Tim and I just adore Estes Park - we've always said it is simply enchanting. We came here for Valentine's Day back in 1997, just about 6 weeks after experiencing a miscarriage after trying to have kids for almost 10 years, so it is even that much more gratifying to come back here with 4 kids! :-)
After breakfast and laundry and general straightening around the camper, we headed out to Rocky Mountain National Park - a whole 5 minute drive from our campground! We ended up on a 'moderate' hike up a mountain called Deer Mountain, which was 3 miles up (and of course, 3 miles back). We were largely unprepared for how long it would take. Normally, a 3 mile walk in Florida would take about an hour. But this was up to an almost 10,000 foot mountain - BIG DIFFERENCE! Thankfully, Tim brought the backpack that had some water and snacks in it, while we left our lunches in the car. I think we started off at like 11:30am, so I was thinking that even if it took 2-3 hours we'd still be having lunch around 1:30-2:30. Well, not so much. I don't think we reached the top until about after 2pm! But the top was totally worth it. What an amazing view! And on the way up we saw a couple of does foraging around very near to us, and on the way down we came across 2 bucks as well!
After we spent some time at the summit, taking pictures, eating snacks, feeding the ground squirrels, we began our descent. We noticed a storm brewing, but much of the rain we had been seeing appeared to dissipate in the air before reaching the ground, so I was kind of hoping that would happen with this one. No such luck - and with the winds whipping up there we started really getting pelted! At one point I started laughing because it felt like such an adventure! It only lasted about 15-20 minutes, and then the sun came out and dried us all up again. I can tell you one thing, I am going to be SO SORE tomorrow! We didn't get back down to the car until about 4pm. Here are some pictures of our time on the mountain:
After breakfast and laundry and general straightening around the camper, we headed out to Rocky Mountain National Park - a whole 5 minute drive from our campground! We ended up on a 'moderate' hike up a mountain called Deer Mountain, which was 3 miles up (and of course, 3 miles back). We were largely unprepared for how long it would take. Normally, a 3 mile walk in Florida would take about an hour. But this was up to an almost 10,000 foot mountain - BIG DIFFERENCE! Thankfully, Tim brought the backpack that had some water and snacks in it, while we left our lunches in the car. I think we started off at like 11:30am, so I was thinking that even if it took 2-3 hours we'd still be having lunch around 1:30-2:30. Well, not so much. I don't think we reached the top until about after 2pm! But the top was totally worth it. What an amazing view! And on the way up we saw a couple of does foraging around very near to us, and on the way down we came across 2 bucks as well!
After we spent some time at the summit, taking pictures, eating snacks, feeding the ground squirrels, we began our descent. We noticed a storm brewing, but much of the rain we had been seeing appeared to dissipate in the air before reaching the ground, so I was kind of hoping that would happen with this one. No such luck - and with the winds whipping up there we started really getting pelted! At one point I started laughing because it felt like such an adventure! It only lasted about 15-20 minutes, and then the sun came out and dried us all up again. I can tell you one thing, I am going to be SO SORE tomorrow! We didn't get back down to the car until about 4pm. Here are some pictures of our time on the mountain:
From there we came back to the campground, and the boys went fishing while Nicole and I hunted down a blockbuster to get a movie for the kids tonight so Tim and I could go on a date! On the way to finding the movie, I was in the wrong lane and couldn't turn into where I wanted to go and ended up in the parking lot of the Stanley Hotel. I had always wanted to go inside the lobby of this beautiful and historic hotel, so, no time like the present! I forgot to ask Nicole to take pictures of the lobby, so sorry about that. I'm sure you could go online and see pictures of that. :-) So after finding the movie, taking a short nap, and then taking a shower, the boys came home from fishing and then Tim & I left to go on our date. On the way to dinner we saw this big herd of elk - so I quickly snapped a couple of pictures (see below). Tim had researched the area restaurants and found a very quaint, rustic place just outside of the main drag so we weren't on top of a bunch of people. It was so cute! Thankfully, we were able to use a gift card, and the place was quite reasonable for this area. I just LOVED what I got - I ordered a salad, and then an appetizer as a main dish, and I was completely stuffed! Tim had really been craving trout, so he ordered their rainbow trout. We only had my phone on us, and the flash appears to not be working so the pictures are pretty dark, but here are a couple of pictures of us and my dish, which was baked brie and a lot of fruit - doesn't it look scrumptious?!!
We walked around the main drag for a bit, window shopping and just enjoying being together. It's still an enchanting place for us! We've loved being here in this area so much we're staying an extra night (tomorrow night). Hope everyone has a great weekend!
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