Our grandchildren are our pride and joy, we love spending time with them. For their 16th birthday, we decided to take them on special trips of their choice. Our granddaughters chose Hawaii, Parker wanted to try snow skiing for the first time. He invited his younger brother, Blake, to join him.

“There’s nothing like a grandchild to put a smile on your face, a lump in your throat and a warm feeling in your heart.”

We started planning the trip in August and found a good deal on the flights.  Though everything else was quite pricey. We stayed at a ski-in/ski-out hotel near the ski slopes, where the boys could easily access the lifts and trails. Other than flights and hotel, we also pre-paid for the IKON ski lift passes and the ski equipment rental. As expensive as the trip turned out to be, it was worth it because we value memories more than things. We know that our grandchildren will soon grow up and have their own lives, and we want to cherish every moment we can with them. Blake, our youngest grandson, even worries that we might be too old to take him on his 16th birthday trip.

Our trip started on Saturday, December 30^th with an early morning flight from DFW airport.  Alarms rang out at 4:30 am, earlier for Karl, our son-in-law, who kindly drove us to the airport.  We were all excited and heard no complaints about the early start. Arrived early enough to enjoy breakfast at the DFW airport. 

Once arriving at Steamboat’s nearby Hayden Airport, we took an Uber to our hotel. We checked in and rushed to our scheduled rental equipment fitting appointment. Afterward, we had some time to eat and unpack before taking a shuttle to Saddleback Ranch https://saddlebackranch.net/winter-activities/ for snow tubing fun. We had been there before with Lily, our granddaughter, and had a blast. We wanted to share the same experience with the boys.

The boys were so tired from the long day that they fell asleep on the shuttle ride (approximately 45 minutes) to the tubing activities. They woke up refreshed and ready to slide down the hill. There were four different trails to choose from and a motorized cable lift that hooked to the tubes and pulled us up to the hilltop.  It was so much fun!  We enjoyed hot chocolate at the end!

The next morning, we once again had to set alarms to rise early. The boys had a ski school lesson at 9:30 am. They had to get dressed, eat breakfast, and catch the gondola to Greenhorn Ranch, where the ski school was located. Parker wanted Blake to be in the same class as him, even though they were different ages. The instructor agreed to let Blake join the 16-17-year-olds but warned that he might have to switch levels according to how they progressed. We watched the boys for an hour, taking pictures and videos. They had a full-day lesson, 9:30 am to 3 pm, with lunch included.  Parker said the lunch was served on trays “like prison food” and it did not taste any better than it looked, but this was their only complaint about the ski school.

The boys did very well and admitted that they had originally thought that it was going to be boring, they were pleasantly surprised that it was fun.  There is a magic carpet (moving conveyer belt) that takes the ski students up another level with more of an incline than the beginner-beginner area. The instructor praised them for advancing from beginner to level 6 in a short time. Blake easily kept up and was able to stay with the older kids the whole day. We were very proud of them and happy to see how much they enjoyed themselves.  Parker met a boy and his girlfriend who were in the class together, learning a little about them.  He asked, “Nana, would you let me bring my girlfriend on a trip?”  Nana’s reply was “only if we had separate rooms, larger sleeping accommodations!” 

This second day of the trip was also New Year’s Eve.  After ski school, we all got ready for the evening’s festivities, which included a parade, fireworks, and dinner. The parade started at 5:15 pm at Steamboat Square at the base of the ski mountain. We watched as the snow plows that usually are there to groom the mountain ski trails paraded down the slope, decorated with lights and moving to the rhythm of the music.  There was a D.J. playing music in the square.  After the snow plows, dozens of Steamboat staff skied down holding red torches in each hand which created a spectacular sight. The crowd was singing along to “I Got a Feeling” by Black Eyed Peas, and we joined in.  The fireworks were the grand finale, and they too were amazing. It was the most fun New Year’s Eve we ever had. There were so many people and an announcement from the D.J. that there was a wedding proposal on the stage, what a joyful memorable evening.

We had dinner reservations at Timber & Torch https://www.steamboat.com/things-to-do/dining/timber-and-torch, a restaurant near the square. We had booked them in advance, but we had some trouble with them. They called us twice to change our reservation time and then to cancel it because they were over-booked. We didn’t get the third call, so we showed up at 6:15 pm, our rescheduled time from the original 7 pm reservation. Luckily, they still had a table for us. We had a nice meal, not too fancy, but not cheap either. We toasted to Parker’s birthday and the New Year and shared a birthday yummy dessert.

The next day, we all four went skiing for the first time. Papa and Nana bought a 2-day ski lift pass and rented ski equipment for two days. We took the gondola to the Greenhorn Ranch ski school area, where the boys said there were easy bunny slopes. Nana tried a couple of runs, but she realized it was not for her so she called it a day, and for the rest of the trip, she took most of these wonderful pictures. Papa, on the other hand, still had a lot of energy for a 73-year-old and he skied with the boys for most of the day, going from the practice area to a long green trail down the mountain.  The boys initially planned to ski down together, but as Nana watched from the outdoor patio area at the bottom of the slope, she first saw Blake arrive, a few minutes later, Parker arrived, and about 15 minutes later, lastly Papa.  As she sat with a few newly met friends, they along with a large group of skiers watched as Papa stripped his coat off so he could pull his bibs back up, the elastic bib straps totally off his shoulders, causing the bibs to fall to around his knees.  Quite a funny site, but thankfully he has a sense of humor, and after all, we were all very proud of him for making it down the slope.

On Papa’s second and last full day of skiing, we took the gondola to the Thunderhead Lodge, near the top of the mountain where several of the downhill trails started. The views are absolutely gorgeous, a large cafeteria with large viewing windows and a large wrap around patio. There were several black trails and some blue trails there, but we found a green called “Why Not” that proclaimed to be “The Easiest Way Down.” After our snack at the lodge, the boys and Bill went skiing down “Why Not.” Again, the goal was for them to stay together, but Blake was faster than the others. Parker followed Papa, but about halfway, Papa told Parker to go ahead and catch up with Blake.  Soon they were all separated and were all skiing at different levels.

Nana had downloaded the Steamboat phone app, which has a tracking system. We could see each other’s location on our phones and follow each other. It was very helpful because we didn’t have to worry about losing anyone. The app also had a map of the trails and a way to contact ski patrol in case of an emergency. The photo to the right above shows that Blake “left session,” his iPhone ran out of battery and the app only works if each person in the group has the app open/running on their mobile phones. The left photo shows the boys were following our rules by the two staying together! It was a great app for us grandparents hoping to keep an eye on our young great skiers. At one point Nana became quite concerned, the app showed Papa on a blue run, “Vagabond,” fearing he mistakenly had taken a wrong trail where the app showed he stayed at the same place for a while, thankfully he was okay.

On the third full snow ski day, the boys went by themselves. They skied for a total of 8 hours, only breaking to come back to the hotel for a quick lunch.  Papa was tired and by then we knew they were doing fine. They skied on the green trails, keeping up with each other and having fun.  There is a challenging popular section setup for advanced skiers that is called the half-pipe, similar to skateboarding where the skateboard parks have bowls, they can hop up on the edge, do a little trick skiing. It was both of the boys’ goal to ski the half pipe, and they did it more than once. Although, not yet doing any trick-skiing, that’s on their bucket list for their next ski trip!

Left, aerial view of half-pipe from gondola, right photo from internet advertisement.

Below, videos of the boys skiing the half-pipe!

Blake got some special attention on our trip whether it was his Dallas Cowboy beanie, his big brown eyes, his cute button nose or possibly his out-going attitude!  On New Year’s Eve, he had wanted hot chocolate, but because of the parade and fireworks festivities, there was a long line for drinks. A server heard him bemoaning the long line and just gave him hot chocolate right away, in front of everyone. A few minutes later when Blake decided he wanted more whip cream, even though Papa warned him that he shouldn’t push his luck, Blake just walked up to the front and when he asked, the same server once again smiled and gave it to him.  On this third day, back at The Range, we were considering ordering a Ramen noodle dish from the menu, but Blake didn’t like the protein and bean sprouts options, so he went up to the chef and asked for plain noodles. The chef was very nice and made him what he wanted. He even personally delivered it to him and showed him how to use chopsticks. We were ordering through the app but since there was no price for Blake’s noodles, the chef said it was on the house, and we weren’t charged.

Night Lights of the Steamboat Square were Awesome Views!

By the last day of snow skiing, the boys demonstrate their improvement!

On our last night, we took the free Steamboat bus downtown to see the shops and the lights. There was a big horse for taking pictures. Parker climbed on up, but Blake feared the horse was too unstable and might fall over so he was afraid to get on it, but a man standing nearby, noticing Blake’s Dallas Cowboy hat, told him that Cowboys have to ride horses. So, Parker and Papa helped, and Blake got on the horse and posed for a photo.

The two black/white photos above were artwork in one of the shops “a blast from the past.“ (Note: Quite the chuckle to see the length of the smallest child above skis, the longer the ski the better the skier; today the skis are measured by height for beginner skiers)

We packed our bags that night, so we could sleep in the next morning. Our flight was at 2:45 pm, and we had to check out of the hotel and catch our Uber ride to the airport at 11:45 am.

Karen has prayed and prayed for safety, she prayed she would be able to snow ski without any injuries and after just a few short runs decided that God was answering her prayer by convincing her to get off the mountain in skis!  God is good and He answered her prayers, no injuries for anyone, nothing but a wonderful time, a memorable trip with our two grandsons.

Psalm 66:19 “But truly God has listened; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.”