It will soon be time for school to start and we just got back from our family vacation. It was such a fun and relaxing time, I'm having a hard time adjusting to reality. Ha! We headed west and although the drive was fairly boring, we tried to break it up with multiple stops. Our first really fun stop was at Chimney Rock. We got to tour it and visit the museum just before a storm rolled in. The kids really enjoyed an interactive part where they pretended to be traveling in a wagon. They had to decide what to bring as their most important necessities!
After Chimney Rock, we continued on to Cheyenne, WY. Although I mentioned that the drive was fairly boring, we did spot the peanut mobile in Lincoln at the beginning of the trip! We spent part of a day in Cheyenne before we headed to the mountains. We walked around the WY state capitol, but it was closed for the summer due to renovations. We did some shopping at The Wrangler. It was such a neat store! It must have done its part making us want to be cowboys/girls, because both Bryan and I came home with a pair of boots! Don't worry though... when I asked Maddy if she was a cowboy or cowgirl, she responded, "I'm not a cow anything!" Ha!
We also toured the Cheyenne Depot Museum. The kids really enjoyed it and there was a lot to see! There was also a giant bell they could ring (only once) and as you can see, it brought them great pleasure!
After a partial day in Cheyenne, we headed toward Grand Lake, CO. On the way over the mountains, Maddy slept most of the way. We did get her up to see the view from up high as well as the elk we saw at the top of the pass. I didn't really enjoy the drive (although the scenery was amazing) and was happy to stay in Grand Lake for multiple days before driving back over the mountains!
On our first day in Grand Lake, we did a hike close to town called the East Inlet Trail. It leads you to (and past) Adams Falls. We saw some beautiful meadows and several places where water was going down the mountain. During our hikes, we established a hiking line with me in the front, kids in the middle, and Bryan in the back. Maddy alternated between walking with me or Bryan depending on her mood! (I'm not sure why a picture is missing, btw and I don't have the time/energy to figure it out). :)
Later that day, we did a second hike near the Kawunechee Visitors Center. It was a lot drier with a multitude of lodge pole pines. It was really interesting how different the hikes could be from one trail/mountain to another. We would see different plants, trees, animals, etc.
Rain threatened later in the afternoon, so we headed back to Grand Lake. We did a tour of the Kaufman House Museum. It was originally a visitor house up until the early 1900s. It was a trippy place to be as some of the floors were uneven, but it was quite interesting! After the rain passed, we walked around near Shadow Lake (Grand Lake boardwalk) and dipped our toes in the water. That finally convinced the kids that swimming was NOT a fun idea. The water was cold!
On our second day in Grand Lake, we did our longest hike. It was almost 4 miles to Big Meadows (up Green Mountain). We definitely noticed why the mountain had its name. It was way more lush (and full of bugs)! The kids did awesome. Snacks along the way and plenty of rest breaks seemed to be the trick to keeping them going!
Although we weren't sure if we would find it, we made it to our destination in Big Meadows. There were cabin ruins from the early 1900s when a farmer tried to harvest wheat in Big Meadows. It was too marshy though and now his home and barn are still there (in the middle of the forest). We also saw our first moose (two females) on our way back down the mountain.
After that long hike, some lunch, and a chance to rest, we did some short hikes in the afternoon. One wasn't even a hike, it was right outside our cabin door. We went down to the water of the Colorado River. We did a short hike after that around Shadow Lake where we saw an osprey nest. Storms were rolling in again, so we made it a short hike!
A local (and very nice) lady that was hiking in Green Mountain in the morning told us to drive around in the evening and we would get to see some wildlife. See some, we did! We saw lots of elk out eating, but also saw some moose. The first male moose we saw by the side of the road and I snapped a couple quick pics out the car window (third pic down on the side). We drove a little further down the road and Bryan spotted two female moose (third picture in the bottom row). Then as we were satisfied in our wildlife sightings, we headed back toward Grand Lake. Almost into town, we saw a gathering of vehicle and people. Sure enough, there was a male moose who had come out of the clearing to eat right by a restaurant. Amazing! Over the course of our time in CO, we saw a marmot, elk, moose, deer, grey squirrels, chipmunks, magpies, and had a bear near our cabin (we never saw it). The only animal we didn't see that we wanted to was bighorn sheep.
After our nature high of seeing the male moose, we stopped at the edge of the park and took some quick pictures. The kids became very fond of taking pictures too, which was nice because then Bryan and I got our picture together! But it also led to shenanigans where everyone (but me, of course) was lifting their shirt and making funny faces! :)
Grand Lake was a terrific place for our vacation. We stayed in a cabin that was more like a little "cabin apartment" but was the perfect size for us. It had a little kitchenette and two bedrooms. One bedroom had bunk beds for the kids. It had an amazing view and was right by the Colorado River. There was no air conditioning, but also no need for it. Leaving the windows open let the cool night air in and it was amazing sleeping under our thick blankets! One morning it was only 55 degrees. Needless to say, coming back to Omaha during an excessive heat warning was a bit of a drag.
After three nights in Grand Lake, it was time for us to move on. We headed back over the mountains, but stopped multiple times on the way. Maybe the stops helped, but the drive this time seemed a lot less stressful!
One of the best stops (besides the Continental Divide) was the Alpine Visitors Center. They have a hike to the top of the mountain, which is at 12,005 feet. It was tough and hard to breathe, but absolutely gorgeous from the top. It was also cold & windy! A little bit further down the road, the kids got to do some quick playing in the mountain snow in July. The tundra areas were really interesting to see and learn about.
After getting mostly through the mountains and stopping for lunch, we did some shopping in Estes Park. The kids both earned $20 to spend on vacation and Maddy spent hers throughout the trip. She bought a horse stable toy in Cheyenne, some fancy rocks for her rock collection, and a hiking tool with backpack. On a side note, she is into all things horse now! Jack has problems with wanting to spend and not necessarily spending it on things he really wants. So with some monitoring along the way, Jack still had money to burn by the time we left Grand Lake. Estes Park seemed like sensory overload after having been in Grand Lake for several days. I did not enjoy it. With coffee in hand, we headed on to Boulder. That was bit better, but I think I wasn't still quite ready for civilization yet. Ha! Jack bought a hex bug at a toy store in Boulder and everyone was feeling better at that point! We did a quick hike (less than 10 minutes due to a storm coming) at Chataqua Park near the Flat Irons in Boulder. I wish the weather would have cooperated for us that day as I remember that hike being really neat. So on to Denver, we went. The last day of our vacation was spent touring the CO capital in the mile-high city. Then it was a loooong, boring drive home. But we made it home by about 10:30 p.m. We have spent the last 24 hours trying to acclimate to the awful heat & humidity, doing laundry, taking care of business, and getting back to reality. I'm ready to go back to Grand Lake!
Among all the hiking and nature, we also visited many good restaurants along the way. We utilized our cabin and made our own breakfasts a few mornings along with packing picnic lunch for three days of our vacation. But, getting to go to local restaurants is also a fantastic part of vacation!
Tripadvisor was a great help with finding great places to eat. We weren't disappointed with a single place we went!
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