Great News!!

Some of you may recall my rant from last year after learning Steamboat had been purchased (along with Winterpark and most of the Colorado ski resorts) by Aspen Ski Co. Many of you may recall when Aspen was a lovely little ski village tucked away in the mountains. Today, if you can even get there, you will have traveled at least an hour in traffic and will have lost all your enthusiasm by the time you arrive. Adventures seekers we may be; but, we'll never again darken Aspen's door. Who wants to travel to Cool, Colorful, Colorado to spend your time in a mini New York City atmosphere? Geesh...don't get me started.

Thus...we sadly expected this would be our last year in Steamboat for obviou$ rea$on$. Our current summer abode is located in the precise central, heart of "The Boat." Downtown runs from 3rd Street to 13th Street and we're between 7th and 8th. Even better, we're one block off Lincoln (Hwy 40, the main drag) and on the Yampa River. It's a handsome apartment complex surrounded by some of the hottest spots:

 Our appartment  building - we're bottom floor center of this pic

Looking across from our apartment. Ski jump hill and restaurant/night spots.

On Saturday mornings each week there's the town market. We typically acquire pastries and veggies - yum!

Saturday morning town market - looking east from our place down Yampa St.

And, arguably best-of-all, next door to the east is Carl's and Otto. Carl serves seven (7) different varieties of Old Fashion, and Otto is in the running for the planet's best pizza.

 Great place for afternoon, sidewalk, happy hour.

Great place for cracker-thin crust chicken, pesto pizza with artickoke...OMG!

With all this going for our location, you can see why we were dismayed to learn Aspen and Aspen's pricing was on its way to the Boat. Sure nuff! When we inquired about a return visit next year, the response was no less than a 100% price increase.  Yep! That's right...double the price! And, there's no negotiating because it seems that's cheap! Six weeks in downtown Steamboat is now astronomical. Can you say, "millionaires welcome!"?

So what's the good news, you ask?
Well...there's a saying: Where there's a will Liz... there's a way! And, just so happens I have a Liz!! She went to work for three (3) days and found not just one (1), but two (2) amazing alternatives. And...better still...the owners were happy to negotiate. Seems we frequent VRBO renters have ratings, too! And...thanks to Lizzy and her fastidious ways...we must have a pretty nice rating. So we have a place already rented for next year here. And...it's 10% less than we're paying now. Yea!!

 Next year's digs thanks to Lizzy

Obviously, we won't be in the heart of downtown, but we're 100' from the free bus that runs every 15 minutes. We'll be located closer to the ski hill and all the restaurants and amenities thereby. That top balcony on the left will be ours for August 2020. It offers a gorgeous view up to the top of the mountain. Thanks, Lizzy!!

 Oh yeah...Saturday was the last night of Steamboat Rodeo 2019. It's always fun!

Friday night was the scene of My Big Fat Italian Wedding. Yep...150 wedding guests from the families in Italy, NY, CA and all across the USA were in town for a destination wedding in Steamboat. They found themselves at the Steamboat Rodeo on Friday night. What a hoot! It was a blast to see what Italians conjured up to resemble "western attire." OMG!

BTW...it's 8:30am here and the temp is 45deg. What is it where you are?

Stay tuned...