September – Girls Getaway

I think it was seven years since the last time we had a reunion.  This group of girls stems back from our summers in college when we all roomed together in Ocean City, MD.  We’ve tried to get together here and there whenever we can, but to get the group of 8 of us together is harder.  We are vowing not to let it take another 7 years to do this again.

We chose Colorado as our gathering place since I was on the eastern side of the big hill, and Laura VD was on the western side.  So the other six flew in from Oregon, California, and Illinois.

We rented a beautiful lodge-like home on the slopes of Breckenridge.  His High Place.

We took our first hike to Black Powder Pass.  It starts at the top of Boreas Pass and then goes up from there.  Maybe not the smartest idea to send everyone so high in altitude after just 24 hours, but the views were spectacular.

The drive to Boreas Pass is beautiful in itself.  We had rented a minivan and we all almost fit.  One of us would squeeze onto the floor in the second row so we’d only have to take one car for hikes or trips to town.

Our second hike was Mesa Cortina.

We went a little further past our lunch spot and then decided to turn around.  There was a big debate about hiking or shopping going on in our discussions.  Heidi and I wanted to move further down the trail, looking for an opening in the trees that would’ve given us a view.  We found it here at this beautiful marshy area.  We snapped our photos and then turned around and had to keep up a good pace to finally catch up with everyone else.

The only thing missing in this meadow was a moose.  I still think he was hiding behind a bush watching us!

We were told that we were a week late for the full Aspen show, but we still had some color along this trail.

We spent most of our time hanging out at His High Place.  With two decks, a jacuzzi, a spacious living room and dining room with an island kitchen…and several great cooks in the house…we really didn’t need to go anywhere.  Our primary goal was achieved:  much talking, much wine drinking, and much laughter occurred in these woefully-too-short days.

I miss these girls (and all of my girlfriends) even more when I am with them and they remind me of all of the camaraderie, support, joy and love I feel when I’m with them.  But it is because of these moments that we try so hard to stay connected even when life drifts us apart.  I came across a quote recently talking about how true friends can just pick up where they’ve left off as if we just spoke to each other yesterday.  I am thankful for having these true friends in my life.

Our next reunion we are planning on trying to make as a “family” reunion – bringing the kids and husbands together.  This would be fabulous since I’ve never even met some of the kids or it has been years.  Photos of the children are the constant reminder of how quickly time passes!

Thanks for everything girls – I’ll see you soon!