Archives for February 2017

I did. I fell in love with a place I had never been before. I traveled to Crested Butte, Colorado with my husband on a business trip. Thrilled to get to take this trip with him, I honestly didn’t care where we were going. As long as we were going together, and a week away from the kids, I was game. And while I knew we were traveling to Colorado, and I knew it was winter, and I had even been there before several years ago, what I was still a little naive about was just how cold it would be. Despite my friends warning me. Seeing 7 degrees on my phone and feeling 7 degrees are two very different things. Especially, when you are checking the temperatures from sunny and 75 Houston, Texas.

When we arrived at the Gunnison airport, the snow piles–piles taller than myself–amazed me, and I realized my daughter’s dream of me making a snow angel and taking a picture for her was slim. I knew the minute I tried to lay in the white, soft pile I would just sink to the bottom, to a six feet under frozen death. (Luckily that didn’t happen.) Still, I was determined to make it happen.

Upon landing, we loaded into a shuttle and traveled the forty-five minute trek to Crested Butte. The longer we rode up the mountain the more my head spun from the altitude. Another thing my friends tried to warn me about. Still, hearing it, and experiencing it are two very different things. On the drive, all I could think about was getting into my hotel room and getting something to eat. Forget the snow, forget the cold, I just needed a muffin and an Advil! Stat!

But, finally, after our bodies had a short time to adjust to the altitude, we ventured out and explored the pleasant, quaint town of Crested Butte. A town discovered in the late 1800’s as a coal miners paradise, Crested Butte has enough charm and history to pull at almost anyone’s heart. I spent the week walking up and down Crested Butte’s famous Elk Avenue with some of the other spouses on the business trip. *Shout out to Carrie, Kim, Alison, Rita, and many of you other beautiful ladies.* We popped into little art shops, coffee shops, and ate some delicious pizza at the number one pizza joint in the town.

I got to go horseback riding, tried snow skiing (maybe not the sport for me), and got to take an amazing history tour with Glow, one of the long-time town natives. Glow was wonderful and kind, informing us of the famous history that made Crested Butte what it is today. In fact, her tour inspired me so much, my wheels began to turn, and I now have an outline for a new novel. Thank you, Glow!

By the end of our trip, I was sad to leave the place that had rooted itself deep in my heart, but happy to get home to my babies. With temperatures in the negatives, the warm Houston sunshine felt good on my skin when Mr. B and I arrived home. Still, while I’m here in Houston, my heart dreams and longs for the beautiful snowcapped mountains of Colorado. A place someone could easily get lost in with all of it’s beauty and charm.

Here are a few pictures. More to come in the next few weeks!