Colorado Part 1

Colorado Springs (Destination D1-3)

I’m not even sure I can justify one of our favorite places to date in a blog. Colorado is beautiful, fun and adventurous.  From New Mexico we made our way up to Colorado Springs.  The last time we had visited AJ was only 6 months old, it was snowing, and Navy beat Air Force in close game.  We are returning in mid-summer with 3 kids and our home trailing behind us.  We parked on the Academy grounds, one of our favorite campgrounds so far.  Our neighbors were great and we even shared a meal with them one evening.  We experienced mild hypoxia at 14,115 feet, the Garden of Gods as a birthday celebration, views that will take your breath away and a hike we are planning on doing sometime in the future.

Here is what we captured.

Golden, Denver, and Evergreen (Destination E1/2)

My godparents live in the beautiful town of Evergreen so naturally we found a campground as close as possible.  Unfortunately, by the time we knew where we were going to be for 4^th of July, most campgrounds were booked, except Golden Terrace South.  DO NOT EVER STAY THERE.  Ok ok, if you are looking for a parking lot to keep your RV, that may or may not fit in the space provided then by all means.  Being that it was out most expensive campground to date, it was only right for it to be the worst one too.  Folks, we’ve been parking our ‘rig’ for a year and a half now.  I’d like to think we know what we are doing.  It took us almost 2 hours to inch our way in between two RVs so close that we ended up sharing a doorstep with our neighbors. Not cool.  Fortunately, we weren’t planning on spending much time there.  This was just home base for many adventures.  My mom flew in to Denver the day after we got “settled”.  Can I tell you how crazy it is how many people we just happen to see passing through places?  Lizzie, my mom’s friend’s daughter (did you get that?)  has relocated from South Florida to Denver, so we met for lunch.  A friend of mine from Omaha, who now lives in Southern California, we in Denver visiting her in-laws, so we had dinner.  We may even get to meet up with one of my friends from high school who split her time between Colorado and, well, the rest of the world.  It just amazes me how all these meetings happen.  I digress. 

Between the quaint, fun town of Golden’s 4^th of July Celebration, with Jon's cousin and family (that live nearby) and the rustic log cabin in the woods belonging to my Godparents, we had plenty to do in this area of Colorado.  Remember how I said we took our kids on a very technical hike in New Mexico??  Well Ted and Cam’s backyard beat it out.  Let’s just say we put in an order for hiking boots and camelbacks for all the kids when we got back off the mountain.  It is time ya’ll. My little men are growing into adventurous and daring boys who need off my leash to explore a bit more.  And my little girl??  Well, she likes to keep up with her brothers and tempt my heart into an attack EVERY.DAY.

Oh, did I mention our day trip into Rocky Mountain National Park where we saw a Moose leading a traffic parade, a bear, yes, a bear, observing the humans driving past, Elk grazing at dusk, Marmots scurrying for food, Big Horned Sheep relaxing in the evening sun and Pika foraging and running about.  Can I just tell you how disappointed my kids are going to be with every other National Park??  This one is for the record books.

Rocky Mountain National Park-An Addition to Our Adventures

After our day in the Park we decided we wanted more.  So, when it was time to say farewell, or better yet, good riddance to our campground in Golden we snagged a First Come, First Serve spot in the Timbercreek Campground on the west side of the NP.  No hookups, but I will take that any day over what we just left with full hookups.  I discovered the camper in me after all.  Cleaning dishes with no running water, cooking on the campfire, washing clothes in a bucket, let’s just say I got in touch with my rustic side.  I know, I know, we’ve been “camping” for over a year now, but not like this.  Windows open, mountain views, no hum of the air conditioner or burning of the lights, just crackling campfires and trickling streams.  It was amazing.  The kids were unrecognizable before breakfast while they played in the “sparkly dirt” outside as eggs were cooking on the stove. 

Jon and I had some work to do while here so we went into Grand Lake to taste the local fare and visit the library for some wi-fi and child entertainment.  We ended up enjoying lunch, ice cream, and dinner in town before heading back to the campground for the night.  Chilly nights made way for some good sleep as we snuggled in to bed after dark, ready for another day of adventure and exploring this incredible state. 

Colorado will be continued as we work our way west across the Rockies.