Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Boulder Getaway


We had such a great time on this trip. Josh and I haven't been away, not visiting family in some capacity since Europe....wow.

Even if it was only for a long weekend getaway, it was so fun, and we so needed it! Both have such stressful jobs and feel we are time starved...sometimes we don't even get a chance to talk for more than half an hour on a given day!

We drove to Osceola Iowa, little dinky town an hour south of Des Moines. I was in a bit of a panic because I was driving back from Omaha that day, and we only had a few hours to meet up, get our luggage and head south before the train arrived. Well...little did I know how non-stressful train travel is. Show up at the station and get on!

We got there way too early, so headed to try and find something for dinner. There are about 3 restaurants in Osceola...one of which is attached to the casino. So, we had sub-par local food and drove around. Fell in LOVE with this house...built in 1897 and for sale. $285K and its yours :)


So, after dinner headed back to the station and charged our phones, took silly pictures while we waited.



The train depot was like stepping back in time. Really cool to think about who had traveled through here. Looked as if some of the information boards hadn't been updated since the 70s :)

We got on the train and it was nothing like I suspected. 20ish cars from front to back, all double decker. It was actually really nice inside with our own little sleeper car. The first few cars were "coach" with big seats, then an observation car, dining cars and then the sleeper cars on the end. We got on, loaded our bags on and checked out the dining car where I got some ice cream :)



The room wasn't spacious by any stretch. I am sitting opposite Josh. The two chairs fold into a bed, and then an upper bunk drops down. When the beds are unfolded you have about 8 inches to maneuver with the door closed. Was an adventure trying to sleep at night on a rocking train! It wasn't loud, just shaky :) We got on at 7pm and woke up at 7am in Denver, pretty cool! We watched movies, and hung out in the observation car, then got up and had breakfast...pretty cool way to travel!

I found a cute bed and breakfast near Eldora Ski Resort called Alps Boulder Mountain Inn. We took a cab to Garys and he was nice enough to lend us his truck! Then we headed to boulder and attempted to check in our room. Since it was like 9, we had no luck, so we went skiing instead!







The snow and weather were great! By the end of the day I had to remove layers because I was sweating!! I fell less than 10 times, and only had one bad one where I hurt my wrist a bit. Josh didn't fall once...stinker!

Since we were on vacation, we didn't bring lunch....josh's burger and my sandwich with chips for both of us and a drink was like $40! HOLY MONOPOLY! Oh well, we were hungry :)

By the end of the day we were pooped, and the snow was starting to get really slushy...that makes for an unfun day of falling.




We were a little worried on the drive up as there was hardly any snow! I know it was the end of march...but luckily when we reached the top the mountain had plenty.


That night we headed into Boulder and found a place for dinner. I was really tired, so we settled on a place that could actually seat us...wait times are crazy there!

I had a caprese thing, which was okay...wouldn't recommend the chophouse to anyone.


The next day we toured some of the local alcohol makers. This place makes vodka from potatoes! All done in house. The brains behind the operations is a chemist and he figured out how to do this and constructed all the distillery pieces you see.




If it were legal, I dare say that Josh would be doing this in our basement...the science behind it was quite interesting! That evening we went to the Med and had an awesome dinner! You get to order little sample plates of things for like $2, so I ordered a bunch :) It had a Mediterranean theme, so was in heaven!

After shopping, and getting our toenails done (well I tricked Josh into getting his clipped and filed and having his caluses removed cheese grater style) we saw a movie. Actually got to see two on this trip! That is just crazy as we hardly have time to even watch a TV show together.

Sunday was just a lazy day, we read, went on a 5ish mile hike, rented some bikes and rode along the river (not bad for three gear bikes!)


The




Even though it was easter we headed to a local pedestrian market where we saw some "artistic" types working the crowd. One guy had a fire act that was more about funny than fire. Entertaining to say the least. I enjoyed looking in the local shops, especially this AMAZING spice store.


They grind their own spices and have unique blends you can buy..we definitely brought some home!

That night we had sushi and it was quite delish!


Monday we just took it easy and drove back to Denver. We went to the Denver natural history and science museum. Luckily because we have a membership in Iowa we got in free vs. $17/person...I love a good deal! That took the better part of the day and was pretty fun. They had so many dinosaur bones, the boys would have loved it!

We got to hang out with Gary and Susanne that night for a bit. Gary took Josh for a spin in his Tesla, and gave him a tour of his extremely techy house!

Then we went to dinner at a Brazillian meat place, pretty good!


We did the train in reverse on the way home. I slept a little better as we bought earplugs, but wouldn't say it was restful by any stretch! I had an interview for JCSD the following day so was stressing the whole trip, especially if the train had been late (which it wasn't.)

So fun to spend some time with my hubby, nice to remember that putting aside all the kid activities, logistics, and work we still have a good time doing nothing together :)

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