Breckenridge, Colorado and My First Winter Wonderland

I have never been so cold in my whole black life.

That is, until I went to Breckenridge, Colorado for the weekend. I mean...I anticipated cold, but this was a cold unlike any I'd ever experienced. This was pierce to the core of your soul cold. I wasn't ready.

The story starts like this: I left work on Thursday to catch a flight to Denver. My original arrival time was like 9:45pm, which gave me enough time to catch a shuttle and get up the mountain at a reasonable hour. But the weather in Denver was horrendous, there was snow and ice every where and all the flights were delayed. I finally arrived after 11pm, which means the last shuttle had already departed for the evening. Ugh....I was stuck but I didn't give up. It was 11:30pm now, it was snowing like crazing, I had a 8am pick up for snowmobiling scheduled with the prospect of losing the $130 fee if I didn't show. Not only do shuttle stop running after 11pm.....there's also no shuttle going up to the ski resorts that will get you there before 8am. FML.

So, I tried Uber and nah. Sidenote: I've decided that Uber is never around when you need them. Last time I was stranded at Intercontinental at 4am I looked for an Uber...no where to be found. Seriously...what good are they if they're only available during the obvious hours of the day?

So...slightly defeated, I headed to the taxi line...which was long as hell b/c everyone was delayed and stranded at the airport. I decided to ask the kind man who wore a coat that read "Ground Transportation" what I should do next. Actually, I'm grateful for that kind man. If it wasn't for him, I might have had to spend the night in the Denver Airport.  

The kind man directed me to the private cars. Well....I had already researched private cars to Breckenridge so I knew that I was in store for a exorbitant fee (they quoted me about $400 which included an upcharge b/c of the bad weather - you should have seen my face). Fortunately, I wasn't alone. After about 30 mins of standing in the freezing cold and getting pummeled by show, I had gathered a group of 4 to split the fee and make the hike. 

So...these 3 complete strangers and I jumped in the SUV and started the journey. And....the journey was slow. There was so much snow and ice on the road...we didn't break 40mph for about the first hour in transit. Now that I'm telling the story, this sounds an awful lot like the beginning of a horror movie.

Our first stop was a home in Keystone. We made it there in about 2 and a half hours, (a drive that should have only taken about an hour) after a detour down a dark, windy, unplowed and very treacherous road...with a view into total darkness that was more than likely a really steep drop off down the side of the mountain. When we finally stopped...about a block away from the house b/c the driver refused to drive down any further lest he get stuck in the snow...I got out to let the passenger out of the SUV, stepped on the ground and my feet slid right from under me. Smh. Somehow I had forgotten that snow is just really cold water. I was quickly reminded when I climbed back into the SUV and sat down on my sopping wet, and let's not forget cold, pants.

We got back on the road, made a quick switch of passengers and I finally arrived to the townhouse we rented for the weekend at 4am. Total travel time, about 8 hours, for a trip that was only supposed to take less than 5. Not the worst, but certainly not optimal. 

3 hours later I wake up to this:

I literally tried to put on every article of clothing I packed.

I realized that wasn't feasible for the morning's activities, walking around like the Michelin man and all....so I just dressed as warmly as possible and we went on our way. 

We get to the snowmobile company headquarters, paid, got into snowsuits and boots they provided, and went on to the training session...important so we didn't get ourselves killed out in the snow. 

Then it was time for a practice run. I've never driven one of these things before but once you get the hang of it, its simple!

So. Much. Snow. 

White Mountain had a few photographers along the trail to capture what we looked like as we were riding. It was scary...but fun. Here's what they're pics looked like. 

Alright....so...funny story. One of the guys on the trip with us dern nearly flipped his snowmobile completely over. He was going way too fast, ran off the course and got stuck in fresh powdery snow up to his chest....it wasn't funny at the time, he could have turned into a chocolate human popsicle (b/c he's black and I assume his flavor would be chocolate...maybe German chocolate...idk). We had to wait about 45 mins while the guide and another guy tried to dig him and the mobile out...so basically we froze too. Afterwards, and because we wasted up a lot of our time waiting for the rescue (lol), we went up to a cabin to warm up and have some hot chocolate....then we did what we could to salvage the remainder of our tour. While we waited...I managed to take some pretty righteous pics of all the snow....I still can't believe how much there was. It was like literally everything was covered in white.

So after snowmobiling all morning, we had lunch in town and hung out/napped all afternoon. One of our friends had an unfortunate encounter with altitude sickness (coupled with a few other over indulgences) which landed us in the ER for a large portion of the night.

Here are some shot from the area surrounding the townhouse...and Shayla on the balcony building a snow man...with measuring cups from the kitchen lol....she used my discarded black jelly beans for the eyes and icicles for his arms lol.

The next morning we dropped one off at the slopes and the rest of went for brunch at a cute little local favorite called Columbine Cafe. I know the name isn't the most appealing (given the horrific story associated with Columbine) but I enjoyed this place. Took me long enough to decide where to go...shoot.

While we waited for a table, I decided to go out and walk around a little bit. Breckenridge is a quaint little town with so much character. I highly suggest a visit there. 

I will say this, as far as skiing and snow sports are concerned, Breckenridge is very expensive. So don't go out there if all you have to spend is your rent money. You will go home broke. The transportation alone is pricey. Lift ticket was $118, snow snowmobiling $130, I think dogsledding was like $75. Trying to do all those things in one weekend will have you on a ramen diet real quick. #dontbelievemejustwatch. Here are some scenes from the town. I love the snow-capped mountains in the background...surrounding the whole city like a big white hug. 

We stopped at the market.....and this is the view walking out the front door. It's really breathtaking. 

I've been to Colorado and the Rockies in the summer time. It's really beautiful then...but I'm so happy I got a chance to see it like this...cloaked in its white winter coat. It was truly amazing. This is also another example of stepping outside your comfort zone and trying something new. Snowmobiling was incredible and so much fun...fortunately, we all lived to tell the tale lol.

Until next time folks!

**There's no where to go but everywhere...so get going ~GEV

8th Houston Brazilian Carnaval of Colors

Its been a while....but I. Have. Been. So. Busy. 

Out there.....enjoying life. 

Since taking on the hobby of travel blogging, my life has been way more interesting. I've been exploring so many things! And of course I want this to be FUN for me and you! I want my experiences to inspire my readers to get out and do...if not the same thing I'm doing...then something more awesome and even better. 

Of course I'm still traveling outside Houston, but there are a variety of things to do in this city! You just have to look for them and be in the "know". There are good times to be had. 

So, when I saw the groupon for the 8th Houston Brazilian Carnaval of Colors, I immediately purchased it. Plus, if you've been following my blog, you know how I feel about all things Brazilian. 

This was the "authentic, annual Houston tradition of Brazilian Carnaval"....I couldn't go to Brazil this year so this was the next best thing, held at the Ayva Center. 

The night was filled with music, food, drinks and fun. We walked in, there was samba swirling around the room and people in every corner moving their bodies to the rhythm of the drums....just like the party in the streets of Lapa. I was home again. 

Of course the homies came with...they love a good adventure as much as I do. 

  

After a try at samba, which was a major fail (I can't move my feet that fast), we joined some of our other friends who managed to find a VIP area behind the stage....and since we were back there...we snuck onto the stage and took some cool pics as a couple danced kizomba then semba on the dance floor below.

Then the band came back on! They were beating the hell out of these drums while the lead singer sang her entire face off....the whole night taking barely any breaks. You could tell she really loved what she was doing. Sidenote: I'm amazed by the variation of colors of Brazilian people. They are just like African Americans or really any other race of people. I say this because, on the stage alone was a near perfect representation of the spectrum. The lead singer was dark skinned with an afro puff. The drummers were fair skinned, some with blue eyes and some with brown. It was all just so interesting. The more I learn about the culture, the more intrigued I am. 

The crowd was so hype too...such a great time. 

I was also happy to spend the evening with two of my favorite couples, and to get to celebrate the wedding anniversary of Courtney and Amos...in the first pic below:

Then, we spotted this crew in their traditional Carnaval costumes and we had to get pics. Unfortunately, the photographer didn't take much care to make sure the pics came out well. I think he or she got too excited by the half naked Brazilians on the other side of the lens. You can understand why...lol

Man...I do some really cool stuff and this is just one example. Here's a few more parting videos:

**There's no where to go but everywhere...so get going! ~ GEv