Anyone who has a pet and travels for work and vacations knows part of the process is figuring out canine or kitty care (or in my case also gecko and turtle care as well!). My friend and her two kids who live up the street have fortunately bonded with my family’s black Lab, Sasha, and the aforementioned reptiles (Kingston and Tickles), but a recent eight-day Thanksgiving trip had me scrambling to figure out options. We like Waggin’ Tales, as there is no being confined all day to a kennel there, but a three-hour flight delay due to fog in Denver made us miss our pick-up time at Waggin’ and required an extra trip from Crested Butte to Gunnison. Next time, our solution may the brand new Paradise 4 Paws Pet Resort at Denver International Airport, just east of the Pikes Peak economy parking lot.
Paradise 4 Paws opened its first location at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in 2008 and has since expanded to Chicago Midway International and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airports. The DIA location has various grades of dog and cat suites, as well as dog training, pet massage and grooming. There are two indoor play areas, one each for large and small dogs with indoor grass and a bone-shaped splashing pool. Cat bungalows overlook the Adventure Jungle, where felines can climb and explore cat trees and admire a large aquarium filled with colorful fish. There also is on-site parking for owners with a complimentary shuttle to the DIA terminal, and Paradise 4 Paws is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year so there is no missing a pick-up time.
There was an adorable dog dressed up as a reindeer for the second annual Santa Ski and Crawl in Crested Butte, but the real focus was breaking the world record for number of Santas skiing. I was one of 765 Santa skiers and boarders on Dec.13 and have never skied so close to so many people in my life! If you are looking for a unique company Christmas party idea, the Santa en masse theme was a ton of fun and resulted in amazing photos. Figure out some activity where you can all dress up as Santas and there is sure to be plenty of laughter and ho-ho-hos well into the New Year. Happy holidays!
