Our Vacation Soundtrack

It's been a while since Kyle and I got back from our vacation to Estes Park, but thanks to the holidays, I haven't had time to blog about it. Well here it goes... (I apologize in advance for the length of this post.)

Day 1: "Just the Two of Us"
Kyle and I haven’t been on a vacation alone since our Honeymoon, so this trip was a special one. We decided to break-up the 12-hour drive by stopping at my grandparents’ house in Meade, KS. It was the first time I’d made that trip without my parents. After dozens of trips, I had a lot of stories to share with Kyle along the way. :)

 

I pointed out the Gloss Mountains and the wind farm on the way. Then we stopped at the bison reserve. If you look really hard, you can see a few in the background. This is as close as we got. It was VERY windy!

When we got to the farm we got to pick our bedroom! This is a VERY big deal because when we visit, I am lucky to get the couch, so to get to pick my choice of three beds was great! We had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa. After dinner we had a little Mary Tyler Moore Show marathon and then we got to hear fun stories. Grandma and Grandpa talked about their travels and their lives before they got married 55 years ago. It was so great to learn new things about them and made me wish, yet again, that they lived closer.

Day 2: "Love is All Around" (You’re Gonna Make It After All)
Grandma and Grandpa waved as we pulled out of the circle drive at 8:11 a.m. That was 11 minutes that Kyle would have to “make up” with his speed. (Like he needed an excuse. Speeding is more of a thrill for him than a necessity.) Western Kansas isn’t the most interesting drive. If you’ve ever driven it, this isn’t news to you. Flat land, dead grass, tumbleweeds, semis and the longest passing lanes you’ve ever seen (obviously this was Kyle’s favorite part). So after about 5 hours, our patience was growing thin and we were ready to be there. We stopped in Limon at the slowest Wendy’s I’ve ever been to. It just so happened that one of my friends who I hadn’t seen in weeks was there! Miss Cara Swanson was a welcomed surprise. She was on her way to Colorado, too, but was traveling with a 3-year-old. Bless her. After that, we tried not to complain as much.

We had to take a break from the winding road when I started getting sick, so we decided to take advantage of the photo op! 

The theme song of the Mary Tyler Moore Show was playing in my head when we arrived at Stonebrook Resort on Fall River about an hour ahead of schedule. Our cottage was just as we thought it would be and we were happy to unpack, make a trip to the local Safeway and dine at the Grumpy Gringo. By the way, we were literally two of the four people there. Slow doesn’t even come close to describing Estes Park in the off season, which can be kind of nice.

Our cottage!

 

We loved having a fireplace! 

Kyle did a lot of this on the trip. Oh the joys of football season! 

Day 3: "Rocky Mountain High"
We woke up to the sad news that the OSU girl’s basketball head coach and assistant coach had died in a plane accident in Arkansas the night before. It made for a solemn morning as we watched ESPN and saw the press conference. Our prayers were with their families and the countless players and fans who were impacted by Coach Budke and Miranda Serna.

We had brunch in the cottage and went to meet our tour guide, Cliff, at Rocky Mountain Rush Tours. He arranged the tour on our schedule since we were his only customers. Cliff is the kind of guy who goes to the library for fun and LOVES talking about history. That made him the perfect guide for us and we reaped the benefit of all that study. As we neared the Hotel Stanley (where Stephen King wrote part of The Shining), Jenny (the name of the vehicle we were driving) started "acting up" and we had to pull over. This wasn’t exactly the ideal way to start our three-hour tour… But after a quick stop we were off to the Rocky Mountain National Park, which was absolutely beautiful. Here are some highlights:

 

The Stanley Hotel 

 

This is one of my favs.

This is the Alluvial Fan, which was created in 1982 when a dam broke, sending 29 million gallons of water down the valley. Amazingly only three people died thanks to a worker who heard the water coming and evacuated the park. Our tour guide knew that worker. 

I think this is us in front of Longmont Peak.There were so many names to remember!

 

This is Jenny. Yes, it was just us in that big thing! 

Bear Lake 

  

Kyle loved the huge boulders that were everywhere. There were also lots of trees that had been killed by beetles. It was really sad to see them cutting a bunch of them down. They said for every dead tree we saw there were 10 around it that were infected. 

Coming down from Bear Lake, Cliff said it was customary to enjoy a little John Denver and he played “Rocky Mountain High.” Looking back, that was a little corny, but we were both feeling strange from the altitude anyway, so we enjoyed it. At the end of the tour Cliff took us back to town and showed us the beaver lodge and the 9-hole golf course. There, we saw about 100 elk enjoying the green grass. It was quite the sight! Especially when a golfer decided to “play through” and ended up drilling one of them in the back. It didn’t seem to bother her. This was definitely one of our favorite things to see.

I wish so badly that we would have been video taping this. It was so funny to watch! 

That night Kyle wasn’t feeling well so we stayed in and watched the Cowboys. Unfortunately it was our first loss of the season. It was a bad ending to an already tough day for Cowboy fans.

Day 4: "Winter Wonderland"
On Saturday, I opened the windows to discover that it had snowed a couple of inches over night and was still going. Obviously I was a very happy camper as I sipped my spiced apple cider in front of the fire! We spent the majority of the day shopping on Elkhorn Ave. We went into several rock shops, which took me back to 3rd grade when I had a rock collection and stores like these might as well have been heaven. There were also several Christmas stores and I LOVED looking at all of the fun ornaments and trees. It was just too much fun!

 

Ready to shop until I drop!

Kyle's favorite part of the day was watching a glass blowing demonstration. 

Elkhorn Ave.

We needed a break, so we stopped for some sushi!

The snow continued though the afternoon but stopped before the Christmas Tree Lighting in Bond Park. This is one of the things I was most excited about. Not only where they lighting the official Christmas Tree, but the rest of downtown was lit up as well. Unfortunately the lighting ceremony was a little lame. Let's just say it involved the mayor mispronouncing names and some horrible singing. Jingle Bells was hardly recognizable! Afterward we went to The Rock Inn to have dinner. Our tour guide recommended it, and the food was delicious. We finished the evening with our first winter hot tub experience. We aren’t pros at the entry or exit and that was apparent. Thank goodness no one was around to see us! :)

Kyle wasn't too happy about this photo! 

Day 5: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
Our last day in Estes Park was kind of a lazy one. We slept in and then went sight-seeing. Although we retraced some of the route we’d already seen, it was nice to be able to get out of the car and explore a little. We also realized that the snow in Estes Park is PERFECT for snowballs. Unfortunately I have about 20 percent accuracy so I ended up a little wetter than Kyle. I also took one in the throat. Thanks for that one, babe!

 

Mary's Lake

 

 

We went back to the cabin after that to relax and watch a movie. Then our curiosity got the best of us and we climbed the mountain behind our cottage. We didn’t quite have the right equipment to make it to the top, but we had a good time. After enjoying some pizza and the arcade, it was time to pack everything up again.

These are some pictures of Fall River, which was right behind our cottage. 

 Kyle really liked climbing the mountain and would have gone higher had it not been for his chicken of a wife! 

We saw several wild turkeys but never got a photo, so here's proof.

 I'm on top of the world! 

Day 6: "On the Road Again"
Our road trip back home started with an elk sighting, which woke us both up at 7 a.m. We had seen several elk before, but this one was right by the car, so it was pretty exciting. The rest of the drive wasn’t as thrilling. It was an easy one, though. Four-lane all the way to Wichita, where we stayed the night with Greg and Stacie. We arrived ahead of schedule so Kyle was pleased. If I learned anything about him on this trip it’s that he likes to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. There’s no time for food or bathroom breaks, and you can forget about stopping to see the World’s Largest Prairie Dog. (That one is still on my bucket list.)

 

 We watched the sunrise as we packed the car. So beautiful.

All in all, it was a great trip. We had a few days to recover before returning to work well rested and ready to be back. Sorry for the length of this post. If you've made it to this point you either a) really love and care about us, or  b) have nothing better to do. Either way, thanks for sticking with it. I hope you enjoyed experiencing a little bit of Estes Park!

*On a side note, I just realized that Kyle is wearing the same sweatshirt in every picture. He did change clothes this trip, I promise. The sweatshirts was just more of an outer layer. Love you, babe! :)