Never Far From Shenandoah

LARKBURGER

Source: www.larkburger.com

Ok I have to preface this post. We heard from our ATV guide about this hamburger place that we had to visit, called Larkburger. Apparently there's a local restaurant called Larkspur that's really swanky and their main chef left. He had this amazing hamburger recipe, and he took it with him. Picture this. The most perfect cut of top sirloin ground into a patty cooked medium. Yes, medium. Medium is standard. The burger is topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and, wait for it, truffle oil. Yes, truffle. When you bite into this thing, your eyes roll back into your head and you realize that yes, you have just bitten into the best burger of all time. Better than Five Guys, better than any gourmet-topped-with-everything-under-the-sun concoction out there.
The 1/3 pound burger is paired with none other than parmesean-truffle fries. They are cut very thin with parmesean cheese, truffle oil, and Italian Parsley. Let me also say that it was so good and we sat there staring at each other in food coma silence and we had an epiphany. Let's order another. So we did. We each had a burger and a half. If you are ever in Boulder or Edwards, CO Larkburger is totally worth it.

State of bliss.

Mr. L can barely lift his eyes up long enough for a photo. He's too intensely focused on the juicy goodness.

Cutting the second burger in half to share.

The sad face after we finished round one. So we had more :)

Horseback Riding

We went on a two hour trail ride out of Bearcat Stables in Edwards, CO. It was beautiful and a ton of fun. Built both of our dreams for sure!

Storybook.

If you look close, you will see an 8-point buck. We saw 3 of them and were about 15 feet away each time. In the area we rode, there are no hunters, and the mule deer aren't afraid of fellow 4-legged creatures. So he just watched us pass.

Mrs. L. Mr. L gave me a hard time for my pashmina scarf and diamond earrings. Hey, a girl has to look good, right?

Mr. and Mrs. L- atop Delta and Ty. Mr. L was on Ty, who was a great gentleman. Delta, on the other hand, was a cranky old lady who was the queen bee of the stables. She didn't want to listen- she wanted to follow in line and get back to the stables. She even nipped the rear of the horse in front of us for not moving fast enough!

The south-facing sides get a lot more sun. So you get a lot less vegetation and trees. More desert-like.

Mr. L. Looking like a cowboy. Just give him a Stetson and he'll be ready to rope and ride.

We were told we picked the best weekend to visit Vail Valley. The trees were in peak color for fall- within two weeks, they will be all on the ground. In the Colorado mountains, the leaves go green, yellow, drop. Not the rainbow of splendor you have in the Valley back home. I must admit, this is a different kind of spectacular.

Mr. L was not ready to say goodbye to Ty. I think I heard him say "Ty is coming home with us!"

Back at the stables, saying our final goodbyes.

ATV-ing

All geared up, ready to go!

On the way up the trail.

Gorgeous. That is until it started pouring snow! We got our first lesson (well, Mrs. L did) on just how fast the weather changes in Colorado!

Muddy and wet and snowing. So much fun though!

At the top- just about 11,000 feet. Pretty freezing cold. And the storm had set in, so we couldn't see the Vail Summit Pass. More trivia- it's the inspiration range for the Colorado license plates.

Mr. L looking pretty studly.

Love this picture. All the ATV's lined up at the top of the trail. We couldn't go further because there wasn't enough snow on the ground. The ground is really fragile at the top of a summit, so any tracks will be there for years. They will drive snow mobiles up here when the winter snows set in.

Beautiful.

This was back down at the NOVA guides Lodge.

Mrs. L, happy to be headed back in.

The finish? Fireplace and hot chocolate and warm toes. Perfect.

Checking in to the Park Hayatt

View of the main lobby during the day. LOVED the fireplace. Perfect for the frigid temperatures!

The bar and main dining area.

Flowers the hotel left us to say "Congrats!"

The lobby at night. Glorious, isn't it?

Shot of the slopes. No snow yet, but still gorgeous.

Another resort higher up on the hillside.

The views from our room. See the fire pit and the big couches? I was SO pumped for smores every night at the hotel. But when we checked in, we were informed that the bears were coming down out of the mountains to lick up all the dropped mallows and chocolate. So all of Beaver Creek had a "no smores" rule until further into winter season. Silly bears.

Honeymoon! On the way to Beaver Creek

First glimpse of the Rockies after the Ute Pass through Colorado Springs.

Pretty spectacular, eh? Bet you didn't know that Aspen Trees grow in groves from a single root system. Each tree that grows is from a root that breaks the surface and grows upwards. The largest grove of them is in Aspen, CO. But there sure were a lot in the Vail Valley.