Frisco, CO: Day 4 - Hiking Quandary Peak...

It almost seems like it is not a vacation for us to Colorado if we are not hiking up a 14,000 foot mountain.  We had done some research in advance and had decided to try to summit Quandary Peak due to its proximity to Frisco.

We had debated and debated about whether or not we should do it.  I guess I should say that Ken debated and debated about whether or not we should do it.  One thing that we knew was that Miss Kya should not join us.  We had read in advance that there is a lot of rock and shale on the trail and I am not so sure that it would be too friendly on our princess's feet.  So, solo we went.

We stopped for lattes and a cinnamon roll before making our way towards Breckenridge. Moving forward, I think all hikes should start with such items.  I am just saying.

We arrived to the trail head and started our hike up.  Ken always remarks about how steep it is when we start out.  I always reply with something about it being a mountain we are hiking up and all.

Hello Quandary Peak!

Ken and his signature pose

It was pretty chilly out and pretty windy as well.  The temperature was in the 30's and at times the wind was blowing 30 mph.  Being from Kansas, we are used to the wind, but it feels slightly different at 10,000 feet.

Ken painfully aware as to where we are heading, straight up.

Excited for another 14er!

Getting close to being above the treeline

We reached a point where Ken said he was not sure if he had it in him to continue on.  I kind of laughed it off and he agreed to go to the next ridge and we would re-assess the situation.  We saw a few hikers coming down and they told us it was in the 20's on the summit and super windy.  Brr...

So much rock and oh so steep

We made it to the ridge and Ken said he was done.  He looked up at the impending trail and said there was no way he wanted to do it, especially since we would be exposed in the wind.  Now, if you know we very well at all, you know I was not happy about not continuing onto the summit.  

In my sweetest and most intimidating voice, I asked Ken if he was really a quitter.  Yep.  I went there.  He told me he guesses that he is.  We sat and ate some gummy worms for a while and I was hoping that would change Ken's mind.  After all, I could tell that he was having a little bit of low blood sugar and needed to eat something, home boy was a little cranky.  I thought the gummy worms might have enticed him to continue on, but alas, he was finished.  

Don't let my smile fool you, I am really mad at my husband here.

So, we started the hike down and we ended up seeing what Quandary Peak is known for, mountain goats!  We were super excited to see them and there was even a baby goat!  The baby started crying at one point and it was pretty cute!

Four mountain goats enjoying some lunch

Mama and baby mountain goat

All smiles with the mountain goats!

Hoping mama mountain goat does not decide to push me off the mountain

Apparently Ken has a knack for seeing wild life.  He wanted to see a big horn sheep in the Grand Canyon and he mentioned it and BAM, we saw a big horn sheep.  He mentioned the mountain goats and look, we saw them.  That lucky dog.  

Overlooking McCullough Gulch

Same spot we stopped on the way up, but the big thumbs down this time.

Some pretty views on the hike down

We made it back to the car and I was a little bummed, but we still hiked a little over six miles and did quite a bit of climbing.  We decided to go into Breckenridge for some beers and lunch.

Quandary has a reputation of being an "easier" 14er.  Looking back at it, I thought it was a more challenging trail than Mt. Elbert.  Just my two cents.

We had lunch in Breckenridge and walked around and shopped a bit.  We stopped at Crepes ala Cart for dessert since it was the first time we were in the area without the line being out to the street.  We still waited for 25 minutes and then I realized we would probably have to wait another 20 minutes for our crepes.  No thank you.  I will just eat ice cream.  Moving on...

We got back to Frisco and took Kya for a walk and then we all relaxed for a while.  

Mom and husky snuggles

After we relaxed, we took Kya to downtown Frisco to for shopping and to find a place for a drink and some snacks.  We decided on Bagalis for wine and appetizers.  

Kya and me walking and shopping around downtown

We also found a little park and a creek for Kya the water dog to play in for a few minutes.

Pretending to not be afraid.

We ended our night with delicious Cajun food at The Lost Cajun.  I really do love gumbo and beignets.

Even if we did not make it to the summit, we still had a wonderful day together and enjoyed the beautiful day.

Frisco, CO: Day 3...

Sunday started with coffee and then we were off for another hike!

This girl was ready for her second hike of vacation!

For our second hike, we chose to stay very close to Frisco and hike to Wheeler Lakes, which was located right by Copper Mountain.  

This is another hike that would have gorgeous aspen views during September.  The hike was about seven miles round trip with a gentle climb to get up to the lakes.  

Kya checking out the area.  She had gotten in the lake for a drink of water and ended up with super dirty legs!

Us girls enjoying the chilly morning

The best family picture we could get with a timer on a cell phone camera!

We ended up stopping for a snack at the lower lake.  We hung out there for quite awhile, enjoying the views.

My two favorite hikers at the lower Wheeler Lake

The view of Copper Mountain and the other neighboring peaks

I caught these two enjoying the view together

I cannot get enough hiking with this girl!

After our morning hike, we all laid around and took a nap.  Ken and I spent the afternoon and evening back at Backcountry Brewery for drinks and pizza.  We had intentions of going elsewhere for dinner, but we were having fun hanging out at the brewery, so it was pizza again for the win!

Ken enjoying a porter

 Having fun at Backcountry Brewery where I should have been drinking a local beer, but chose wine instead!

We ended our night watching a horrible horror movie on Netflix with wine and snacks at the house.  Definitely the low key kind of night we like on vacation.  

Frisco, CO: Day 2...

We woke up on Saturday and headed out for our first hike.  We were really hoping to see the aspens in Fall colors on this trip, so our first hike was one that promised a lot of aspen views.

We left Frisco, drove through Silverthorne, and arrived at the trail head for our hike in the Eagles Nest Wilderness area.  We started the hike and realized that we were about a week late to see the aspens in all of their glory.

A few of the aspens holding onto their leaves.

We were pretty bummed about missing the aspens because we were on the perfect trail for aspen viewing.  Oh well, we always have next year or the year after that!

I can only imagine how beautiful this would be with yellow aspen leaves!

This trail was a pretty gentle trail with not a lot of climbing, which is exactly what these flat landers from Kansas needed on the first day.  

We had a view of the Lower Cataract Lake.  My heart definitely belongs in the mountains.

This girl's heart is definitely in the mountains.  She had the best time on vacation with her parents.

We had plans to hike to the Eagle Mere Lake, but we had a moment where we thought we were on the wrong trail.  We ran into some snow for a few miles and finally decided to turn around instead of continuing on.  We later learned that we were so close to the lake!  Oh well, we all three had a wonderful time hiking.  

Kya thought the snow was AMAZING!  She stopped to take a bite of snow any chance she could.  That is a husky for you.

Kya and Ken.  These two melt my heart for sure.

My girl and me enjoying the mountains.

A completely forced family selfie.

Hiking back to the trail head with Kya leading the way.  Kya always has to be out in front on a hike.  That girl is competitive.

So happy to be in the mountains together!

Our hike ended up being around six miles, which was a good opening hike for everyone.  We drove back to Frisco and dropped Kya off at the house for nap.  Ken and I walked around downtown and found a darling little Italian place for lunch.  Our lunch and wine at Grecos Pastaria was delicious!

Ken enjoying the beautiful day

We wandered around and shopped for a bit and decided to stop for more wine at Footes Rest in the outdoor area.  They had live music going and it was a great time to sit and hang out.  

Outdoor music fun at Footes

After the wine and sunshine, we walked back to the house to pick up Kya to go to walk to Lake Dillon.  In case you are wondering, Kya is anything but a water dog.

This is swimming to Kya.  Not a water dog at all.  

My two sweeties enjoying the lake.  See the wild fire on the right?

Enjoying the lake with my girl

After playing around in the lake, I use that rather loosely mind you, we walked back into downtown and stopped for lattes at Abbey's Coffee.  I had a delicious pumpkin chai latte, which was a little bit of Heaven.  

I made him a coffee/latte drinker.  He was not a fan until he married me.

Lattes with my best girl

We ended our night at Prosit with a German beer or two.  We had a wonderful first full day in Frisco!

Frisco, CO: Day 1...

Over my Fall break this year we decided to make our way to Frisco, CO for some Fall Family Fun.  Of course by driving, it meant that Miss Kya could join us!  We love taking her with us on vacation.  We left on a Friday morning after I had a night time clinical.  The plan was for me to sleep in the back seat while Ken drove.  Sweet Ken had set up pillows and blankets for me to catch my zzz's!

I tried really hard to stay awake and talk for awhile on the drive, but it was just not happening.  I talked to Ken, but I could not tell you what we talked about.  I was tired!

I woke up when we stopped for gas and a bathroom break in Russell, KS and I had the hardest time deciding on what brand of water to by.  I stood in front of the cooler for far to long debating such an important decision.  I am glad that was the only decision I was faced with that morning!

While I was sleeping, I did have a sweet girl that kept checking on me.  When I started to wake up for the day right around lunch time, I saw this sweet little face.

My favorite passenger

The drive was pretty uneventful except that we hit rush hour traffic in Denver.  We arrived to Frisco around 6:00 pm and noticed that they had already had their first snow of the season the day prior.  We were staying in a house that I found on Homeaway.com and it was the perfect place to stay.  We were just a few blocks off of Main Street, which was super convenient for us.  

We unloaded our stuff and took Miss Kya out for a walk to explore downtown Frisco.  

Checking out downtown Frisco

A true husky, finding even the smallest amount of snow!

Since it was getting dark and we were hungry, we walked Kya back to the house and walked back to downtown to find a place for dinner.  We decided to go to Backcountry Brewery for pizza and beers.  

Nothing says Colorado quite like craft beer. Ken had a porter and I had the double breakfast stout, which was an unusual choice for me.

Super exhausted after working all night, but ready for vacation with my family!

After pizza and beers, we walked back to the house and crashed.  Or at least I did.  The first day after flipping back to day shift is tough people.  We all three got a good night of sleep for our first full day of hiking in the Rockies!

October...

October is definitely one of our favorite times of year.  We spent the first weekend of October enjoying as much time outside as possible!

I spent Saturday working at White House and was super excited to wear Fall clothes!  Sier'a and I had a fun Saturday at the store.

Sunday was all about Kya.  Honestly, my life is always all about Kya and the cats.  

We started our morning off with a walk to Starbucks.  Kya loves having an ice water at Starbucks!

We spent the remainder of our afternoon in the back yard enjoying the cool weather.

I feel pretty confident that Kya knows she is beautiful!

I absolutely adore this girl.  She is definitely a mama's girl.

It is Kya's world and if she wants to lay on her daddy's foot, that is her prerogative! 

Ken caught Kya and me snuggling. This picture 100% melts my heart.  

Our first October weekend was a great start to what should be a wonderful month at our house!