We just returned late last night from a week's visit to Colorado with the five of us, my brother's family of five, our parents, and my MIL. Thirteen of us in total.
This is our third all-family vacation. We visited Great Smoky Mountain National Park in 2012, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in 2016, and now Rocky Mountain National Park in 2018.
The day we were all supposed to fly out, my niece woke with a stomach bug, which delayed their family's arrival by a couple days, but they eventually made it and (so far) no one else has gotten ill.
Day 1--Golden, CO
In order to get acclimated to the altitude, we stayed in Golden, CO our first 24-hours before heading up into the higher altitudes. We visited Red Rocks Amphitheater and Park, as well as a little part of Dinosaur Ridge. We also made it into downtown Golden, where we checked out Clear Creek and ate at Bob's Atomic Burgers.
DAY 2: More Red Rocks and then heading to Granby, CO
On our way to Granby, we stopped and ate lunch in Winter Park, CO at a restaurant called Denos.
This is the house we stayed at in Granby.
Deer walked through the neighborhood every morning and evening, and we had a family of prairie dogs we could watch from a window. We arrived too early to check in, so we took a little hike on the Fraser to Granby Trail.
Granby is a very small town on the western side of the mountains. It is a short drive to Grand Lake, which is a slightly bigger town with more shops and restaurants. Grand Lake is also the "locals" entrance to RMNP. Estes Park is on the eastern side of the Rockies and where most tourists go.
DAY 3--Grand Lake, CO
We went into Grand Lake on Monday and hiked to Adams Falls, which is part of RMNP.
My brother's family arrived on Monday afternoon, which meant that we could carry on with our plans to go on a morning breakfast horseback ride at Snow Mountain Ranch on Tuesday. The kids LOVED this!
DAY 4--Snow Mountain Ranch and Colorado River
Since the morning ride didn't last too long, we thought we'd try Hot Sulphur Springs in the afternoon. We weren't impressed with the springs, so we opted to just dip our feet in the Colorado River.
DAY 5--Steamboat Springs, CO
We had promised the kids some water fun, so we drove to Steamboat Springs to visit Old Town Resort and Spa. We ate at BeauJo's and then walked around the town for a bit.
Day 6--RMNP
We started here:
We made it up to here and climbed the Alpine Ridge Trail
We had pushed the kids entirely too far so we ate lunch in Hidden Valley.
During our RMNP full day, we saw marmots, elk, a ram, a coyote, and FINALLY, we spotted this dude:
Day 7--RMNP with D, and Grand Lake one.last.time
D and I drove up to see Lake Irene and hike a wee bit before heading into Grand Lake with everyone later in the day.
Day 8--Headed back to Golden before our flight
We had time to kill before our flight, so we went back to Red Rocks to stroll around and then ate lunch at the Bridgewater Grill near Clear Creek.
At some point, in the airport, my grumpy middle child took 29 photos of himself grinning like a fool even though he mostly pouted the entire week prior.
This is our third all-family vacation. We visited Great Smoky Mountain National Park in 2012, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in 2016, and now Rocky Mountain National Park in 2018.
The day we were all supposed to fly out, my niece woke with a stomach bug, which delayed their family's arrival by a couple days, but they eventually made it and (so far) no one else has gotten ill.
Day 1--Golden, CO
In order to get acclimated to the altitude, we stayed in Golden, CO our first 24-hours before heading up into the higher altitudes. We visited Red Rocks Amphitheater and Park, as well as a little part of Dinosaur Ridge. We also made it into downtown Golden, where we checked out Clear Creek and ate at Bob's Atomic Burgers.
At Clear Creek, Golden
Dinosaur Ridge Visitors Center
Red Rocks Park
DAY 2: More Red Rocks and then heading to Granby, CO
On our way to Granby, we stopped and ate lunch in Winter Park, CO at a restaurant called Denos.
This is the house we stayed at in Granby.
Deer walked through the neighborhood every morning and evening, and we had a family of prairie dogs we could watch from a window. We arrived too early to check in, so we took a little hike on the Fraser to Granby Trail.
This deer under the window was just resting.
Granby is a very small town on the western side of the mountains. It is a short drive to Grand Lake, which is a slightly bigger town with more shops and restaurants. Grand Lake is also the "locals" entrance to RMNP. Estes Park is on the eastern side of the Rockies and where most tourists go.
DAY 3--Grand Lake, CO
We went into Grand Lake on Monday and hiked to Adams Falls, which is part of RMNP.
My brother's family arrived on Monday afternoon, which meant that we could carry on with our plans to go on a morning breakfast horseback ride at Snow Mountain Ranch on Tuesday. The kids LOVED this!
DAY 4--Snow Mountain Ranch and Colorado River
This was my handsome horse, known as PoopChute.
The kids met a real-life cowboy named Tim.
He has broken nearly every bone in his body from riding in rodeos.
After riding, a breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and bacon tasted delicious!
G and M handled their horses so well!!
Since the morning ride didn't last too long, we thought we'd try Hot Sulphur Springs in the afternoon. We weren't impressed with the springs, so we opted to just dip our feet in the Colorado River.
DAY 5--Steamboat Springs, CO
We had promised the kids some water fun, so we drove to Steamboat Springs to visit Old Town Resort and Spa. We ate at BeauJo's and then walked around the town for a bit.
Sights around Steamboat Springs as we walked
It is a bad idea to take 6 kids into Rocket Fizz Candy Shop.
Day 6--RMNP
We started here:
At some point, we spotted these guys,
and then went here
More driving up the mountain.
Took some photos at Farview Curve Overlook
We made it up to here and climbed the Alpine Ridge Trail
EVERYONE had a great time up there.
We had pushed the kids entirely too far so we ate lunch in Hidden Valley.
During our RMNP full day, we saw marmots, elk, a ram, a coyote, and FINALLY, we spotted this dude:
Day 7--RMNP with D, and Grand Lake one.last.time
D and I drove up to see Lake Irene and hike a wee bit before heading into Grand Lake with everyone later in the day.
Lake Irene
Green River Mountain Trail
Grand Lake Lodge, overlook
Grand Lake
Hummingbird feeders lining the shops in Grand Lake
G thought the baskets were cool
(as you can tell from his enthusiastic expression).
Day 8--Headed back to Golden before our flight
We had time to kill before our flight, so we went back to Red Rocks to stroll around and then ate lunch at the Bridgewater Grill near Clear Creek.
At some point, in the airport, my grumpy middle child took 29 photos of himself grinning like a fool even though he mostly pouted the entire week prior.
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