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Summer 2014 - Coors Factory Tour, Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory Tour, Buffalo Bill's Museum & Grave, Vail (in the summer), Piney River Ranch, Denver Zoo, Cave of the Winds, East Side Kosher Deli, Brooklyn Pizza and Bonnie Brae Ice Cream.
Thanksgiving 2015 - Denver Museum of Natural History, Bonnie Brae
December 2015 - Denver Aquarium, Bonnie Brae, East Side Kosher Deli, Brooklyn Pizza, Outlets at Castle Point, Monaco Lanes, Colorado Adventure Park - snow tubing
Pesach 2016 - Breckenridge, Grand Lodge on Peak 7
Labor Day 2016 - Seven Falls
Pesach 2017 - Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Pesach 2018 - Avon, Sheraton Lakeside Terrace Villas
July 4th 2018 - Garden of the Gods
Pesach 2019 - Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, Betty Ford Botanical Gardens
Summer 2019 - Garden of the Gods, St. Mary's Glacier Hike
Succos 2019, Succos 2020, Pesach 2021 - Lower Maxwell Falls Trail, Evergreen Lake, Lake Dillon, Aqua Mini Golf
« Last edited by @Yehuda on July 14, 2021, 03:36:23 PM »

Author Topic: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN  (Read 36466 times)

Offline mgarfin

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #40 on: May 19, 2016, 03:45:49 PM »
Grand Lodge on Peak 7 offers 2 and 3 bedroom suites,
Is the 2 room big enough for 2 adults and 4 children (11-3)?

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #41 on: May 19, 2016, 04:17:15 PM »
Grand Lodge on Peak 7 offers 2 and 3 bedroom suites,
Is the 2 room big enough for 2 adults and 4 children (11-3)?
We had a 2 bedroom. It was big enough for 4 adults and 3 teens/twenties. The bedrooms each contain 1 bed, there are 2 pullout couches, and they provided a cot without a problem.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #42 on: October 09, 2016, 12:50:30 PM »
Labor Day 2016

My 15th trip to Denver was for Labor Day Weekend 2016. We flew SW out of EWR on Friday morning and returned out of DEN on Monday morning, landing in the late afternoon. After parking by my mother's house near EWR, she kindly drove us to the airport. As we walked up to the checkin counter, I reached into my pocket to grab my wallet, and my heart sunk. My wallet! After a brief freakout session, I realized I must have left it in my car back at my mother's house.

That moment when you get to the airport and realize you left your wallet at home.

Thankfully, we were there an hour and a half early, so I was able to run back, grab the wallet and make it back to the airport with enough time to still sit around the gate for 30 minutes before the flight. Phew. What a start, eh?

We landed in Denver a few hours before Shabbos, and my father in law graciously picked us up from our favorite door.



After a great Shabbos with family, we went out Motzai Shabbos to our favorite stop, Bonnie Brae.



Usually on a short weekend trip, we like to leave Denver early Sunday so that we get home with enough time to rest up before the week, but on a holiday weekend, we could leave on Monday, which gives us a full day Sunday to do a Coloradan activity. We decided to go to Seven Falls which is in the city of Colorado Springs. The trip took a little over an hour and passed by some beautiful Colorado scenery.


Timed perfectly as 2 trains passed by each other

When we arrived, we learned that you can no longer drive all the way to the parking lot by Seven Falls. Instead, your GPS will take you to a parking lot by the Broadmoor, a luxury hotel in CO, where you can park for free and take a free shuttle for the 5 minute drive to Seven Falls. There was a good 15 minute wait to get on a shuttle, which I have to imagine was due to the holiday weekend.



Once we arrived at Seven Falls, we waited on another line to purchase tickets. There was a shorter line for those who had purchased tickets online, and I was tempted to buy on the spot from my phone, but we decided to just wait it out as the line was moving quickly. The cost was $14 per adult. Finally, we were ready to head in!

There's a 15 minute walk from the entrance to the falls, where you walk along a stream (the resulting end of the falls) in between mountains. Alternatively, you could take a shuttle for about $2 instead of walking.











After the pleasant stroll, we arrived at the base of the falls. Seven Falls is aptly named due to the tall waterfall that breaks down into 7 separate sections. What makes this activity more than just seeing a waterfall is that there is 224-step staircase you can climb from the bottom to the top of the falls.





The climb was a bit nerve-racking as you felt the stairs tremble as you stepped and you could see through the holes in the metal below. We took a break to catch our breath at the halfway point platform and then trekked up the rest of the way.



Getting to the top is a bit anti-climactic as it doesn't end in some "wow" view, but it felt good to get back on solid ground. We sat down to rest up and then explored a bit. There are 2 paths through the forest, with a sign indicating that one takes 40 minutes roundtrip and leads to an overlook, while the other takes 20 minutes and leads to another waterfall. We opted for the shorter path till the waterfall, which was nice, but as impressive as the main falls.







We headed back to the stairs, took them down (much easier!), checked out the gift shop and then went for the second way to experience the falls. Here, you could either take the 100 or so stairs up the mountain or the elevator inside the mountain. We took the elevator, which led to a small platform atop the mountain that had the best view of the falls.

[/url]







I'd say it's worth checking out both experiences. We took some pictures and then took the stairs down. We walked back along the stream, waited on line for the shuttle and took it back to the parking lot where we got the car and  headed back to Denver. For dinner, we went out to the East Side Kosher Deli. I went for something I hadn't had before, the Korean Short Ribs. They were full of flavor and not too fatty. That was basically it for the night and the trip.

The next morning at the airport, we picked up some Coffee Bean.



Unfortunately, I realized I had forgotten to check us in for our SW flight, so we got C boarding positions. (The ONE time we flew on a Monday instead of Sunday, so I could have checked in on Sunday as opposed to when checkin is normally on Shabbos. >:() At the gate, I was offered $40 to upgrade one of our boarding numbers to A6. I could have technically gone on my own and held a seat for my wife, but that's never comfortable, so we just decided we'd sit in the first middle seats we found, even though it meant we wouldn't be sitting together. In the end, this was kinda nice because we were able to get 2 middle seats in the first 5 rows. Before we knew it, we were landing back on the East Coast. Realizing we were by EWR at dinner time, we instinctively headed for New Kosher Special for our favorite Chinese food before heading back home.



Another fun trip to Denver!

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #43 on: December 04, 2016, 11:07:48 PM »
I just now saw this.  I love your TR's where I learn about places I've never heard of or visited really close to my house and that my kids could manage!  :P

Seemed like a great day trip from Denver, thanks for writing it up!

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #44 on: December 05, 2016, 06:34:29 AM »
I just now saw this.  I love your TR's where I learn about places I've never heard of or visited really close to my house and that my kids could manage!  :P

Seemed like a great day trip from Denver, thanks for writing it up!
Thanks! Happy to hear it was beneficial.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #45 on: June 11, 2018, 12:56:51 PM »
Pesach 2017
Better late than never... Not going to share much about the overall trip, just hit on the 1 main activity we did. On Chol Hamoed, we took a trip to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. The zoo is built onto the side of a mountain, a cool concept, but walking around is uphill and does take some energy.


View on the way up






For a buck, you can feed the giraffes






You can actually walk inside the wallaby exhibit, although despite our best efforts, they had no interest in coming near us



And, once we landed back in EWR, we stopped by for some post-Pesach NKS.


Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #46 on: June 11, 2018, 10:40:31 PM »
Pesach 2018
While we made a few trips out here since our daughter was born, we hadn't really had a chance to do any activities other than the Denver Zoo again, so nothing to share until Pesach of this year, when we went up to the mountains for 2 days. Thanks to a recommendation from @Denverite, we stayed at the Sheraton Lakeside Terrace Villas in Avon, a town 10 minutes away from Vail. The villas are associated with the Sheraton Mountain Vista Villas across the street. Each villa has 2 bedrooms, 2 pull-out sofas, 2 bathrooms, full kitchen, washer/dryer and balcony, so you can really fit in a lot of people. The villas go for 20k SPG points a night, but because they were fairly cheap dollar-wise for our nights, I decided to save my SPG and book through Chase UR with my CSR for slightly less than 20k. You get access to the Avon Recreation Center across the street which has a mini-indoor water park - lap pool, kids zero-entry pool, diving pool, lazy river and waterslide. We spent time swimming, we BBQed and we drove to Vail Village to stroll around, which was very reminiscent of my first-ever trip to Denver back when we were still dating. Shame it was Pesach so we couldn't get Haagen Dazs, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory or visit the candy store in the center of town.




One of the 3 villa buildings


Entranceway


Living room / main couch area


Kitchen / dining area attached to living room. Courtesy of Google Images


2nd couch area


Master bedroom




Master bathroom


2nd bedroom


2nd bathroom


Pesach BBQing

[/url]



Checking out Vail Village:









Some nice views on the way back to Denver:






Copper Mountain

Another trip in the books!

Offline zow

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #47 on: June 13, 2018, 08:27:55 PM »
Nice! Great pictures.
Seems like you must have bought and brought a new Weber grill. What else did you do for food?
I can ask my LOR, but are you allowed to kasher a kitchen for Pesach during C”H?
Or, maybe you can’t use the oven at all, even with double wrapping...or can you???
Pardon my halachic ignorance.
Thanks.

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #48 on: June 13, 2018, 09:14:05 PM »
Nice! Great pictures.
Seems like you must have bought and brought a new Weber grill. What else did you do for food?
I can ask my LOR, but are you allowed to kasher a kitchen for Pesach during C”H?
Or, maybe you can’t use the oven at all, even with double wrapping...or can you???
Pardon my halachic ignorance.
Thanks.
You cannot kasher on pesach except in very limited cases or using libun
Feelings don't care about your facts

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #49 on: June 13, 2018, 09:37:52 PM »
You cannot kasher on pesach except in very limited cases or using libun
I figured that.
But I guess you could heat double-wrapped food in a treif/chametz oven, right.
Thanks.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #50 on: June 14, 2018, 08:03:55 AM »
Nice! Great pictures.
Seems like you must have bought and brought a new Weber grill. What else did you do for food?
I can ask my LOR, but are you allowed to kasher a kitchen for Pesach during C”H?
Or, maybe you can’t use the oven at all, even with double wrapping...or can you???
Pardon my halachic ignorance.
Thanks.
Thanks. Yes my FIL bought a new grill specifically for Pesach. On our CH trips in Denver, we usually live off matza + spreads and salads, no cooking necessary other than the BBQ. Our Rav said we could Kasher the microwave which we did in order to boil water for coffee.

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #51 on: June 14, 2018, 08:32:29 AM »
Thanks. Yes my FIL bought a new grill specifically for Pesach. On our CH trips in Denver, we usually live off matza + spreads and salads, no cooking necessary other than the BBQ. Our Rav said we could Kasher the microwave which we did in order to boil water for coffee.
I would recommend just buying a $15 kettle for your hot water.
Feelings don't care about your facts

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #52 on: June 14, 2018, 08:43:48 AM »
I would recommend just buying a $15 kettle for your hot water.
Had I realized people would want coffee, I would have suggested something like this.

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #53 on: July 03, 2018, 10:40:53 PM »
I’m just now going through all my unread threads.  I’m glad you all had so much fun and liked the units!  We went tubing in Frisco in Breck over Chol HaMoed and it was really fun! :)

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #54 on: July 08, 2018, 10:46:22 PM »
July 4th, 2018
Just got back from an extended July 4th weekend in Denver. Because we could only fly at a specific time and SW didn't fly then, we actually flew UA on the way there (shocking!) paid for with travel bank at a 10% discount and got upgraded to Economy Plus. On the way back, we flew SW and enjoyed the Companion Pass once again.

We landed Wednesday, July 4th, around noon and once settled in, headed out to heavenly Bonnie Brae before having a family BBQ for dinner.



On Thursday, we went south down to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, a little over an hour away from Denver. This park features unique red rock formations with several paths/hikes to see the different areas. As opposed to the famous Red Rocks, Garden of the Gods is nice because you can actually climb on the rocks. Another nice perk is that it's free! We parked in the main lot (called lot #2) and walked the Central Garden Trail, which is fully paved sidewalk - perfect for a stroller. This area seemed to have the majority of the rocks, although there are plenty of other paths, and if you check out the Colorado wiki, you'll see a recommendation to park closer to the formation called Balanced Rock because that area has even more accessible rocks to climb on. This loop took us about 1.5 hours, but we went slowly and stopped to eat lunch, so you could probably do it faster if you wanted to try and see other parts of the park.



Honestly, the maps are a bit confusing, but here they are in case they help someone plan.



















On the way home, we stopped by Castle Rock Outlets and got Starbucks and some sick Banana Republic deals. :)

For Friday lunch, we got bagels from the bagel store for the first time under the new ownership, Rosenberg's Kosher, and I really liked them!

Was nice to see some DDF faces over Shabbos!

Motzai Shabbos, we went to Brooklyn Pizza, which really has stepped up their flavor game. Props to them because the first time I had them, it was terrible and now it's actually pretty good pizza.

We flew out Sunday morning on SW, finishing off another wonderful trip to CO. Till next time, Denver!

Offline ludmila

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #55 on: July 08, 2018, 10:54:24 PM »
Thanks, enjoyed the TR and the nice photos. What did you think of Vail?
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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #56 on: July 09, 2018, 08:31:28 AM »
Thanks, enjoyed the TR and the nice photos. What did you think of Vail?
Thanks. I've only been in the summer. It's nice to spend a few hours strolling around Vail Village and the adjacent Lionshead, go up the mountain, etc. but if you're doing more than a day trip from Denver and you're actually staying up there, be sure to plan other activities to do in the general area, like on my first trip where we also went horseback riding in Piney River Ranch.

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #57 on: July 09, 2018, 01:50:01 PM »
Thanks. I've only been in the summer. It's nice to spend a few hours strolling around Vail Village and the adjacent Lionshead, go up the mountain, etc. but if you're doing more than a day trip from Denver and you're actually staying up there, be sure to plan other activities to do in the general area, like on my first trip where we also went horseback riding in Piney River Ranch.
Thank you, planning on staying for a couple of days. Will check the activities.
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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #58 on: April 25, 2019, 03:54:27 PM »
Pesach 2019
We just got back from 2 days up in the Rockies, so wanted to do a quick post. 8 months ago, @MosheD pointed out a glitch to me at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek where all suites were pricing out at regular room rates ($175 + $35 resort fee). While I visit Colorado a few times a year, it was hard to jump on this nonrefundable deal without knowing specific dates that would work. I've been dreaming of visiting the PHBC ever since I got into miles and was dating a Denver girl, so I'm glad @benjie1305 encouraged me to pull the trigger, booking 2 suites (the top 2 - Rial Oxford and James Chadwick) for the 1st night of Chol Hamoed Pesach. We almost didn't come to Denver for the 1st days, but everything worked out in the end, so the trip was on! The email confirmation was worded weirdly, and it looked like the Rial came with 2 bedrooms, but luckily I called to confirm a few weeks in advance and found out that no, it only had 1 bedroom. We needed a 3rd room, so we booked a standard room for the same $175 as the suites. They wouldn't upgrade the room to be a connecting room to one of the suites since those are premium / mountain-facing rooms, but on the morning of, I called up and they put through the upgrade.

We left Denver on Monday morning and headed up I-70. The views did not disappoint.



We passed by Loveland...



and Copper...



saw some more gorgeous mountains...



passed by Vail...



and a little more than 2 hours after we left, we made it!


Rear view of the PH from Beaver Creek Village

The lobby started renovations a week ago, so it was mostly closed off and checkin took place in the concierge area. I really love the cabin-y feeling of these mountain hotels.



We went up to check out the Rial Oxford Suite with its huge living/dining room!










Next to the TV was a closet with... another TV :P that was hooked up to an Xbox


Half bath in hallway

There was a kitchenette which was a simple, separate room with a fridge, microwave, sink and counter space. Perfect for our needs. The master bedroom and bathroom were giant.











The 2nd bedroom had 2 double beds and its own bathroom.







The view from the porch was gorgeous - looking over the ski slope and gondola, which were closed already for the season. Following the rest of the suite, the porch was way larger than your average porch.




And that's only half of it!



The porch also looked out over the hotel grounds including the pool, hot tubs, playground and fire pit.







Up next was the James Chadwick suite, which is on the floor above (only 4 floors at the hotel).









After having some lunch, we went out for a 2 mile hike/walk from Beaver Creek down to Avon. The path was paved and ran alongside the road we had taken up from Avon not too long before. Parts of the path were still snow covered, and we got some great views.




Filter disclaimer


Countries that sent players to some ski event in 1999

Walking with a toddler, it probably took close to an hour and a half. At the bottom we waited a few minutes for a free shuttle that took us back up to Beaver Creek. At the hotel, we changed and headed down to the pool. Unfortunately, despite them saying it was heated to 85 degrees, it certainly did not feel like it. Some of the family braved it anyway, but it was probably 50 degrees outside, so I passed. Only one of the 5 hot tubs was open, and it was hot, but I stayed indoors with our daughter.





The next morning, we took a walk around Beaver Creek Village, another very pretty mountain town. It was a ghost town as we're in shoulder season - barely anyone around and most shops closed. Fortunately we found 1 place open to get a shot glass ;)




Melted ice rink in the background





We then packed up, checked out and drove 15 minutes to Vail where we ate lunch by the fountain before walking over to the Betty Ford Botanical Gardens. The garden was mostly covered by snow still, so we didn't walk around, but there was a really nice playground there where we stayed for a while.





After a while there, we got in the car and drove back to Denver. It was a great trip up to the mountains. The next two days, my wife took our daughter to the Denver Zoo and the Children's Museum of Denver. The Children's Museum was very interactive and our daughter had a great time. While I didn't get to go, the word is it's highly recommended! Until next time...

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #59 on: April 25, 2019, 06:59:55 PM »
Pesach 2019
We just got back from 2 days up in the Rockies, so wanted to do a quick post. 8 months ago, @MosheD pointed out a glitch to me at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek where all suites were pricing out at regular room rates ($175 + $35 resort fee). While I visit Colorado a few times a year, it was hard to jump on this nonrefundable deal without knowing specific dates that would work. I've been dreaming of visiting the PHBC ever since I got into miles and was dating a Denver girl, so I'm glad @benjie1305 encouraged me to pull the trigger, booking 2 suites (the top 2 - Rial Oxford and James Chadwick) for the 1st night of Chol Hamoed Pesach. We almost didn't come to Denver for the 1st days, but everything worked out in the end, so the trip was on! The email confirmation was worded weirdly, and it looked like the Rial came with 2 bedrooms, but luckily I called to confirm a few weeks in advance and found out that no, it only had 1 bedroom. We needed a 3rd room, so we booked a standard room for the same $175 as the suites. They wouldn't upgrade the room to be a connecting room to one of the suites since those are premium / mountain-facing rooms, but on the morning of, I called up and they put through the upgrade.

We left Denver on Monday morning and headed up I-70. The views did not disappoint.



We passed by Loveland...



and Copper...



saw some more gorgeous mountains...



passed by Vail...



and a little more than 2 hours after we left, we made it!


Rear view of the PH from Beaver Creek Village

The lobby started renovations a week ago, so it was mostly closed off and checkin took place in the concierge area. I really love the cabin-y feeling of these mountain hotels.



We went up to check out the Rial Oxford Suite with its huge living/dining room!










Next to the TV was a closet with... another TV that was hooked up to an Xbox


Half bath in hallway

There was a kitchenette which was a simple, separate room with a fridge, microwave, sink and counter space. Perfect for our needs. The master bedroom and bathroom were giant.











The 2nd bedroom had 2 double beds and its own bathroom.







The view from the porch was gorgeous - looking over the ski slope and gondola, which were closed already for the season. Following the rest of the suite, the porch was way larger than your average porch.




And that's only half of it!



The porch also looked out over the hotel grounds including the pool, hot tubs, playground and fire pit.







Up next was the James Chadwick suite, which is on the floor above (only 4 floors at the hotel).









After having some lunch, we went out for a 2 mile hike/walk from Beaver Creek down to Avon. The path was paved and ran alongside the road we had taken up from Avon not too long before. Parts of the path were still snow covered, and we got some great views.




Filter disclaimer


Countries that sent players to some ski event in 1999

Walking with a toddler, it probably took close to an hour and a half. At the bottom we waited a few minutes for a free shuttle that took us back up to Beaver Creek. At the hotel, we changed and headed down to the pool. Unfortunately, despite them saying it was heated to 85 degrees, it certainly did not feel like it. Some of the family braved it anyway, but it was probably 50 degrees outside, so I passed. Only one of the 5 hot tubs was open, and it was hot, but I stayed indoors with our daughter.





The next morning, we took a walk around Beaver Creek Village, another very pretty mountain town. It was a ghost town as we're in shoulder season - barely anyone around and most shops closed. Fortunately we found 1 place open to get a shot glass ;)




Melted ice rink in the background





We then packed up, checked out and drove 15 minutes to Vail where we ate lunch by the fountain before walking over to the Betty Ford Botanical Gardens. The garden was mostly covered by snow still, so we didn't walk around, but there was a really nice playground there where we stayed for a while.





After a while there, we got in the car and drove back to Denver. It was a great trip up to the mountains. The next two days, my wife took our daughter to the Denver Zoo and the Children's Museum of Denver. The Children's Museum was very interactive and our daughter had a great time. While I didn't get to go, the word is it's highly recommended! Until next time...
Wow, I'm impressed you got this up so quickly. Way to go!