After leaving South Dakota, we headed southwest, bound for Colorado with a short stay in Scottsbluff, NE. But…I’ll circle back to that in the future. Now we’re jumping directly to COLORADO!!!
We spent 2 & 1/2 heavenly weeks in this state & it was hard to drive away. This ranked #1 for me so far over all of our stops, solely for the weather. I could not get enough of the air…morning, noon, night, middle of the night….I wanted to spend every waking hour outside which is totally out of character for me. It felt like a foretaste of heaven & I have since reminded Ken that I may NEED to return each & every summer just to be able to sit back & relax in the majestic Rocky Mountain air. Summer has always been my preference for this state, but it had been too long & my memory did not do it justice. I also happen to think that Estes Park is the perfect little town for us. We had a blast!!! Ken & I tried to have as many little “dates” (aka errands without kids) as we could. We loved staying put for 2 weeks & felt right at home…even took in a rainy day movie at the theater & it felt a bit like a normal summer day in Florida…except the weather was refreshing & not a single bug…woohooooo!!!
Our wonderful campground, Elk Meadow RV Resort
Our first weekend there, we got to celebrate our sweet daughter’s 12th birthday…which she also happens to celebrate with the entire country each year!! Since the camper is “home”, some things, like birthday traditions, remain. Traditions passed down from my childhood, like waking up to a celebration of decorations, gifts & favorite foods!! Rylie’s birthday menu of choice was greek yogurt parfaits for breakfast, followed by a day of total relaxation, campground snowcones, mexican chips & dips, amazing fish tacos with slaw dressed in cilantro lime crema & finishing with a tribute to Tampa’s cuban cuisine (& a memory from Nikki Jenkins) of Tres Leches Cake, decorated by Rylie, of course. We were so relaxed & filled that it was hard to motivate ourselves to drive over & watch the fireworks…but we did & enjoyed them together, bundled in our thermoball jackets, hats & gloves (don’t hate us Floridians, we haven’t forgotten the heat, just enjoying the break from it!).
In Rocky Mountain National Park, the kids were overjoyed with the chance to play in the snow, make a sled (Rylie’s coat, which thankfully didn’t get ruined) & have a snowball fight. We were in AWE of the majestic mountains & the kids could finally agree with us that as much as we LOVE North Carolina, these mountains ARE bigger!! We got to see plenty of elk right up close & it was the coolest! I’d love to say that we hiked until our legs fell off, but we didn’t. We relaxed until we felt a little too lazy though!! I think that we hit a little rut while we were here as far as our adventure streak goes. I could say it was the altitude, which would be true, or the fact that we have been on the go for over 3 months now, so that’s also true. One thing would be my mama bear instincts, or fear rather, that made me not want to hike down the steep trails once we were standing on the side of the huge mountains. I have a “downhill fear” (yes, it’s a thing) & I was terrified of slipping & falling to my death…or even worse for my family to fall. Even driving on the summit roads, it was hilarious how I would lean toward the center of the car as if this might help keep us from rolling off the side…a gene inherited from my dad!!:) We had some good laughs about this while on the road & we were all screaming for Ken to keep his eyes on the road…PRECIOUS CARGO!!! It was fun!
Caden stayed busy fueling his creative genes with plenty of wildlife sketching & even invented a camper gym!!
The farmers market rocked! We came home with handmade shredded pork perogies & fresh red & golden beets & onions. I carmelized the onions & sautéed the beets & perogies which made into a delicious meal!!
On the beautiful Riverwalk after church one Sunday…
One of our favorite things we did in Estes Park was going to the Rooftop Rodeo. It’s not actually ON a rooftop, it’s just the name. When we arrived, we were greeted by a DOUBLE rainbow!!! I’ve never seen this before & it felt like a sign for a double blessing! To our wonderful surprise, the cowboy emcee began by having us all bow our heads, cowboys remove their hats & opened the event with a heartfelt prayer…because it is our FREEDOM to pray in this land…it made me cry & gave me hope! This was the first rodeo we’ve ever attended & it was AWESOME! Proudly sporting our boots, we felt like we had finally arrived out west & we had a BLAST! Some of our favorite events were bareback bronc riding, bull riding & barrel racing. Rylie just may have a new favorite sport when she gets back to Jax. She could get into barrel racing & western riding…& I have to say that she’d look pretty darn cute in some leather & rhinestone chaps!!
The cutest event of the night was the Mutton Bustin where little kids would ride on the back of sheep as long as they could hold on. Also, Rylie & Caden both competed in the Calf Catch, which involved chasing sheep around trying to grab the $5 bill tagged to their tails. While we didn’t go home with the huge trophy that was awarded, we did have some great laughs & the kids have now actually competed in a rodeo, right??!! When we hit the Washington State Fair Rodeo this September in Puyallup, we will be veterans for sure!
With a tear sliding down my cheek (not really), Ken pried me away from my mountain-side piece of paradise & we drove away from Estes Park, heading for Glenwood Springs. With only 4 days left for adventure, we packed it in. I mean, we were ready NOT to relax at this point! Our campground was home to an adventure company so all we had to do was walk 100 ft. to the starting line. We hit the Colorado River hard & had some thrills on our 1st rafting adventure. One of our favorite highlights was our bike trip. I’d like to brag & say we biked 16 miles in the mountains because it’s the truth…do I have to mention that much of it was flat or downhill?? Well, pretend I didn’t & just remember the 16 mile part! It was GORGEOUS riding through Glenwood Canyon in the White River National Forest…rushing water, cold breeze, rocky canyons, paved bike path. We can’t decide if we liked biking here or on Mackinac Island, MI more, but concluded that we don’t have to pick a favorite because they were both just outstanding!
We ended our Colorado extravaganza with a mouthwatering sushi dinner, which we haven’t indulged in for months & then went to soak in the Hot Pools for several hours. AHHHHH…could I bring a hot spring home to my backyard? Just knowing that the therapeutic, scalding water came directly out of the mountain to bubble up right under my feet & relax all of my muscles was all I needed. We soaked & soaked until we could take no more. Then, with legs that felt like jello, headed home to sleep our last night in Colorado………
Ring Tales...our great RV adventure! 