on the snow and was expecting to at least be able to do some hiking. She said we could watch people shovel snow or at most, go snowshoeing but she seemed to steer us away from any idea of setting foot out onto a mountain trail. Apparently, it wasn’t obvious to her just how hearty we were.

Instead, we drove another twenty minutes down to Breckenridge. It’s got a cool little ski-town atmosphere, and plenty of in-town distractions to avoid the frozen-tourist-found-dead-in-the-woods special on the news that night. While we were walking through town, we were greeted by a little fox who casually hopped onto the sidewalk, looked both ways, then strolled across the street like he did it every day. I need to teach my dog that trick.

We took our time, wandering through town and taking pictures, drinking beer, and stuffing our faces with barbequed pork. It was fantastic. In the late afternoon, we booked a hotel in Dillon. I stayed in this once while skiing years ago, and remembered the outdoor hot tub with the gorgeous view. This time, it was made even more gorgeous by another fox I happened to capture in the hot tub.

The hot tub did us in. A short nap turned into a couple hours of full-body grogginess brought on by the previous 16 hour day of driving. After that, we hit the Dam Brewing Company for a few more beers and prime rib, then called it a night. A great day, all around.

Our original plan was to make Summit County a two day adventure with all sorts of outdoorsy things to do. Instead, we’re thinking about heading out tomorrow through Utah to tackle Arches National Park for a day. That arid desert will be a big shift from today’s snow.