Suncadia 11.2.10

   With the wife turning 40 I thought I would treat her to a night away. The inlaws were in town which provided an opportunity to have someone watch the kids that we trust. I hadn't told her until the day of providing a surprise. I was stoked the weather was picture perfect enabling us to take most of what Suncadia has to offer. The drive over was mostly spent on us reconnecting. With our busy lives sometimes we don't have enough time to do the most basic of things, unbroken conversation. I have been by Suncadia numerous times but I had never been on property. I was instantly impressed with the setup. It reminded us both of where the inlaws live in Colorado Springs.


  We easily found our lodging and we were both impressed with the lodge. To make matters even better we were greeted by a very friendly valet. In this day and age of lost customer service it was a welcome change of pace. We checked in and set up shop in our room. The room was smallish but it was beautifully appointed and very clean. The views from the window were great. I looked out to the nearby peaks and had some fun showing the ones to the wife that I had climbed. In fact other than Domerie Peak I don't think I could see one that I hadn't climbed. The perspective was different from any other I had seen and it was good to see my world from a different angle. After unpacking we decided to take a walk and soak up as much of the warm sun as we could. We did a long loop walking past huge houses, new construction, golf course, play areas and a herd of deer. We stopped at the workout center and my wife had a good soak while I eyed some of the big trout lurking in the pond. Since this trip was for my wife I neglected getting the pole out. While she soaked I sat on a bench and we talked about life and all that we are blessed with. We both were so enamored with the property we decided to try to come back in the Summer with the kids. Soon the sun was setting and it started to cool off. We headed back to the lodge and poked around the beautiful facility. I had met one of the real estate agents visiting my property and we made plans to meet him before our dinner at the Swiftwater Winery.

   The winery is very rustic and we were lucky to have another bout of great service while we waited at the bar. We ended up getting a private tour of the winery along with some complimentries to help our celebration of my Wife's birthday. We were having so much fun sitting at the bar we ended up staying there for dinner and we were rewarded with an outstanding meal. After dinner we stepped out on the deck to do some short stargazing before being pushed back in by the cold night. Neither of us slept well and thankfully we both were able to fall back asleep after being awake at 7am.

  After checkout we decided to stay for breakfast but we had missed the cut-off time but thankfully the Portals restaurant was able to accommodate our desire for breakfast. Be wary the Portals is quite expensive but the food was very good and the views more than made up for the price of the breakfast. I had hoped to spend some more time exploring but my wife was anxious to return, so return we did. Overall a great experience and I was very thankful for the staff at Suncadia for making it a memorable trip. I am looking forward to returning this Summer.