Crested Butte, CO

I've been busy. Typically, I'm accustomed to a more slothful existence. 
Anyway, we just returned from a short jaunt (which I don't think I like that word now that I've typed it out because it reminds me of the word jaundice, but I already typed it and I'm too lazy to change it) to Crested Butte, CO. 
A quaint little ski town about 4 hours from us.
The halfway point of the trip is a little city called Buena Vista, a place I've blogged about a  few times because it contains a place we like to visit called St. Elmo.  We decided to stop there and eat lunch at a park and get some candy. My candy of choice was a large Tootsie Roll and I took a picture of it in my bag in the car see:

I know. That was great.

Once we were back on the road, we realized we were a bit early and couldn't check into our condo for a while so we stopped at a huge park nearby in Gunnison. Apparently they were expecting us because look what I spyed:

Check out the slide action they have at this park:

Daredevil Evan went down the tallest slide a bazillion times until I made him go ride the boring dinosaur because bigger kids were trampling all over him running to the top of the stairs.

We left and got settled into our condo which I forgot to take pictures of. So imagine with me:

a room with bunk beds and a twin bed. A master bedroom and a kitchen. Done.

The first night we were lazy and it rained so we made dinner in the condo and watched a thousand hours of Alaskan Bush People because we don't have cable at home. And I do wonder how they are poor and have to barter for lumber if Discovery Channel pays them to do the show. ? Answer me please.

The condo where we stayed is a the base of the ski mountain "Mount Crested Butte".

 It's a 5 minute drive by car (gasp) to the tiny town where all of the restaurants and shops are. We found out that there is a bus stop just outside of our condo that would pick us up and take us to town for free!

Our very first morning, we actually did a hike into town on a stretch of paved path they called "the rec trail". What a name! 

But the scenery is pretty:

Evan is getting a little old, heavy and whiny to be packed around in the hiking back pack now, but we're brave.

Sometimes I make Dawson pose for pictures with me just because I'm his mom.

Our first order of business once we finally arrived in town was to find a coffee shop. Look what they can do!

I could probably do that if I put my mind to it. Then you'd have to call me a barista.

We drank our coffee and hot chocolate (because our children aren't allowed to have coffee until they're at least 21) on the upstairs porch of the coffee house. And Evan was enamored with the digger in the back yard.

We walked through town for a bit and caught the bus back to our condo and then soaked in the hot tub.

 The boys braved the pool which was heated to 84 degrees, but once you've already been in the hot tub, it takes enormous strength of character to battle the cold winds and swim in a cold heated pool. So I stayed in the hot tub like the dud I am. We went back to the condo and relaxed and ate at this excellent little pizza place that night called The Secret Stash and went back to the condo and went to bed. After watching 300 hours of Alaskan Bush People.

The following morning we took a hike called "The Upper Loop". A beautiful hike along the side of the mountain.

In the summer, Crested Butte is known for it's wildflowers, but we went in mud season because it's dirt cheap to go during that time. But the scenery was still rather stunning.

That tiny little town in the picture above is Crested Butte. Isn't it cute? I want to hug it.

Dawson took over the camera and all manner of random pictures showed up:

I didn't want another picture to go by without ya'll being able to see me hiking with Evan. So. There. 

This hike ended at a park in town where the boys played and I sat and watched strangers. Because that's what I do. I'm a people watcher.

We stayed 3 nights in Crested Butte and ate food and watched cable and Evan took naps.

The End.