YMCA of the Rockies: Snow Mountain Ranch

Earlier this year, Mina somehow managed to organize a group of 15 adults and 8 kids for a week-long trip to the YMCA of the Rockies in Granby, Colorado - and I'm so glad she did! We loved the resort! In fact, we hope to make it a new annual tradition.

Family snow boots

The road up was a little scary.

We all stayed on one floor of the Indian Peak lodge: Naresh, Suzan, and Julie; Mina, James, Rosemary, and Louis; me, Dev, Beatrice, Arthur, and William; Maureen, Paul, and their friends Mark and Ellen; Dolly, Felix and their kids Sadie (7) and Eli (4); and Katie, Cyrus, and their son Henry (8).



Beatrice and Rosemary

James, Rosemary, Louis (hiding), Mina, Sadie, Dolly, and Eli

Maureen, Mark, and Ellen



Suzan and Julie

Talking under the table

Beatrice and Louis

Every morning we started off the day with breakfast in the cafeteria (this was the highlight of William's day). Then we would go out to do a different activity, like dog sledding, cross-country skiing, or tubing.

On Tuesday we all went dog sledding:

Mina, Rosemary, and Louis returning from the trail

Louis, Henry, and Arthur make a snow cave.

Dev and Arthur

Beatrice gets ready to go.

Beatrice and me

 

Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing:

Rosemary and Maureen

Louis skis for the first time

 

 

Sadie was an amazing skier.



Naresh and Suzan

 

Julie, Mina, and Suzan

James stops to consult the map.

Beatrice went cross-country skiing for the first time and she did great! She was very slow, of course, and fell down a lot, but I was so proud of her good attitude. She skied for hours without ever complaining or giving up.

 

 

After lunch in the cafeteria, we'd go back out into the snow again - or take a break inside with activities like roller skating in the rec center, board games in the library, or crafts in the craft lodge.

Tubing:

Beatrice, Rosemary, and Sadie



The girls with Henry and Eli

Arthur rockets down the hill alone

James goes down with Rosemary, Louis, Beatrice, and Sadie.

Cyrus launches Henry and Eli.




Paul and Maureen

 

 Staying indoors:

Roller skating in the recreation center

 

Playing Candyland in the library

Reading a book about dog sledding

After pre-dinner cocktails and dinner in the cafeteria, we put the kids to bed and then hung out around the fireplace in the lounge. It was pretty much an ideal week.

Louis and Arthur playing a board game

 

Reading The Boxcar Children

We spent New Year's Eve staying up playing Cards Against Humanity until toasting at midnight.

Mina and James playing Cards Against Humanity

Mark and Katie

Paul and Maureen

Mina and Dev

Several times during our stay we ran into a pair of foxes living near the lodge, but the most exciting part of my trip was seeing a moose for the first time.  Four moose, in fact! Though my excitement turned to fear when the bull moose got a little too close to James. Luckily everyone was okay, but it was a pretty tense moment.



One of the foxes

A bull moose in the distance

Thank you, Mina! I'm already looking forward to going back next year!