Moab

(Destination H)

My bucket list!  This is the one place along our route that I have wanted to see ever since I knew it existed.  It’s pretty much the only thing on my bucket list, so I should probably think up some more items.  Of course I never imagined I would be seeing Moab in mid-July when daily temperatures were over 100 degrees.  But we muscled through and made the best of it!  It was pretty spectacular. 

Our campground, which was the most expensive to date, beating out the crummy one in Golden, Colorado by a few dollars, was really nice.  I picked an end spot so the kids had a little extra room to run, not in someone else’s yard.  We didn’t check out the pool, but we had more important things to do.  The town of Moab we found to be sufficient for groceries, expensive gas and tons of touristy restaurants and stores. 

As you’ll see in our photos we saw most of Arches and some of Canyonlands.  The Windows were the highlight for me, the kayaking trip up the Colorado river was probably the highlight for Jon, and playing in the gravel at our campsite was probably the highlight for the boys.  Baby A stays pretty indifferent to most everything except mealtimes and nap times, the highlight of her days.

Colorado Part 2

Frisco (Destination F1/F2)

Into the ski resort area of Colorado, we go!  Of course, it’s not ski season, but it is hopping with people mountain biking, hiking and enjoying the beautiful Colorado weather.  We stayed at a state park in the Frisco area.  It was on the East side of the lake with a 500-foot incline between us and the town of Frisco.  So naturally we thought we’d bike it.  7.5 miles and a 500-foot gain, no big deal.  Ha!!  After walking my bike uphill for about ¾ of a mile we decided that the 2 miles to the viewing point would be as far as we would go.  We enjoyed lunch overlooking the area, watching tourist ignore the “Do Not Feed the Animals” sign as they showered the chipmunk and ground squirrel infestation with peanuts and granola, and short hike around the peak before heading downhill on my favorite part of the bike ride.  We stayed for about 3 days cooking on the open fire every night and enjoying the 70-degree weather at the peak of the day.  We got some household chores done and then headed on our way West.

Glenwood Springs (Destination G1/G2)

What a gem!  The drive to Glenwood through the canyon was incredible.  Come to find out we would pass through it about 4 more times before leaving the state.  Glenwood held a ton of adventures for us.  Our campground was on an icy creek the kids thoroughly enjoyed and the area offered us many opportunities to be outdoors.  We went on a (mild) white water raft tour of the Colorado river, we biked the 14-mile trail through the canyon, we hiked the 1 mile, 1000 feet incline to Hanging Lake, and we enjoyed the mineral baths of the Hot Springs in the area.  Glenwood springs could be super expensive, but I’ll share with you some of the ways we pinched pennies to enjoy the adventures.  White water rafting was a wash, no way around the steep cost of that, but the one-way bike trip that could’ve cost us $100 we did for $20, and the hot springs that would’ve cost us $80 cost us $0.  This is how:

1.       Bike trip:  Instead of driving into town and hopping in the shuttle to the head of the trail at $20 a person, Jon dropped the kids and I off at the trailhead, drove into town alone and hopped the shuttle to meet us.  It took some convincing since he was alone with no bike, but he promised the driver that his bike and family were, in fact, waiting for him up at the top.  One shuttle fare= $20

2.       

      Hot Springs:  Being an entrepreneur is never a bad thing, but charging people $20 to sit in a hot spring-fed pool that has no options for shade or seating (because it’s Colorado in July) is a little much for this frugal family.  You could purchase shade for a whopping $75/half day.  *Gasp* After a little research we found a hidden gem called, Penny Springs.  It’s right off the road with a small parking area where the hot springs feed into the icy river.  By constructing a few rock-lined pools it has become a popular spot to enjoy the springs without the heavy price tag.  It’s FREE!!  You park, walk down a steep decline to the river edge and find a spot in one of the pools.  If it gets too warm, knock a few barrier rocks off on the river side of the pool, too cold, build up the wall again.  The kids had a blast and we actually got some time to sit and relax.  That is, until Jon decided he should build a family sized pool that he saw to about ¾ completion before we had to leave.

Have you ever wondered what we do about mail??  Well in the year and a half that we have been on the road, my Father-in-law has been acting as our mail manager.  Except for things we need right away or want shipped directly to us.  Not once, until Glenwood Springs, has it ever delayed us to have items mailed to our campground or local Post Office via General Delivery.  We experienced 2 mail snafus here. One package, with gently used hiking shoes for our two youngest kiddos crept across the country delaying us 2 days, and one package bounced between Denver and Evergreen because of a bad barcode, that got resolved just in time for our original departure date.  But the hot springs and hanging lake hike never would’ve happened without this delay, so we’ll take it!  Except for the future adventures, we weren’t exactly in a rush to leave this beautiful weather for the 100+ degree of Utah.

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.