This past summer my wife, father, and two dogs headed to Frisco Colorado to relax in the mountains. We walked our normal trail that was still deep in snow.

Not quite ready to call it an afternoon we took a drive towards Breckenridge with a detour up Swan Mountain Road and Windy Point on Lake Dillon reservoir. The access was closed so we made our way to Breckenridge and the Breckenridge Distillery.   A tour was starting in 15 minutes and had room for three more.

After the tastings, which included bourbon maple syrup, of course, we bought some, my wife picked up a Colorado Spirits Trail official map and guide. Knowing about the Whiskey, Scotch and Bourbon trails we asked if we could have one.  Of course, was the reply. While I paid for the maple syrup, and other items we couldn’t live without my wife started to browse the “Colorado Spirits Trail, Discovering the Spirits of the West, Official Map and Guide” “CSTDTSOTWOMAG” for short. There are 51 distillers listed that are members of the Colorado Distillers Guild.

Reading on we found the guide is set up like a passport that you can collect stamps from each distillery you visit. That in itself is pretty cool and perfect for cocktail imbibing competitive OCD adults.

Continuing to read, soft trumpet music began to play while my wife read out loud that the first 24 people to visit each distillery and get a stamp would get a signed bottle from each of the participating distilleries.

To recap; Travel around Colorful Colorado exploring, drinking liquor, eating, fishing, camping, driving, staying in hotels, sightseeing, and doing all his with family and friends?  Text messages were sent before we left the tasting room to three different couples with a picture of the printed challenge and the map. The text itself read “The challenge is on”. Moments later the responses came back; “Challenge accepted!”, “I’m in”, “Ha ha ha – Three smiley faces with tears”.

That  was Sunday. Wednesday was our  next stop.