Weekend Review {10/12}

FRIDAY

I had to set an alarm (GASP) so I could actually wake my ass up and get ready and commute my ass TO WORK.  Oh yes, I went into the office.  It could barely be called a work day, but that's exactly what I did.

Backyard watch team.

FIRST HOODIE OF THE SEASON
Ok, it's actually the 2nd, but this was a DAYTIME hoodie, so I'm counting it as first.
Also, someone besides Husband got to see it.  That matter.

My commute into DC was easy peasy.  The most complicated part was that the garage to my building is closed so I had to figure out where the other garage was.  There had been a vague discussion about it earlier in the week so I knew it wasn't far and I just kinda winged it and it managed to work out.  I only had to ask 1 person for direction and I did validate with security that I was in the correct building.  From there, I relied on my shitty memory of going in for my first day to get to where I was supposed to be and it worked.  I was actually ALMOST there before second guessing myself and asking that one person, but I didn't check the OTHER direction, so I didn't see where I was supposed to be and went back to where I started.  Whatever it's complicated.  I managed.  

FIRST EVER OFFICE SELFIE!!!

One of my coworkers was in the office to check the mail so I got to meet him in person and another coworker was actually coming into the building to manage some other stuff, but swung by to say hi and give me a copy of the relational diagram for our database which made me super pumped.  I had some issues getting all my stuff setup and connected, but thankfully, the IT guy who I met on my first day (who actually remembered me AND my name (riddle me impressed)) was in the cube right across from me, so he was able to help me out.  Once I got everything righted around and we figured out that I had accidentally turned off the power on the power strip under the desk, which was why my coworker couldn't remote into his tablet, I headed back home.  

I stopped and picked up lunch on the way in since I had a meeting as soon as I got in the door.  After my meeting, Teh Bestie and Teh Chief Smartass departed and I could no longer function due to a #BarometerHead situation and took to the couch.  And then I had to get up and go medicate, and then I went back to the couch.  I was to the point that I was nauseous, so it was bad news bears.  After an hour of almost napping, I was able to open my eyes and breathe again without the vomitous feeling.  The rest of the evening was spent on my screens and snuggling with beasties. 

I ended up going to bed at 0100 because I make poor life choices.

SATURDAY

Secret made sure to start barking about whatever the fuck she was barking about at 0620.  I told her to go back to bed.  She continued barking.  I got up and let all the beasts go business and went back to bed.  Then at 0730 or something, the barking started back up again and I yelled at her and she barked and I yelled and she barked and I finally lost my fucking shit on her and screeched like a banshee and she STFU and ran away terrified that her parents had left her with a fucking psycho bitch (she ain't wrong).  I was able to have 15 minutes of peace and I finally got up and fed the assholes breakfast.

Since I was already up, I opted to make my grocery store run to pick up the ingredients we needed for taco soup.  Teh German was leaving Charleston in the AM to deliver Pax and the rest of the dog things and both motorcycles to MD and I knew I wanted to have everything ready for when he arrived.

Ok so, quick story.

When I first came back from GTMO, I went into the grocery store and my mind was blown by ALL THE OPTIONS.  We had a limited supply in GTMO and everyone there accepted it because we didn't have a choice.  I felt like that lady from The Sound of Music who is singing in the fields, except it was me dancing down the multiple aisles of frozen goods.

When I came back from Bahrain, I went into the grocery store and my mind was blown by the comfort of recognizable things.  Mostly, I did my grocery shopping at the market below my flat and at the NEX while I was on base so I didn't have to make a trip out in town to the actual grocery store (Carriefour).  

So anyways, since Teh Bestie moved to northern MD, she's talked about going to Wegman's.  I worked in a grocery store for multiple years while I was in high school.  I get grocery stores.  Obviously, I've been going into them my entire life.  I had never experienced anything like walking into Wegman's.  It was like I had been going to the GTMO commissary my entire life.  Wegman's is like the MECCA of all grocery stores.  I didn't even know.  I thought all grocery stores were created equal.  Turns out, I was fucking WRONG.  

I wanted to just stand there and marvel at all the things.. but then I would have been blocking ingress/egress traffic and I don't do that as a personal mission, so I carried on and picked up my 4 items turned 5, after finding brown cheese that I've been searching for since March 2014 after I met the Prince of Norway at Epcot.  Unfortunately, that Disney brown cheese must have had the special Disney magics, because the brown cheese I had when I got home was not nearly as delicious as I remember it being.

Anyways, before I had went into the grocery store, I called in my breakfast order at Rise, which was across the street.  There are no photos because I forgot that my phone could be used to do anything besides GPS, Disney Emoji Blitz, take dog photos, and group text.  Oops.  I had the blueberry biscuit with sausage and added a fried egg and it was just as fucking delightful as I needed it to be.

I spent the rest of the day playing Throne of Bitches with my bitches (the dogs) and reading Allie Brosh's new book (which I'm still not sure how I feel about).

I did have to make a 2nd trip to the grocery store to pick up some items I had forgotten, but I went to Weis, a peasant grocery store (and by peasant I mean normal grocery store).

Teh German arrived with Moosey-Moose and Bagheera and Lars-Ludwig around 7:45 and we got Pax fed, fed ourselves, then unloaded the trailer of all the things.  After we were finished, we had some screen time, more for Teh German's sake than mine, and decided at 10 that it was bedtime.  I knew this would have consequences in the AM since Secret gets her late night snack at 11 usually, so she'd be hellbent in the AM about waking me up since she'd be starving.  But Teh German had been driving all day, his first long trip with the new trailer AND with Pax and he was tired, so it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning started exactly as I expected, with Secret annoying the fuck out of me.  Instead of going banshee on her, I got up and let out all the beasts and fed them.  I knew this would mean extra annoyance in the PM hours, but I just wanted to fucking lay in bed without being harassed for a few more hours... which is exactly what happened.

Teh German and I finally got up around 0915 since he'd wanted to leave earlier so he wouldn't be getting back to Charleston super late.  Our original plan included riding the bikes to brunch, but there was a threat of rain and Teh German said that he'd like to get back home at a decent time, so I acquiesced as I was not the one driving 8 hours, 12 hours after having driven 8 hours to be at a place.  See, I'm not always bad at marriage!

After coffee and breakfast, Teh German headed out and I spent a 2nd day playing Throne of Bitches with my bitches + Pax.  My day consisted of Disney Emoji Blitz and listening to my audiobook and texting with Teh Sister about hip surgery and listening to it rain and snuggling with dogs and being generally lazy AF.

Olive needed to check that my business was going well.

And then she was adorable.

Since I had eaten taco soup for breakfast (keep your judgement to yourself, that shiz is delicious), I really didn't want it for dinner.  So I spent a battery killing amount of time trying to decide what I'd like for dinner and when I noticed that the Cheesecake Factory had pineapple upside down cake cheesecake on the meny, it was easily decided.  

Things I noticed:

1- Doordash charges $1 more on all the menu items than to order on the Cheesecake Factory site for pickup.

2- My driver sat at a place that was NOT Cheesecake Factory for 15 minutes AFTER picking up my order.  I was a little pissed when my food did arrive and it was barely lukewarm.  But it was delicious and I ate like I had never eaten before ever.  

If you don't get the pineapple upside down cake cheesecake, you are wrong.

After dinner was couch time until it was doggy dinner time.  Teh German did call as he got off 26 and he was rather hangry, which I gently pointed out to him after I tried to ask some silly "road trip" questions and he got pissy with me.  I was just trying to keep him entertained, but he wasn't in the mood.. because he hadn't eaten anything but gas station snacks and greek yogurt+apple+nuts all day, but what do I know?  Also, one of the first things he asked me was if there was still a frozen pizza in the freezer, which would indicate that he hadn't eaten and was hungry.  So ya know, I'm a real genius over here.

My evening was spent on my screens, as my day had been spent.  After my phone was almost dead a 2nd time (shut up with your judgement, kthx), I gave it up and moved to the laptop to do something productive with my screentime, like draft this post that I won't be able to write on Monday since it'll be MY turn to drive back to Charleston.

Dog evening looked like this: 

Pax's archnemesis is ANY fly in the house.  He becomes very alligator like with his snappy teeths, which is moderately alarming if you're not expecting it.  This photo is after he missed the fly. 

The Bestie and Teh Chief Smartass came home ALMOST past curfew (looool), but they did manage to make it home on Sunday night after a weekend at Cedar Point.

______________________________________________

I told Teh German that I was glad for a completely lazy, nothing-to-do weekend.  I know that next week is panning out to be extremely busy with packing things and dinner dates.  I did feel bored at points, but I was able to mitigate it enough not to go crazy... and obviously it wasn't that bad if I didn't absolutely HAVE to get out of the house on Sunday to pick up dinner.  /shrug.

I underestimated just how short Teh German's time in MD was going to be, but I did definitely appreciate one night of snuggles.  I spammed Instagram this weekend with all the cute dog photos and I have a secret obsession with scrolling through my own Instagram feed because I'm obsessed with my dogs and I realized that I didn't even realize that the last photos I took of the beasts at home were their last photos in Haus.  It was definitely a sad realization.  Teh German even commented that he was going to be ALL ALONE overnight in the house and that it was going to be weird.  We tried to think back to a time when that had happened before, but we couldn't come up with anything off-hand, although I'm fairly confident that he's had overnights without me or the dogs before, although maybe the tank was around then, so there was at least a fish to keep him company, LOL.

Part of me wishes we'd gotten one last family photo in front of the house, but I know we'll get a new family photo in front of the new MD house.  I think that a photo in front of SC Haus would bring up too many sad memories of leaving our framily behind, so maybe it's best we didn't get one.  

So, in fun news, I'm off work tomorrow, LOOOOL.  I forgot that we are now in the season of holidays every month!  ANNNDDDDD now I get all these holidays off AND PAID and it doesn't come out of my PTO!  I'd say it's the small things, but that's fucking huge.

In addition to being off, it's also Sandy's 8th birthday!  That doesn't seem like old lady age, but for a big dog, that's elderly AF, especially when your Mahm doesn't know your past-life and expected you to die a few months ago since you were supposed to be a hospice foster, each day is a cherished day.  

That said, Sandra is obviously no longer a hospice dog, much less a foster.  I'm not looking forward to the day that we have to make any hard decisions for her, but I will do that for her because she's shown me strength and perseverance and determination since May.  She's shown me that old ladies are full of surprises and do best when given LOTS of delicious treats (preferably freeze dried chicken hearts and beef lung pieces), plenty of space on the couch, and allowed to drag you down the street at a full on sprint because she's feelin' sassy.

Floofus snuggles melt my heart.

Happy Birthday to my Sandra Dee,

These past 5.5 months have been... interesting.  You don't know the strife that it caused when I insisted on bringing you home.  We are not a 3-dog family, but apparently we are now, even if it's definitely temporary.  But no matter what happened before you arrived, all of the strife was absolutely worth it.  I am sorry that your family decided that they didn't want you anymore because you are everything I didn't know I needed + a little more stress that is slightly unnecessary but I'll manage because you are the bestest floofiest old lady that I've ever met.  I know they loved you at some point because you sit and shake like a champ.  You are never shy about what you need, be that to go outside or play time with Mahm and Dad or extra snacks.  I'm so glad that your strength has returned and I'm much less worried about your shuffles these days, as you get around just fuckin' fine, thank you very much.  I know you don't really love strangers, but you were a champ with all the stranger danger at the going away gathering and for that, I love you extra.  Thank you for being my umbilical cord dog, even if I get frustrated sometimes.  Despite not being a 3-dog family, I hope you're around for as many more years as you'll give me.  

Love, 

Your Mahm

Weekend Review {06/17}

FRIDAY

Friday was THE day.  The end of the count down.  The official end of vacation day.  THE GO HOME DAY.  We started off slow, since we woke up early.

With dogs, of course.

By 0900, we were on the road.

Asshole dogs thwarted a good family selfie.

Unfortunately, we sat in traffic for over 45 minutes near Quantico, which had no alternative way around.  Of course.. and I would have went down the toll road had it been open for our direction when I passed the last exit, but of course, it wasn't.. and I didn't know that this situation was a thing at the time.

Thanks to Twitter for keeping me abreast of the situation.. That was much appreciated.

We picked up lunch at the dog park stop in NC.  Then we had to make another bathroom break for me.. and I requested we stop at a McDonalds so I could get an ice cream.  I did at least share with the dogs.  So, trade offs.

When we got home, since we didn't have luggage, there wasn't anything to do after we fed the dogs.  So, we went to Teh PT House to hang out for a bit and have pizza.  When we came home, we brought all our mail that Teh PT Wife had picked up for us and it was like Christmas in June.

YAY smartwatch!

We're HOME Selfie!

It was nice to be home with all my preferred smells and things.. but the best part of being home?  My toilet closet, aka favorite room in the house.  Especially after my struggles the last 2 weeks...

After getting all the packages open, sorting through the mail, and putting away all the stuff in the box we had shipped from Germany... it was bedtime.

SATURDAY

I woke up with the dogs on Saturday by 0730, thanks Meri.  I sat on the couch and uploaded photos to my computer from my camera and set up my new watch (Fossil Sport gen 4).  I had signed up for my local police department's first annual 5k and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go or not.  But, I ultimately decided to go, despite getting there too late to pick up my race bib, so I could test my new watch.  #SorryNotSorry

The run was quick, but it was a 5 minute drive from home, so it wasn't that big of a deal.  After, I went through the car wash to attempt to get some of the baked bugs and spider webs off of Willow.  I can't really tell that it helped, but I tried.

When I got home, Teh German was opening up his new Apple watch (which I still holds he got because he was jealous that now I had a smart watch and he didn't).  So ya know, we had to take a cool kids pic of our new toys...

Since he couldn't do anything with his uncharged watch, he finally gave up and put it on the charger and went outside to mow down the jungle in the backyard.  I stayed inside and made the menu for the week and grocery list since THIS was the situation of our fridge:

Teh German had asked me to weed the flower beds since they really looked like ass, and even thought I didn't want to, I did.  He also made some idea contributions to the weekly menu, so that helped.  We also agreed that we'd take care of outside things, come in, shower, and slowly get ready, then we'd go out to dinner, then take care of the shopping we needed to accomplish. 

We headed out to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and then to Sam's then Walmart for the items on the list.  While we were out, I called the airline and was informed that our luggage had arrived in DC on Friday evening's flight and they would be shipping the luggage via FedEx on Monday, since they aren't open on the weekend.  This means that our luggage should arrive to us by Thursday.  Does our luggage contain ALL of our shit?  No one knows.. but hopefully on Friday, I'll have good news to report.

Saw this gem in the Walmart parking lot.
This person is a real American hero.

After we got home, we put everything away and then it was screen time for the rest of the evening.  I worked on photos and Teh German played with his new tech.

Finally, it was bedtime.

Also, due to lost luggage and lost brain cells, I now have THREE packs of face cloths open (granted, one of those isn't currently in my possession), because I opened a new pack before checking to see if there was already an open pack in the cabinet.  🤦  When did this become my life?  Ugh.

SUNDAY

Sunday was a semi-lazy day.  We had taken care of almost all the adulty things on Saturday, purposefully. 

This fucking goof.
I missed him.

I told Teh German he was getting up with the dogs, since I got up with them on Saturday.  Happy father's day!  looool.

When I finally got up, I started the laundry, which was bittersweet.  On the one hand, I was super excited to get to use MY washer AND dryer and all MY laundry detergent with smells of my preference.  Butttt, laundry is also a drag and it's not my most favorite chore (yes, I have a favorite chore, it's vacuuming, thanks for asking).

I call this piece:
The Return of the Laundry Fairy.

When I came downstairs, we had coffee and breakfast and I got to try out my new smores creamer.  Everything I never knew I needed.

After breakfast, Teh German installed his new exhaust on Suzi (the white motorcycle) and I finally got Puzzle and Audiobook time.  It.was.glorious!  12/10, do recommend!

Around 12:30, I finally went upstairs to shower and make myself presentable to the world.  I was committed to cooking mac and cheese at Teh PT House for the father's day/birthday gathering since I wanted to coordinate cooking time with grilled items.  It worked like a charm and the mac and cheese was delicious.

We spent the evening at Teh PT House socializing with our SC parents until it was finally go home time.  Teh German suggested we walk the dogs, so we did that when we got home, then we had couch time and watched an episode of Vikings.. and then, the weekend was over... and vacation was over...

______________________________________________

EXACTLY the weekend I needed before returning to the grind.  Well, half my grind.  I don't currently have school, so it's just work for me for the next 2.5 weeks.  Chem 2 (Lawd, halp me) starts on July 5th.  We were able to get all of the chores out of the way on Saturday and had a super enjoyable Sunday.

Inshallah that our luggage arrives on Thursday (or sooner is ok with me).  Preferably with everything inside (specifically, bottles of wine) intact and nothing stolen.

This week will be an interesting week of catching up.  I also have a millionty packages that need to go out (Amazon returns, shirt for a friend, wedding RSVP) and more errands to run (to Walmart to pick up another soap dish... siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh).  I will also be bringing Teh PT Kid to my school for his summer camp thing and picking him up in the afternoon. 

But by far, my most important Monday task?
GOING TO THE CHIROPRACTOR.
🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

The other big event for the week will be dropping off my laptop at Best Buy for repairs.  I have to ensure that everything is set up on my work laptop beforehand though, so hopefully by Wednesday, my precious will finally get the doctor visit it needs.

Also, I will not be having ice cream every day anymore, so please keep me in your thoughts.  I know the struggle is going to be real.

Snowcation Recap 1 of 3

Snowcation started on Dec 19th.  We had lunch with Teh NY Chef + husband at a middle eastern place near the airport and it was a wise life choice on my part.  Everyone was stuffed when we left and the food was delicious.  After lunch, they dropped us off at the airport and the adventure started!

Wednesday - 19

Through security!

HERE VE GOOOO!!!

When we landed in Denver, we waited on our luggage then found the rental car.  After leaving the airport, we stopped by REI to acquire snow goggles and warm socks for me.  Then we were on the way.

Our Snowcation plan was to spend a few days in Steamboat Springs, then spend the rest of the trip in Denver, staying with GEGR friends of mine.  The day we arrived in Denver, we'd drive most of the way to Steamboat, then stay at a hotel about an hour away since it was significantly cheaper than staying at Steamboat, then finish the drive on Thursday.

I rented a car through Turo, which is essentially like Air BnB but for vehicles.  Going through a rental company would have been more expensive AND I wouldn't have been able to pick the exact car I wanted (something with snow tires and 4 wheel drive (4WD)/all wheel drive (AWD) since winter time in the mountains).

I selected a 2014 Subaru Outback since I knew it would have enough room for Teh German's snowboard and was AWD and it had snow tires.  This was a wise life choice for me since on the way up the mountain, we encountered this delight on I-70:

This is what I learned about snow driving:
-Good windshield wipers are essential.
-Lane boundaries are merely suggestions.
-Everyone is just trying to not die and to get where they are going.

We made it to Kremmling with minimal issues, if you don't count my white knuckle driving for the snowy portion of I-70 and the emergency stop we made at Walmart to replace the dry rotted windshield wipers.  I was pretty ragey at having to replace the windshield wipers because I felt like it was something the owner should have maintained.  He said it hadn't precipitated in a while in Denver, so he didn't think about it.  Uhhhhhhhh, well maybe you should have?  He did reimburse me for the cost, but it was inconvenient.

At the hotel, we were greeted by the smell of weed and that was it.  We rang the bell and a very stoned lady came to check us in.  We crashed in our room, skipping out on dinner since everything was already closed, finished an episode of The Ranch, and then it was bedtime.

Thursday- 20

When we woke up, we enjoyed the hotel's free continental breakfast, then we loaded up and headed to Steamboat Springs.  The roads were a fucking disaster and I fishtailed twice, once resulting in the car slowly skidding into a snowbank on the opposite side of the road.  Both times, we were extremely lucky that there was no oncoming traffic.  There was some drama (yelling) involved in the moment, but we were both ok, and that's what matters.  We did see an accident on the opposite side of the road and we were both grateful it wasn't us.

We arrived in Steamboat around 10:30 since it took us longer to drive there than we had anticipated.  We found parking for the slopes, changed into our snow bunny outfits, and took the shuttle to the slopes.  We found a place to rent a snowboard for me and we trudged to the snow.

1- Being NOT at sea level was extremely difficult.  Like, seriously.  I consider myself to be in moderately good shape, despite my dessert indulgences, but lawd walking up tiny hills with snowboots on, carrying a snowboard, in all these layers of clothes.. I wanted to die.  Additionally, getting myself up off the ground after falling was equally tedious.

2- Snowboarding is hard.  And also not for me.  I wanted to be cool, but I don't have the life skills to attach both my feet to a single board and not fall.  I mean, I did it once, but it was a fluke.  And then I had to detach my foot, lug everything back up this tiny ass mountain hill, and do it over.  That's called practicing and well, I needed to just be good at it or at least be good enough that I wasn't falling more than 50% of the time.

We stopped my training for lunch at a mexican place right beside the hill where Teh German had been giving me lessons.  After lunch, I told Teh German go to buy a lift pass and get his snowboarding on and I'd stay at the bottom and practice.  I did 2 attempts on my own after Teh German had left me and both times I fell and hit my head so hard that my hat flew off and I was fucking done with that shit.

And no, I did not rent a helmet because I figured I was going to be on a tiny hill all day (I'm, at least, aware of my limits) and I'd be ok.  Yes, I was wrong.

Teh German on his way.

After giving up the snowboard fight, I headed down to the actual base of the slope and found a table to people watch for a while.  I was going to buy a peppermint hot chocolate (a menu offering, so obviously I had found my people), butttttt I'd left my wallet in the car, so I had no way of paying.  I texted Teh German who made his way back down the mountain to give me his card so I could drink away my concussion.

People watching outside was kinda chilly, so I decided to go into one of the restaurants and sit at the bar and order my peppermint hot chocolate.  I ended up talking to 2 other injurees for a while until they decided to go back to their hotel and get stoned.  Closer to the time that Teh German and I had agreed to meet, I headed back to the rental place to return my board and boots.  After returning the gear, I sat at their bar and enjoyed a glass of water until I realized they had the Stiegel Radler, at which point I ordered that. 

Teh German ended up coming down the mountain earlier than anticipated because he was tired, which wasn't completely unexpected since he hadn't been snowboarding in over 5 years.  He helped me finish my Radler and then we headed to Walmart to pick up some breakfast things, snacks, and a possible dinner option.  We were feeling tired and agreed to hit up Subway for dinner and when we got there, there was a sign on the door that the location was closed.  Womp womp.  We noticed a Jimmy Johns across the parking lot, headed there, ordered dinner, then headed to the AirBnB, where we had some issues getting inside because I am a puny wimp and couldn't slide the door open.  Oops.

I no longer travel without my percussion massager (aka my vibrator) when there are going to be physical activities (like snowboarding or running) involved.  #NotSorry

After eating, we showered and then had screen time until bedtime.

Friday - 21

Teh German was headed for the slopes after breakfast and I opted to stay home and be lazy AF.  I also considered going to take photos, but I got side tracked planning for activities.  I made reservations for us to go Strawberry Park Hot Springs that evening and to go snowmobiling the next day.  Teh German and I had discussed meeting for late lunch so I also planned for that.  I found a brewery that was between a pizza place and a bbq place, called Storm Peak Brewing.  Teh German had anticipated us eating at the bottom of the slopes, oops.  I told him if he wanted, we could eat at the base of the mountain, but he agreed that a beer with pizza or bbq sounded good.  And he was also tired.

The view from our AirBnB..
also..
IT WAS SNOWING!!!!

At the bbq place I found LEGIT sweet tea.  There are few ways to ALWAYS to make this Southern Belle happy when it comes to beverages, so this was like +10 points for the bbq place and the brewery.

Reppin' CHS brewerys.

#SweetTeaIsLyfe

After we finished lunch, Teh German said that he was tired and opted to come back to the condo with me instead of having me drop him off at the slopes again.  He showered and we had some lazy time until the shuttle came to pick us up for our hot springs trip.

Strawberry Park has 3 different pools, hot (~102°F), hotter, hottest (~106°F), and the river, which is FUCKING cold, I think someone said it was below 40°F?  Teh German was crazy enough to get in the river and then come back into the hot spring, but that shit was not for me.  Several people were just SITTING in the river and I'm like.. HELL NO.  We mostly stayed in the medium-hot pool, just because there was a wall beside the river that made it not as hot and we were chatting with others nearby.  I opted for the sunset time since it was highly recommended.  Our driver gave us flashlights and plastic bags for our stuff (which was convenient since it started snowing).

Pics were hard to get because there is no artificial light near the springs.

Where you buy tickets if you don't go through a tour agency (aka if you drive yourself).

After we were delivered back to the condo from our hot springs dip, we opted to go out to the downtown area for dinner.  It had been snowing, so the roads weren't that great, but still drive-able.  By this point, Teh German had been approved to drive on the Turo app (the delay was his own fault for not reading the email he received, but we won't hold that against him).

We ended up at an Italian place for dinner that was pretty good.

After dinner, we did a short walk around the downtown area, then we headed back to the condo for bedtime.

The Rabbit Ears Motel is famous for being shady in the past, but now it's popular because of it's very obvious sign.
You can find pics of people taking selfies in front of the sign on instagram.

I also took a selfie, but it wasn't that great and you can't actually read the sign, so meh.  After stopping for a selfie with the sign, we headed back to the condo for some lazy time and then it was sleepy time since we actually had to set an alarm for the next morning.

Saturday - 22

I almost didn't make the snowmobiling reservation because it was kind of expensive.. and by kind of,  I mean, it was expensive.  Buuuttt, it was Snowcation and it seemed fun so dammit, we're doing it!

The shuttle driver called and asked if she could pick us up early since the roads were kinda bad and she wanted to make sure we got to the ranch when we should.  Teh German and I agreed and we kicked into high gear and the bus was there before we were even dressed.  Uhhh, ok, she just had to wait.  We still make it out 15 minutes early, so good on us.

The reservations I had made were at Saddleback Ranch for 3 hours of snowmobiling, then tubing.  The shuttle would pick us up and drop us off.  Not driving was totally worth it.

When we arrived, we signed liability forms, got a helmet, then went outside for a "this is the gas, this is the brake" instruction speech, then we were off!  I cannot give enough praise about how awesome the snowmobiling adventure was.  The vistas were of my dreams and driving a snowmobile is probably the most fun thing I've ever done.

There were 12 of us in the group and we had 2 guides with us.  We were led around the ranch, which was massive.  We stopped at 2 "playgrounds" where we were given the green light for going as fast as we wanted, as long as we didn't hurt ourselves or others.  The first playground was awesome because it was mostly flat.. The 2nd playground was less fun because it was on a hill and I ended up flipping my snowmobile over 3 different times and had to have someone come and help me flip the snowmobile upright in hip deep snow.  Nonetheless, IT WAS A FUCKING BLAST.

And fret not, Teh German also flipped his snowmobile over too, so it wasn't just a Megan problem.  HA.  When we got back to the barns, my toes were ice because hiking boots are NOT snow boots and Teh German had ice on his mustache.  Made me lol.

After we dropped off our helmets and gathered our stuff, we were shuttled to the tubing area for lunch and tubing.  I love tubing, but I was underwhelmed by the 3 tubing slopes they had.  There was a conveyor belt to carry tubers up, but you had to sit in the tube and it was a SUUUUPER slow conveyor.  Waiting in the line to get up the hill was too long for me and I was tired and my toes were painfully cold/numb, so I started to get whiny.  We ended up doing each slope once and then we were going to go sit inside and wait for the shuttle to come back.  When we went inside to grab our stuff, the employee at the counter yelled at us that the shuttle was waiting on us and we needed to essentially GTFO.  She was quite unpleasant.  We gathered our shit and headed to the bus and we were back to the condo within the hour.

After we got back, we showered and relaxed.  Around dinner time, we started making food plans.  I suggested to Teh German that we go by Mountain Tap Brewery to check it out and he agreed.  On the walk there, we discovered a book store that I had to stop in and check out.

#BookHunter

Teh German had a beer, I had a hot chocolate.
Mountain Tap Brewery

We weren't really interested in the pizza that the brewery offered, so we opted to strike out and grab dinner somewhere else.  There is no photographic evidence of our dinner and I didn't even check in on Yelp, which is confusing for everyone.  I do know that we went to crepe place for dessert.  I ordered the smores crepe and there were ZERO regrets.

Heaven.

It was cold.

After our excursion, we headed back to the condo and it was sleepy time since we were both egggggghausted.

Sunday - 23

Sunday was complicated.  We checked the weather and discovered that it was supposed to start snowing during the night which was inconvenient for us since we were scheduled to depart on Monday.  This would mean battling treacherous road conditions to get back to Denver and neither of us was really interested in that.

Soooo, we agreed to get a slow start on Sunday and do some walking around town so I could get some photos, especially since I hadn't brought my camera with me during our snowmobiling tour (which was really for the best).  We'd finish up our time in Steamboat with lunch at a diner I had found on Yelp with awesome reviews.

Also, they had sweet tea, which would have been 5 stars for their review, even if the food had been meh.

After lunch, we hit the road for Denver.  I was pretty sad to leave Steamboat because we had really enjoyed the snow and the cold and the activities.  But, I was also excited for our Denver adventures because we were staying with GEGR friends of mine and I hadn't seen them in years.. AND they had 11 greyhounds for snuggling at their house, which was a nice salve to missing Meri and Pax.

Snowcation Recaps:

Steamboat Springs
Denver Things
New Year's Eve