Time To Celebrate

After finding out about our GIRL (thank you so much for all of the congratulations!), Ben and I headed up to Estes Park for a getaway.

Audra and Claire got to stay the night at Grandma and Grandpas- HUGE thank-yous to them for being willing to watch them overnight! As we were packing up to go, Audra got a huge pile of clothes to pack, turned to Claire and excitedly said, "We're moving in with Grandma!" Sometimes they really know how to make us feel loved.

Some friends of friends offered to let us use their cabin. It is so incredibly generous of them- this couple is the most thoughtful couple I know, and being willing to let virtual strangers use their cabin is just one very small example of all of the kindnesses they have shown us and many, many, others. We were thrilled that they let us use their cabin so we could have a night of sleep without kids waking us up. We actually got to sleep in! It was wonderful.

Anyway, we started our trip by driving into Estes Park. We went to the Stanley Hotel and went on their "ghost tour." I went on this several years ago with my former roommate Katie and her then boyfriend Ben and I am absolutely, 100% convinced this place is haunted (what do you think KT?). I was SOOOO excited to take Ben so that he would finally agree with me. Unfortunately, they have redone how they do the tours and it was more "history" than ghost stories (unless you go on the 2 hour official Ghost Story tour which they only do late at night), so Ben left completely unconvinced. We'll have to do the 2 hour tour sometime, I guess. Here are some pics of the tour:

Here is a Stanley Steamer, built in 1909:

 Here is spooky room 217- the one Stephen King stayed in when he was inspired to write "The Shining." It is said to be haunted by a former maid to that room who now unpacks peoples bags, opens doors, and shows great service to the guests (how could these stories not convince Ben that the hotel is indeed haunted???):

 This is the inside of another haunted room. In this room, somebody turns the bathroom light off and on while people shower:

 This is an underground tunnel, and employees have to enter through this tunnel. (I should explain. The tunnel we are in front of goes to nowhere and is not used for anything, but the larger tunnel that this tunnel is inside is how the employees walk through to get to and from work. Does that make sense?) How creepy is that- even without a good haunting? But, sometimes, the lights go out in the tunnel for no apparent reason. Scary!

Then we went to dinner at the only restaurant in town that was open, and we were the only guests the entire time. Estes Park is definitely in shut down mode in the winter time, which we actually liked. We don't like big crowds, so it was perfect.

After dinner we headed to the cabin. Here is a picture of it the next morning:

 

We had to park at the bottom of the driveway because it was all ice, and from here you can't really see the cabin, but you can see how beautiful the area is. 

Then this morning we went to breakfast at Dave's Diner. Here's a picture:

If you look closely, you can see the diner on the right and the Medical Marijuana Pot Dispensary on the left. We weren't sure we wanted to go to a restaurant right next to a Pot Dispensary, but we were on an adventure, so we figured "what the heck?" Everything turned out just fine.

It was nice to be away without kids and just spending some time with Ben. It was also nice to realize once again how much I LOVE just being with Ben. After 7 years, there is still nobody I would rather spend time with. I sure do love that man!