Christmas 2014

For Christmas this year we decided to try the cabin out.  We certainly had some concerns about winter in the mountains and traveling.  We kept an eye on the weather and installed a winch on the front of Chad's 4-Runner.  

The Bainums met us there and got the place warmed up before we arrived.  Alan followed us from Kansas making a nice party for the Holiday.

We played board games, ate like kings and were generally lazy.  We did do a bit of work, just to say we did and to keep some of us from going stir crazy.

I love watching the sunrises out there.  Here are some pictures of the Stiver's cabin across the valley.  Note the trees silhouetted in the sun.

The kids watching a small heard of deer.

The wildlife was noticeably absent on this trip.   The elk moved to warmer pastures and most everything else hibernated, except the deer.

I love the snow on their backs, they look so fat and cozy.

We had to get out some and stretch our legs.  

The day after Christmas we got a fresh snowfall.  Here is Chad cleaning off Alan's Jeep.

We tried sledding but it didn't work for very long.  I didn't (ARG!) bring sleds and so we improvised with an old deflated air mattress.  Alan and Chad were the guinea pigs but after half a mile they decided that feeling every rock in the road with their tail bones wasn't fun.

So, instead of sledding we rounded up the kids and went exploring.

The scenery was beautiful!

There has to be a high level of forethought in order to not get yourself in a lot of trouble in the mountains, more so in the winter.  When driving on unplowed roads its best to have two vehicles.

With 5 days notice the park will plow your road.  But obviously there are a lot of unoccupied cabins in the winter and therefore a lot of unplowed roads.  Those being more fun, of course.

I never got stuck.  Just stating that now.  Chad and Mike were another story.  The ground clearance is lower on the 4 Runner and therefore bogs down faster than the Jeep.  Here we are pulling Mike out of a drift.  Realize that we were doing this for the fun of it.  While there was some level of eye rolling on the wives part we were all having a good time.

Those winches are so handy!

We let the kids get out and play while getting unstuck.

The snow was waist deep in one area.

Heading back to the cabin.

The kids are rather fond of Alan.  Here he is wraping up the kids as Christmas presents.

We came prepared for weather and planned accordingly.  But we didn't get snowed in.  Something I'm slightly disappointed about.

All in all it was a good trip.  Except for the fact that I left behind the boys Christmas presents from the Bainums and our dirty laundry got thrown out with the trash.  Other than that, it was good.  We can't wait to do it again.