DAy 14 - January 17, 2011

Back in Charlottesville! The drive was made from Vail, CO to Charlottesville, VA in exactly 28 hours and 20 minutes. Leg cramps. The drive was much better than anticipated and our valiant steed, the Windstar, held up like a champ with no problems at all. Kansas was pretty long again, but the time passed quickly because we were counting hawks perched by the highway. There were 73 hawks. Well the trip has come to a close, the Windstar Boys are home safe and sound, and the Windstar itself is sparkly clean again, without even a scratch.

Day 13 - January 16, 2011

Good morning America. The Windstar is once again packed and ready to rumble. The Windstar Boys are alive and well, ready to begin the journey home. This marks the beginning of our 29 hour (hopefully) drive back to Charlottesville. We will be leaving Vail in the next few minutes and then driving non-stop until we arrive in C-ville. Game time.

Day 12 - January 15, 2011

Today was another "steezy" day on the slopes. Unfortunately no video footage because we all wanted to maximize our time skiing/boarding. Just imagine the most beautiful ski slopes ever. That's where we were. We spent some time on the the Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin. Once getting back to the condo we packed our stuff and got to bed at a decent hour. Time for a 29 hour drive tomorrow, starting at 5:30 a.m.

Day 11 - January 14, 2011

Dear Diary...

No video today because nothing really happened. Today was a relax day. We woke up late, slightly sore from skiing, and hung out around the condo. In the afternoon we saw The King's Speech and then "grilled" (on the stove-top) some bbq chicken for dinner. As a supplementary video check out the trailer for The King's Speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAm7gRXFiRo

Day 10 - January 13, 2011

We "shredded" hard, and to use another snowboarding term, we got "steezy." In other words, we were "styling easy."

Day 9 - January 12, 2011

We travel to Vail, meet up with Barrett's Dad, get to know Vail Village and the condo, and plan out the first day of "shredding."

Day 8 - January 11, 2011

Colorado Springs: no historic monuments, The Air Force Academy, Qdoba, The Olympic Training Center, and Garden of the Gods.

Day 7 - January 10, 2011

Day 6 - January 9, 2011

About six inches of snow + Church in the morning + Snow Creme in the afternoon + The Denver Nuggets at night + More snow all day = An awesome Sunday.

Day 5 - January 8, 2011

Today we went to the Coors factory (the biggest single site brewery in the world) and Red Rocks before having pizza and playing Apples to Apples with Stephen's sister. Barrett destroyed everyone, and Taylor was pretty poor. Currently, there are already 2 inches on the ground and still snowing hard.

Day 4 - January 7, 2011

Well today was an amazing day in Estes Park. We hope you are able to enjoy some of the beauty through the pictures in today's video. Also, we have purchased postcards and plan on sending them to any Windstar Diary readers out there. Please comment with your address if you would like to receive a post card with a personalized note.

Day 3 - January 6, 2011

Today we visited downtown Denver and saw the 16th Street Mall and a stock show parade. Then we went to dinner at Stephen's sister's house and had delicious buffalo tacos for dinner. Also Robbie's beard is longer than his hair. Check out this other amazing video we were shown today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOMgDbcA84A

Day 2 - January 5, 2011

Sorry for the delay in the posting of today's video. We experienced some minor technical difficulties. Yesterday we travelled from Benton, IL to Brighton, CO (just north of Denver). We stopped in Oakley, KS looking for the largest prairie dog statue in the world, but it was closed when we arrived. Instead we looked for a giant statue of Buffalo Bill, but he proved elusive as well.

Day 1 - January 4, 2011

Today we departed from Charlottesville, VA at 6:30 am EST and arrived in Benton, Il at 7:00 pm CST. We stopped at Tudor's Biscuit World for breakfast, McDonald's for lunch (50 nuggets for $9.99), and the Walton's house for dinner. Mrs. Walton made us some great home-made spaghetti, sausage pasta, salad, and garlic-cheese bread. We had a number of interesting experiences in between; including a wild-goose-chase after Santa Clause, The Encourager Truck, pacifism discussions, and some home-made Christmas cookies. The Windstar Boys are in good spirits and looking forward to an additional 15 hours on the road tomorrow.

The Beginning

It's 5:45 am and we are about to load into the Windstar. We are supposed to be in the car in five minutes, ready to leave. Probably not going to happen. The plan is to make it to Benton, Ill by dinner time tonight.

Car is packed. Ready to head out in the morning. Check back tonight for the first official post.

In the mean time please enjoy this inaugural video.