Denver CO
Arapahoe Basin - Keystone
Sam's No 3 - Butterhorn Bakery
 Tuesday February 10th - Saturday February 14th 2015

Click each picture to make it bigger, then back to return here.

Preface - Ashley wanted to go on a vacation.   Robert also wanted to go skiing.   The choice was made to visit Arapahoe Basin and Keystone Resort in Colorado, staying at the Best Western Dillion.   
First tip to avoid altitude sickness.   Take a Bayer aspirin each night before bed a week before your trip.    Buy a tiny bottle, leave it on your night stand, and take the aspirin.  
Tip #2.    Drinking water at bedtime and when you wake up has been documented to be good.     Therefore, I leave an insulated coolie cup on my night stand and drink the water.  
Tip #3.   Get in shape.   Before my trip, I went roller skating, bike riding, and did leg exercies (wall squats).    I worked out real hard to increase my cardio capacity.   

Day 1 - Wednesday March 4th 2015.   Here I am blasting off from Fort Lauderdale Airport (FLL).   In the 4th picture is an irrigation circle as we're flying closer to Denver.    You see a ton of these.   No, they're not made by aliens, but irrigation rigs.    Ashley and Wesley flew from Jacksonville, through Atlanta, and on to Denver.   We arrived at the same time.  

Here we are at Sam's No 3, one of the best Mexican restaurants in Denver.   Pictured are onion rings, a steak sandwich, and burrito.      I had the 2lb veggie burrito and took half back to the hotel room.
http://samsno3.com/

We visited Whole Foods South and made salad boxes to go.   We also bought a gallon jug of water for each person.    We ate the salad later at the hotel room.   In the 5th picture is the Ford Focus we rented. 

Driving out to Dillion, it was 15 degrees outside.   It had snowed that morning.    We arrived the BW hotel, it was cold and windy outside.  
http://ptarmiganlodge.com/

 

This is where we stayed for 2 nights, the BW building 3, room 319.    You enter the rooms from an inside hallway.   The entrance doors to the building are locked, must have a key to open them.  

We rented our ski equipment from Virgin Island Ski Rentals.    I had been here on my last trip and everything worked out.  
http://virginislandsski.com/ski_rentals/index.php
On this trip Ashley's boots were tight and we had to swap them out after visiting Arapahoe Basin.   Besides that, the rental equipment was fine.   After getting our ski rental equipment, we headed to Breckenridge to see the village.  On the way, we snapped some pictures at the scenic spot.  

We walked from the lift parking lot, to Main Street Breckenridge.   We stopped in at Eric's, I played a game of pinball while Ashley and Wesley did the photo booth.    We went into a couple shops, looked at the horse drawn carriage, then headed out.   It was very cold and windy at this point, 7 degrees.

Day 2 - Thursday March 5th 2015.    The temperature outside was -8, but the forcast was for warmer temperatures.    We snapped a few pictures of Dillion Lake, then ate the continental  breakfast. 

Here we are at Arapahoe Basin Ski Resort.    In these pictures are the bunny slopes.    Wesley took a lesson while Robert and Ashley skied the green slopes.  

Here are pictures of Ashley and Robert skiing down the Wrangler trail.   This is an easy green run with wide open spaces.  

Here is a YouTube video of Ashley and Robert on the Wrangler Trail.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFajURpnnqU

After skiing at Arapahoe Basin, we headed to Butterhorn bakery, voted high on Trip Advisor for the city of Frisco.  
http://www.butterhornbakery.com/page_1.html

In the 1st picture, they brand their own hot sauce.    In the 2nd picture is a chicken guac sandwich.  In the 3rd picture is a buffalo burger.   In the 4th and 5th pictures is a veggie wrap.

After eating lunch, we headed back to the hotel room, took a rest, then headed out to Keystone.   Here's the Gondola lift area.

Pictures at the lookout spot.   

Here we are coming down the Schoolmarm trail.

Day 3 - Friday March 6th 2015.   Wesley's knees were hurting, so Ashley and Robert went skiing while Wesley waited in the village people watching.    Keystone refunded his un-used lift ticket giving us a partial refund.   Ashley and Robert went down Schoolmarm again, this time early in the morning.   

 

More shots of Schoolmarm 3.5 miles long, takes about 13 minutes to travel.       Here's a video of Robert and Ashley skiing it. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRyU9Fu9UGc

 

This is the Motzart trail, a blue square.    Robert skied this while Ashley went down Schoolmarm and met up with Wesley.   Robert skied down Anticipation, then took the Outback Express lift to the top of the mountain.

The reward for making it to the far side of the map is this stunning view of Breckenridge in the background.   Everyone was taking pictures.   Robert skied down the Porcupine trail which is shown in the 2nd and 4th picture.   Then Robert skied down the Elk Run trail which travels under the lift, and headed back to the River Run base taking the Schoolmarm trail.    We returned the ski equipment, and headed back to Denver.    We ran into some traffic around 4pm heading into Denver, and decided to stop at Woody's Watering Hole for Pizza where we ordered food to go.   I didn't take pictures, but here is their web site link. 
http://woodysgolden.com/

We checked into the Best Western next to Denver airport.   I returned the rental car, took the rental car shuttle to the airport, then took the hotel shuttle to the BW.      It picks up from the 3rd island on the west side at door #306.     It arrives at 15 and 45 after the hour.   To request the shuttle, call 1-303-373-1600 if staying at the Best Western.   They will tell you where to go and when the shuttle will arrive.   If requesting a shuttle ride from the hotel, you sign up at the front desk the night before.      We ate the food in the room, packed our bags, and went to bed.   We woke up at 3am, got ready, went to the lobby at 04:30am, caught the shuttle back to the airport, and arrived with plenty of time to spare.   Ashley and Wesley caught their flight to Jacksonville which left at 06:05am and was half full.   Robert's flight left at 07:30am with a few empty seats in the back and arrived 20 minutes early to FLL at 1pm.   Here's a secret, catch the 1st flight out in the morning, it will have less crowds and leave on time.    When I arrived FLL at 1pm, the terminal was jammed with people, I'm sure every flight was full.      

Conclusion: Butterhorn Bakery was the best food spot.  They close at 3pm, so head out by 01:30pm if you plan on eating there.       Keystone was great, especially making it to the far side of the map with the view of Breckenridge.   We followed my advice from the previous trip, took an aspirin each night and morning, drank plenty of water, and didn't get altitude sick.   We all had slight head aches, but this was to be expected.   

Buy your lift tickets more than one week in advance from the web site to get the best deal.   Buy your groceries, liquor,  and rent your ski equipment in Silverthorne/Dillon (exit 205).   Eat at a Denver restaurant when you arrive.    Visit Whole Foods and buy the big salad to go.    You can take it with you when driving out to the resorts and have it for dinner the first night.     The car temperature will be like a fridge, the salad will not go bad on the drive to your hotel.    There is now a Whole Foods in Frisco, which is the town leading to Breckenridge. 

End of Report.   Thanks for reading. 

Email me at skiguy777@bellsouth.net.

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