Picking up where I left off, Sunday was our first full day in Vail. Steven and I were both so exhausted coming in to this trip that we tried to get enough sleep each night. I didn’t even prioritize getting up to work out (kudos to me – that used to be really hard for me).

I just DO NOT sleep well in Colorado though. And I finally looked it up today – duh, it has to do with the altitude. It sucks – I love visiting, but feel more and more exhausted by the end of the trip because of restless sleep (I typically sleep well at home if my diet is okay, I didn’t have caffeine too late, and am not sick). I wake up feeling super out of it. Ugh. I come around after a bit though.

Okay, now that I am done whining, on Sunday we hit up the farmers’ market. We got cherries and chocolate, and stopped at Yeti’s Grind for breakfast burritos and a chai. This was our first time seeing Vail Village and I adored how cozy it was. Oh! And I must comment on how nice everyone was at the market. I feel like an ass when I spend a bunch of time in a booth and don’t buy anything, but everyone was so nice, wishing us a good day and telling us to enjoy the market.

We walked around quite a bit (we got so many steps in that day – over 22K by the end of the day), stopped to buy gondola tickets, went back to change into hiking clothes, the rode Gondola One up Vail Mountain. That ticket was EXPENSIVE, geesh, like… over $50 a person. Everyone warned us how expensive Vail is, but whoa!

We were originally going to hike up then ride the gondola down for free, then decided to ride up and hike from Gondola One to Eagle Bahn Gondola and ride down. There was not enough shade for us to do that long hike and not be miserable during it and after.

The ride up was fun. I felt like were were getting to the top then it leveled out a bit and we kept going. We hiked the mile over to Eagle Bahn Gondola to check out the Forest Flyer Mountain Coaster. I remembered the day before that this was something I’ve wanted to try and was so excited. Steven, Steve, and I bought tickets (like $35 each? eek!) and Val waited while we waited in line and rode.

Riding the coaster was thrilling! We’d all talked about not using our brakes at all, so I didn’t, then come to find out the boys did a bit. Hmm. They were the smart ones though. I hurt the left side of my neck really bad on the coaster (at least, I think that is what did it???), probably from being tossed around in that little cart due to not using my brakes. It hurt so bad I started crying from the pain in lower body class on Wednesday. I went to Immediate Care that day for something else and asked about it and they were all, “yeah, take meds, heat and ice.” That is what I figured but wanted to check since I was there. It’s thankfully feeling better today.

Wah wah wah, getting old sucks. But the ride was super fun and I’d do it again. It was about a 2 minute ride down, then a 5-ish minute ride up as you get pulled back to the top (that’s what the photo above is from).

After the coaster we went to Val’s favorite spot – the Vail Mountain Wedding Deck. It was gorgeous!

I feel like you can tell how sunny it was from how bright we look – even with those clouds in the background!

Then we rode the other gondola down and shopped and walked from Lionshead Village back to Vail Village and their place. I found some cute gifts, and a lightning bolt necklace for me that matches my earrings. We got rained on a bit on the way back. Val and Steve had told us it would rain every day, and it sure did!

We cleaned up and walked to Bully Ranch for dinner. It started to downpour right as we got there and were running to make it there without getting soaked. We went there because they had a few vegan things on the menu, but everyone was a bit meh about their dish, except the roasted brussels sprouts (and maybe the tots?). Writing this I am remembering how my stomach was popping from all the grease in that meal.

Afterward we went back to their place and played Play Nine, a kind of golf based card game. And we enjoyed some vegan lemon bars Val made. I turned into a competitive ass and quit before the game was over at nine “holes” (rounds). I just cannot play competitive games with people, especially my husband. I’m too much of an asshole. I’ve been this way for years and don’t think it will ever change. Sorry! (Val and Steve thought I was fine… Steven, not so much. Later we discussed that we should have not sat with our partners, so our partners were not passing (OR NOT PASSING) cards to us. Next time?).

Oh! I almost forgot! Val was looking at Instagram and saw people posting a rainbow in Vail and went to look, and sure enough, there was one! A double at that!

This is the view from their place! Isn’t it amazing?!