A Long Weekend in the Rockies
When getting licensed to do mortgage financing, one thing that's important to me is that I do business where I want to do business. I believe in forming real relationships with people, knowing something about the markets I serve, and having the ability to relate to local conditions from afar. For that reason, I try to visit all of the markets I work in a couple of times each year to learn, meet, and enjoy what different areas of our country have to offer. This past weekend, I took a little trip to Colorado.
...and fell in love.
My mortgage license was approved in CO a couple of months back, and though I've had a few loans there, I'd never visited aside from driving through Denver & the Rockies on my journey moving to the west coast. I'm so glad that I changed that this past weekend.
Thursday I flew into Denver and met a cousin who I haven't seen in a couple of years. I stayed in Evergreen, a quiet (everywhere seems quiet compared to SoCal) mountain town about a half hour west of Denver, and about a half hour east of the Rockies and the different ski resort areas. Beautiful is an understatement. I stayed in a mountain house, and was pleasantly surprised to have a local herd of elk swing by to say hello as they traveled through the yard. I was even more surprised to see a small herd of buffalo road side. Having lived most of my life in the northeast and now in SoCal, I sometimes forget how much natural wonder our country has to offer, and seeing these awesome animals so close in the 'wild' was a reminder that we still have somewhat of a 'wild west'. And speaking of wild west, my goodness....those mountain views! I imagine driving down the highway never gets old when the amount of panoramic mountain views along the roadways. Filling up at just north of $2/gallon and having "rush hour" traffic that resembles a 4am drive up the 405 in LA made it even better.
Having never snowboarded in the Rockies, I took a trip up to Breckenridge on Saturday and spent the morning and afternoon on the mountain. While not as snowboarder-friendly as our local Mammoth mountain, Breck was 
HUGE, and looked like a paradise for skiers. Lots of good runs down the mountain (and through the trees), perfect weather, and decent snow made for a great day, followed up with a nice hotel stay in town right next door to the Breckenridge brewery. Before I even knew Breckenridge was a town, I knew it was an incredible beer brand - if you're a craft beer lover, and haven't had their Vanilla Porter, go out and find it! Not only were the brews at Breck great, I enjoyed a stellar dinner as well. What better after a long day on the slopes than great beer and food?
Sunday, before heading home, I spent some time exploring the town of Frisco, about 15 minutes outside of Breckenridge. The theme of awesome food continued with an amazing breakfast at Bread+Salt (their truffle oil scrambled eggs and breakfast burrito are alone worth the price of a plane 
ticket!). I spent some time with Chris Zierhut at Coldwell Banker and learned a few things about the local markets, specifically the high percentage of second home & investment property purchases. It also came as no surprise to learn that in Frisco & the surrounding markets, they need inventory (Hellooooooo home owners, time to cash in!).
Sunday evening was time to head back to Orange County, and though it was a quick trip to the Centennial State, it won't be long before I head back. Between the views, the snow, the space, and the natural beauty, it's safe to say Colorado has a piece of my heart. While SoCal is and will remain home, I could definitely see Colorado being a home way from home in the very near future.
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