Winter Park, CO or is it SUMMER Park?!

Day 20 

Finally we got to sleep in! A heaven-sent 10 hours of sleep was loosely discussed as the highlight of the trip up to this point, and after a very tasty breakfast of pancakes and bacon the Higgins and Berrys headed over to the ski village for some Rocky Mountain fun. We knew that Winter Park offered alpine sledding and mountain biking, and were therefore surprised when we saw bungee trampoline-ing, putt-putt, giant human mazes, rock climbing, and even panning for gemstones. The alpine slide was first and everyone headed up the lift except Pickles, who was the designated photographer for the afternoon. The alpine slide was out of control fun, twisting and turning at near supersonic speeds. I’m fairly sure Dad even broke the sound barrier at one point. 

Courtney on the Alpine Slide

Berrys & Higgins families

Even though we had breakfast a mere five hours ago, we all agreed it was time for lunch and stopped at the picnic tables to chow on salami and ham sandwiches. We also used the lunch break to play with the many giant games and musical instruments scattered around the Village Center.

The guys (Brandt on one wheel)

Frank

Carter & Brandt

 After lunch, we went our separate directions as the men (Me, Dad, Carter, Mr. Higgins, and Nate) geared up for downhill mountain biking while the ladies (Courtney, Mom, Katie, Mrs. Higgins, and Elizabeth) bought half-day passes to try out all Winter Park had to offer in the Village Center. Downhill mountain biking was, to use biker language, “totally rad”. Even though we all are sore in places we didn’t even know we could become sore, it was insanely awesome and one of my favorite parts of the trip. We traversed and weaved our way down the ski slopes and woods of Winter Park Resort. Astoundingly, we all caught air and only wrecked 5 times total. 

While the men were biking, Courtney and Elizabeth managed to alpine slide 5 more times, do the human maze, putt-putt, and rock climb twice. Pickles, Mrs. Higgins, and Katie hiked some of the trails around the mountain and took some stunning pictures. It was a fantastic day on the mountain and praise the Lord that no one got hurt, seriously. 

Submitted by Brandt