MightyJohnsons

We’d had a busy couple days as detailed in Part 1, and everyone was feeling it. We were all tired, so Friday morning everyone slept in late and we took our time getting ready to head back to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Rocky Mountain High

The kids were pretty much hiked out, but there was a lot of the park left to explore. We drove up to the Kawuneeche Visitor Center and looked for a couple spots to hit that wouldn’t require getting our hiking boots on again.

We decided to drive up the Trail Ridge Road which goes through the park. It is the highest paved highway in the United States.

We stopped to take in the view at Farview Curve, looking back over the Kawuneeche Valley, but also looking over the Never Summer mountain range.

The kids were more interested in a chipmunk, so we kept heading up. We hit Medicine Bow curve and eventually made it to the Alpine Visitor Center, but we could see why they call the road the highway to the sky.

At the Alpine Visitor Center, we shopped around for some nicknacks and treats for the kids. We even coaxed some of them on a very small hike, the Alpine Ridge Trail, which leaves right from the visitor center.

The trail head was still covered in several feet of snow, but it soon gave way to bare alpine tundra.

A few of our kids turned back early, citing the lack of oxygen. But, most of us made it to the top, a signpost at 12,005 feet above sea level.

The wind was relentless, so we took in the impressive view and hustled back down the trail.

We drove up the road another mile or so, just to get to the highest point of the road at 12,183 feet, and then turned around for the warmer temperatures of lower elevations.

Beaver Ponds Picnic Lunch

We picnicked at Beaver ponds for lunch. We didn’t have an agenda, just allowed the kids to chase around, and slow the pace of our vacation a little bit. Moose continued to meander through the wetlands, and the kids watched them.

We took our time heading back out of the park, stopping to take a few more pictures and taking in the scenery. Rocky Mountain National Park is a beautiful place.

Hanging out in Grand Lake

We stopped in the tourist-trap town of Grand Lake, just outside of the park. It is a quaint, charming little place, and I suspect it thrives in the summer travel season and struggles for the remaining ten months.

The kids played in the park, the grown-ups sat and chatted, and Drew and I went and explored the town finding a geocache. After a while, we all walked down to the lake shore and dipped our toes into the very cold water.

Back to Granby

Instead of going for a swim in the frigid waters of Grand Lake, we decided to drive back to Granby and swim in the condo’s heated pool instead.

While everyone else was swimming and having fun, Manina and Emily got ready for a night out on the town and picked up some fast food for the kids. We instructed our babysitters and went to a Mexican dinner joint for dinner.

Afterward, we couldn’t find dessert. By chance, we spotted “Drive-by Pie”, a converted trailer advertising homemade pie. Tony was the only one brave enough to try a slice, but the rest of us were hankering for ice cream. The Drive-by Pie lady told us, “there weren’t no ice cream parlor in town,” so we had to go to the grocery store and share a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.

The next morning Manina and I got up early and went for a run. Granby sits at about 8000 feet, and it was a real struggle getting enough oxygen, especially for a non-runner.

Heading Home

The kids were still asleep when we returned, so we woke them up and started packing. We left a few minutes ahead of the Francis family, but met them in Steamboat Springs for a quick picnic lunch.

We got to Vernal and Roosevelt a little to early for dinner, so we decided to press on and see what was available in Duchesne. This was not a good decision.

The only thing that was open was the China Star, which is a Mexican-American-Chinese restaurant right off US40. We ended up spending $50 and the only thing we got that was worth eating was the fortune cookies. Not a great way to end the trip.

After getting home and cleaning the car, I happened to peek out our back door. All of our kids and all of the Francis children were having a great time playing games on the trampoline. It’s great to have neighbors that are such good friends. The fun never stops.

Last week we went on a fun road trip with our next-door neighbors and good friends, the Francises. We had a fun trip with them back in January. We had so much fun together we decided to schedule a longer trip (4 days, 3 nights) for a summer getaway. We considered going camping, but ended up getting condos at their timeshare in Granby, Colorado. Our plan was that we would hike and drive and explore all day, but then come back and swim and barbeque and shower at night. It ended up being a good plan, and a very fun trip.

Like our other travelogues, these writeups are mostly for us. Mainly so we can look back and remember the good times when we’re old and senile. However, if you’re also looking into a similar trip or just living vicariously,  please feel free to continue reading.

Playing with Dinosaur Bones

We left Wednesday morning. Manina drove the first leg so I could catch up on some work. Thankfully, our suburban has a DVD player and we’ve invested in some colored headphones for each child (each kid has their own color) which keeps them entertained. After a quick stop in Vernal for lunch at Wendy’s, we went to Dinosaur National Monument and checked out the dinosaur bones. We visited the museum during our last trip to Vernal, but we were excited to see the actual quarry and monument.

After milling around for a few minutes at the visitor center, we boarded the shuttle bus and rode up to see all of the dinosaur bones.

The park ranger explained the current theory of how there came to be so many dinosaur bones all just piled into this spot. It was pretty cool to see the size of all the bones and be able to touch some of them still buried in the rock.

Are we there yet?

We got back in the car and continued our journey east along US Highway 40. Our next stop was Steamboat Springs, where we stopped for dinner. We ate at a pizza joint along the main street, and got several comments about the collective size of our herd. “You gonna ask for a table for 14?!”

We found an ice cream parlor and celebrated Emily Francis’ birthday together, then got back in the car. We drove through some gorgeous but remote country, finally arriving in Grandby at about 9PM. With all the stops, it was a long day of travel.

We checked in, unpacked, and hit the sack. We were all pretty tired from a full day of travel. We needed rest, because we planned to do some hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) pretty much the whole next day.

RMNP: Holzwarth Historic Site Hike

We got up Thursday morning and drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park, only about 20 minutes away. Our first hike of the day was at Holzwarth Historic Site, where they used to have the Trout Lodge. It was an easy stroll on a flat, wide road. Perfect for young kids.

We were in a beautiful valley surrounded by herds of elk. When we approached the small bridge crossing the Colorado River, we noticed two moose more concerned with their lunch than with us. The kids watched warily for a while, then continued on. We saw tons of elk out in the valley.

There were also a couple moose not too far from the trail, just across the Colorado River (which wasn’t all that big where we were at). However, they were more interested in eating from the wetlands than worrying about us.

When we got to the lodge, there was some old cabins and remnants of the early settlers. The  cabins now lodge some of the park staff, but it was fun to poke around and imagine what life would have been like there.

When we hiked back, we setup my hammock and had a quick picnic on the park benches. We had to get ready for the next hike.

RMNP: Big Meadow Hike

Then we drove to the Green Mountain Trailhead to hike up to Big Meadow. We knew this would be more of a challenge for our younger ones, but thought we’d give it a shot. Unfortunately, we started off hiking down the wrong trail (costing us about half a mile). We doubled back and got on the right trail, but the initial mistake had already cost us.

We hiked through some lodgepole pine forests along a stream. Some of the trail was still pretty wet, which made for pretty slow going.

We also had to stop several times. Drew had to go potty. Ellie’s legs hurt. We never reached Big Meadow, and collectively decided to turn around early. We were disappointed not to reach our intended destination, but we had one more hike that we wanted to finish that day.

RMNP: Adams Falls Hike

We drove back to the little town of Grand Lake and went to the East Inlet Trailhead to hike up to Adams Falls. This was a short little trail, but an impressive set of falls. We got a couple pictures, but it was hard to get an angle that captured the ferocity of the water.

We came back to the condo, fired up the BBQ and enjoyed some corn on the cob, hamburgers, and hot dogs. Then, we all jumped in the outdoor pool and hot tub and soaked our sore muscles. We had a busy couple days ahead, which you’ll read about in part two.