Sunday July 3, 2016 – Day 8 – Rocky Mt. NP

So today was the marathon drive day – we had 770 miles to go from Englewood to Dallas.  We ate breakfast downstairs and got on the road around 8:15.  Our first stop was in Trinidad, CO where we ate lunch at a very crappy diner called Double D’s Grill.  The salads were rotten and the service was bad.  The kids barely ate their food.  We then drove 20 miles farther into Raton, NM.  The plan had been to go to Climax Canyon Park and hike the canyon for 45 minutes (because I needed to exercise and since it was a weekend day, I had to go for 45 minutes).  We got into Raton and tried to fine the park but it was a little scary/”Deliverancy” and we got the heck out of dodge without exercising. 

It was funny because I was trying to figure out when the time zone line was so I kept telling Ryan to watch the time on my phone and let me know when it switched forward by a whole hour.  We figured out that the time zone changed at the Texas border.

Our next stop was Dairy Queen in Dalhart for ice cream.  Then I did leg lifts, computer lifts, twists, water bottle curls…anything I could think of for 45 minutes in the car.  And I counted it!  Then dinner was in Childress (we were going to go to a highly recommended bbq joint but it was closed to a private party so we ate at a Subway in a gas station).  The kids were absolutely outstanding the entire time.  I was so proud of them.  They watched some movies and looked at videos of the “world’s cutest dog”, Boo, who lives in San Francisco. 

We continued our drive and about the time we hit Wichita Falls, the lightening and the fireworks started.  The lightening was like nothing I’d ever seen.  It was lightening in so many places that it was very distracting and stressful to be driving.  The lightening was very close.  At one point Grant said, “If lightening hits our car will we be ok?”  I very confidently said, “Absolutely.  We’ll be absolutely fine!” all-the-while thinking, “I have no idea if we’ll be ok”.  Then the rain came then the wind, then the rain, then more lightening, then more fireworks, etc., etc.  We pulled into the driveway at 11:10

What a trip.  I’d like to go back to our 20^th national park!!!

Saturday July 2, 2016 – Day 7 – Rocky Mt. NP

Today was definitely the highlight of the trip.  We left the house in Breckenridge around 9 and drove to west side and stopped at the Kawuneeche Visitors Center and got hat pins and magnets.  I got magnets with pikas on them for the kids because I was so excited about seeing a pika again. 

We drove a short ways and stopped to see 3 or 4 elk on the side of the road that came right up by the car.  Then not more than 10 minutes later we say a MOOSE, a first for all of us.  We kept driving north then east on Trial Ridge Road and past the Alpine Visitors Center where the road is above the tree line and at around 12,700 feet. 

My ears were hurting and Ryan was feeling terrible but we saw a small herd of elk bulls just lounging on the side of the mountain and they were spectacular.  

Continuing to drive east, we stopped at Hidden Valley and took a short trail back to a picnic table where we feasted on slim jims, cheese nips, apples, oranges…you name it. 

Our next stop was amazing and completely unplanned.  We took the road towards Moraine Park (which we decided that if we wanted to come back and camp, that would be the nicest place to camp).  We parked at the trailhead for the Cub Lake Trail and began our official hike.  It was 2.7 miles back to Cub Lake which was covered with blooming lily pads.  The hike itself was so interesting – lots of ecosystems and NO pikas.  We jokingly called to them by farting and no luck – ran into lots of cute chipmunks but no pikas.  We continued on to The Pool and then back to the road on the Fern Lake Trail.  We crossed streams, rivers, drank out of waterfalls, saw beautiful wild flowers, got bit by mosquitos and generally stayed in the shade for what ended up being a 6.5 mile hike and I loved every minute of it as did the kids for the most part. 

After getting in the car and before getting back on the main road, we had to stop for a true herd of elk (probably 40 of them – all moms and babies) who crossed the road.  It was awesome. 

We then drove down to Bear Lake which is where I was sure I’d seen a pika when I was 16.  If we’d had more time we would have hiked the Bear Lake trail that led to another lake which led to another lake.  If we come back I’d like to do that hike but the kids were absolutely beat. 

We left the park and ate dinner at a so-so restaurant then went into a souvenir shop next door and Ryan bought a stuffed moose. 

We got back on the road (it was around 8:30) and drove through Denver to Englewood, CO where we stayed at a Drury Inn.  We got in around 10:15 and everyone crashed.

Friday July 1, 2016 – Day 6 – Rocky Mt. NP

This was our last full day in Breckenridge and it was still raining.  I was getting cabin fever and needed to get out of the house so just our family drove up to the town of Frisco and went on a 1.5 hour hike.  We started out of just a city trail (which was incredible) and then turned off on a real trail that lead up to Mount Royal? It drizzled on us but overall it felt so good to get out and do something.  After our hike we stopped for lunch at the Log Cabin Café and it was really good.  Then we drove to a candy store and the kids got something sweet.  As soon as we got back to the house we went down to the ski lodge and bowled (the kids and I went) with everyone.  It was a lot of fun except that one of the kids had a complete meltdown and started throwing his hat because the score board wouldn’t work.

After bowling, we walked back to the house and just hung out the rest of the evening.  For a while, the adults all played Cards Against Humanity while the kids watched a movie in the downstairs movie room. 

Here's Chad lookin' good!

The house was absolutely amazing – 7,200 square feet with 7 bedrooms and 3 stories.  I forgot which night but one night while we were there, a fox came right up to our house and just sat down by the hot tub.  It was really cute. 

After dinner we packed up all of our stuff.

Friday July 1, 2016 – Day 6 – Rocky Mt. NP

This was our last full day in Breckenridge and it was still raining.  I was getting cabin fever and needed to get out of the house so just our family drove up to the town of Frisco and went on a 1.5 hour hike.  We started out of just a city trail (which was incredible) and then turned off on a real trail that lead up to Mount Royal? It drizzled on us but overall it felt so good to get out and do something.  After our hike we stopped for lunch at the Log Cabin Café and it was really good.  Then we drove to a candy store and the kids got something sweet.  As soon as we got back to the house we went down to the ski lodge and bowled (the kids and I went) with everyone.  It was a lot of fun except that one of the kids had a complete meltdown and started throwing his hat because the score board wouldn’t work.

After bowling, we walked back to the house and just hung out the rest of the evening.  For a while, the adults all played Cards Against Humanity while the kids watched a movie in the downstairs movie room. 

Here's Chad lookin' good!

The house was absolutely amazing – 7,200 square feet with 7 bedrooms and 3 stories.  I forgot which night but one night while we were there, a fox came right up to our house and just sat down by the hot tub.  It was really cute. 

After dinner we packed up all of our stuff.

Thursday June 30, 2016 – Day 5 – Rocky Mt NP

This morning we were going to go on a hike from the 2^nd stop on the gondola but the trail was closed because a mama moose and her babies had been spotted on the trail.  So we rode the gondola all the way into town (it was just Ryan, me and the Fulghums) and we bought a t-shirt.  Then Ryan and I went to find a place to eat and at first, stood in the crepe line (Crepes a la Cart is supposed to be this great restaurant – it’s a permanent food cart) but after waiting for 30 plus minutes and seeing the line not move at all, she and I went to Clint’s bakery and had a very good bagel with cream cheese (Ryan) and a chicken salad sandwich.  It was sprinkling and we ran back to the gondola which had closed down because of lightening so we rode a city bus back up to the ski resort and then Carrie & Mary came and picked us up.  We were pretty darn wet.  The rest of the day, it just rained and was uneventful.

Wednesday June 29, 2016 – Day 4 – Rocky Mt NP

Got up, and went over to the “park” and got all-day passes to ride the rides.  We rode the roller coaster, the alpine slides, had burgers on the outdoor patio, then ran through the maze and played a round of mini golf. 

Then just the Bomersbachs took the Colorado Super Chair up to the tippy top of the mountain but it started raining on the way up so once we got there, they said we could run into the ski restaurant, which wasn’t open for business but was open, or we could just ride back down.  We chose to go to the restaurant because it got very cold but then they shut down the lift due to lightening so we ended up sitting up there for over an hour and played an entire game of Scrabble.  The ski resort finally sent buses up to get us and we rode down the mountain, returning to the house around 4.  It rained the rest of the afternoon so the kids hung out at the house.  I went on a walk later in the afternoon then came back, took a shower, think I broke the middle toe on my left foot on the bathtub, then we had an Italian dinner that Erin made.  Grant started feeling badly so he went to bed early and I was right behind him.  I think Ryan, Mary Louisa and Leighton stayed up until midnight!

Tuesday June 28, 2016 – Day 3 - Rocky Mt NP

Today was somewhat uneventful.  We ate some breakfast at the house.  Then I went for a walk but had to cut it short due to a complete colon blowout.  The altitude has given me the worst gas.  The kids have also had headaches and everyone generally feels a little bit worn out.  We then walked over to the gondola and went into town and had lunch at Downstairs at Eric’s. 

It was really good.  The kids were able to run around and play in the arcade and the grownups had lunch and drinks.  Afterwards, Ryan started feeling terribly so she rode home with Chad in his car and Grant, Nick and I, after making a stop at a souvenir store to get Grant a hat, rode back home on the gondola. 

The afternoon was spent mostly around the house with the kids playing pool and sitting in the hot tub.  Mary and I hit the grocery store and got stuff for fajitas and the Bomersbachs cooked dinner. 

 

Monday June 27, 2016 – Day 2 - Rocky Mt NP

Monday June 27, 2016 – Day 2 - Rocky Mt NP  We got up at 7, ate a pretty bad breakfast, and drove to Palo Duro Canyon State Park with the intention of going on a short hike (I was trying to find a fun way of working in my 35 minutes of exercise).  Apparently I’d been to Palo Duro as a very little kids but have no recollection of it.  Well they got like ½ inch of rain the day before so literally every trail in the entire park was closed.  But I’m glad we got to see the canyon.  It was really beautiful and seemed very out of place to be in Texas.  We drove around for just a bit then left and drove through Amarillo. 

Before really getting on the road, we stopped at Cadillac Ranch.  I’m not sure if I’d ever been there or not but it was cool.  There’s only about 10 cars, not as many as I was thinking, but it was cool.  I didn’t realize that everyone spray paints them so there were cans of spray paint lying around and the kids each sprayed a little something on one of the cars.  You could actually only get to one of the cars because the other nine were in a big rain puddle.  As we were walking out to the cars we kept asking the kids to guess what they were and they guessed some crazy stuff – arcade games, paint ball stations…but not cars until we got close.

After leaving Amarillo, we drove to Dalhart and had lunch, this time at Dairy Queen.  I think the kids watched Zootopia again.  Then we crossed into New Mexico and made another AWESOME stop at Mt. Capulan Volcano. 

Ryan was super pissed but I LOVED IT.  We got magnets and had the passbooks stamped after taking a picture in front of the sign even though it’s only a national monument.  Then we drove to the top.  On the way I was telling Nick that when I was there last (27 years ago?) there were these lady bugs everywhere and sure enough they were there again.  We hiked the perimeter of the crater and it magically took 35 minutes so I got my exercise out of the way.  But those lady bugs were flying around a lot along with a bunch of other insects and Grant nearly lost it – he was squealing and saying, “I don’t like this!”  The hike was great – it was steep but the weather was cool and dry and the breeze was heavenly.  I told Nick that as soon as our kids get out of the house, we have to move to a drier climate. 

We left the volcano and drove on to Colorado, and yes, the kids watched Zootopia again.  We pulled into Breckenridge around 6:30? and stopped at Windy City Pizza for a quick (and delicious) dinner.  Then I ran into the grocery store and we got to the spectacular house at 7:45.  We were the last ones here but we still got a decent room.

Sunday June 26, 2016 - Rocky Mt NP Day 1

Sunday June 26, 2016 – Day 1 - Rocky Mt NP

Every year my college roommates and our families go on a summer trip together.  We all have kids the same age and we started this when they were 1 and now they’re all 8.  Year 1: Fossil Rim, Year 2: Rockport, Year 3: Canyon Lake, Year 4: Crested Butte, Year 5: Alabama, Year 6: Alabama, Year 7: Las Vegas, no kids, Year 8: Breckenridge!!  This wouldn’t normally even be a blog-worthy trip because we’re not really hitting the national parks but since we’re in Breckenridge, we’re going to make a 1-day stop at Rocky Mt NP at the end of the trip (NATIONAL PARK #20 and one that we’ll surely go back to.)  So we left this afternoon from The Colony because Grant played in a baseball tournament.  His team, the Tomcats, a mix of school kids and neighborhood kids, actually won two games so while it caused us to get away late (3:30pm), it was worth it to see the kids win. 

We got on the road at 3:30 and had a 5.5 hour drive to Canyon, TX ahead of us.  We bought Zootopia (a movie) for the ride so the kids started watching that first.  We stopped in Childress, TX for dinner at Dairy Queen but when we got to the register, after a bit of a wait, they said that if you wanted food, there’d be a 30-minute wait…strange.  So we went to McDonalds, the first one I’d ever been to that had ordering kiosks.  It’s strange to find the most technologically advanced McDonalds I'd ever been to in Childress, TX.  We kept driving down some dark, single lane highways and after getting a big rock in the windshield, realized that we had 14 miles of gas left.  And sure enough, what seemed like in the middle of a field, we found a beautiful gas station. 

We pulled into the Holiday Inn Express around 10pm and Grant started complaining that he hates Holiday Inn Expresses.  I didn’t tell him that I got the 4-person Jacuzzi suite (for like $12 more than a regular room – I think the bill was $131/ night).  It was a double room and one side was literally a 4-person Jacuzzi tub with a lounge area and a TV and a king-sized bedroom and the other side was a regular hotel room.  We all four got into the tub, Nick and me sans clothes and the kids with their bathing suits on because they were too creeped out.  It was, hands down, the cheesiest thing we’ve ever done.  It reminded me of one of those super cheesy family holiday cards.  It was truly ridiculous and I LOVED IT.  We went to bed around 11pm.