Rocky Mountain vacation

August 4, 2020. We are in the Rocky Mountains!! We had big Bahamas vacation plans this summer, but our world is currently in the middle of a pandemic. COVID-19 made its debut in January, and we are still trying to figure out how to navigate a world during a pandemic. Face masks required, travel restrictions, etc. more about that later. We drove out to Colorado on Saturday, 9 hours on the road. Minimal stops. Before we even arrived at our hotel in Estes Park, we were all in awe of the beauty of this place. None of us could remember ever seeing anything so beautiful. When we arrived at our hotel, Murphy’s River Lodge, there were elk on the front lawn along the river! The boys loved that. After check-in, we went downtown and got some local pizza at Antonio’s. On Sunday, I got an early morning run in, and then we all went looking for adventure together. We climbed most of the way up Old Man mountain, located near our hotel, and then went trail riding in ATV’s. I have to admit, I didn't quite know what I was getting us into when I signed us up for that! The trails were rugged, and the ride was exhilarating, to say the very least! After an afternoon spent riding, we headed back and walked downtown for dinner. Our walk downtown is about a half mile stroll along Fall River, and the boys love throwing sticks in the rapids. We had dinner at Ed’s cantina and grill-Mexican , and then strolled back to the hotel, where we all played cornhole on the front lawn until dusk. After that-movie night. Movie nights included Karate Kid (the original), Remember the Titans, and Spider-Man. On Monday morning, the boys wanted to go back and conquer Old Man Mountain, and so we did! Then we spent the rest of the day at Rocky Mountain National Park. And it was truly an adventure. We started on the trail up Deer Mountain, but somehow lost the trail at a switchback, and ended up literally scaling the side of the mountain for an hour and a half. The boys thought this was great, until Cole got tired, and we still hadn’t come across a trail. Just when we were considering trying to find another way down the mountain (and as I was beginning to wonder if we would survive a night on a mountain), we came across the trail that we were supposed to be on the whole time, and a mile or so later made it to the summit. Whew! We sat down, had a snack, made friends with some chipmunks, and took pictures. On the way down, we got caught in a hailstorm, and ran most of the way down the mountain. After getting back to our car and drying off, we set off to find more adventure, this time in the form of waterfalls. We chose (okay, I chose) to go see Chasm Falls. What I hadn’t anticipated (and would have realized if I had paid more attention to the map) was that Chasm Falls is located on a one-way, narrow dirt and gravel road with about a hundred really nasty switchbacks up the side of a mountain. We were all a little leary of the way up, but when we got to the top, the view was absolutely magnificent! We could even see a herd of elk across the valley. Ater more local fare for dinner-burgers and fries- and some ice cream to top it off, we collapsed into bed. Tuesday brought a travel day. We headed down to COlorado Springs, where Jackson, Cole, and I enjoyed a horseback riding tour of The Garden of The Gods. You really do forget how big and powerful horses are when you haven’t been on one in years. After our tour, we headed to our hotel, the Cheyenne Mountain Resort. The boys enjoyed the pool and the water sports-kayaking, paddleboarding, etc. We even found a fun little miniature golf course nearby and played. The next morning, Wednesday, we were up bright and early. It was white water rafting day. This was probably the excursion that had been causing me the most anxiety. I was concerned Cole would fall out of the raft, and would hit his head or I wouldn’t be able to get to him, etc. Once we arrived, there were lots of rules and precautions (and a few extra due to COVID), but then they bussed us out to the river. We were rafting down a stretch of the Arkansas River that had Level 3-4 rapids, and we were all pretty excited. Our boat captain was “Corndog”, a chipper redheaded young female who was clearly very comfortable on the rapids. She made the experience fun for everyone and made me feel very safe (even though I may have reminded Cole to “lock your feet in” and “turn your hand over” no less than 75 times). When we reached the end of our rafting, we headed to the Royal Gorge. We crossed the bridge (the tallest suspension bridge in the United States) and got in line to take the gondola back across. After waiting about 30 minutes, they told us they were closing the gondola for high winds through the gorge, so we walked back across the bridge and headed back through Canon City (which houses the highest level security prison in the U.S.) to yet another new hotel in Denver. Upon arriving at the Gaylord Rockies Resort, we immediately knew we were in our element. A quick trip to the room to change into swim gear, and we headed straight for the pool, which was pretty incredible. Think resort on the gulf of Mexico, but with mountains as the backdrop. We floated in the (heated) lazy river, went down all the water slides, and ordered dinner poolside. A perfect last evening before the long drive home on Thursday.