The Brick Bungalow: Colorado

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{Colorado} 2019 Visit

Life happens... it's been a busy, chaotic year. And... I never posted our 2019 Colorado Trip photos. So, I'll work on that but for now, here's some of the highlights...

We went out for my cousin's wedding (sibling to the one from last year) and enjoyed every minute! We wen to Pike's Peak, road the Royal Gorge Railroad, went sight seeing over the Royal Gorge, entertained the kids at the Dinosaur Experience in Canon City, and had a lot of fun, family time with the wedding. The weather was beautiful and it was another great vacation!

{Colorado} Nederland

On our way to Estes Park, we drove through some areas my mom remembers spending her childhood in. We stopped in Nederland to have lunch and get the kids out of the car. There were some wonderful shops (that would take all my money if I could) and a very cold, but very nice creek. We ate lunch (no pics of the food but it was good) and went on our way.

Look at all these beautiful goodies... this shop was stocked full!

I have no idea about the photo above except it was across from our lunch spot. Everyone seemed to want a photograph in the coffin but the place itself was closed.

Check out our Colorado posts:

Nederland - you're here!

Estes Park

Trail Ridge Road

Grand Lake

{Colorado} Grand Lake

Our last morning in Colorado was spent climbing in Grand Lake. I really wish I remember the name of it, and if I can find it, I'll post. It's a great area and includes various sizes of walking paths.

It was a chilly 55 degrees when we started but definitely warmed up afterwards, not to mention working up a little sweat as you climb up some.

After some waterfalls, the water area calms down a bit and created a perfect spot to throw rocks and get our toes wet. It was cold, of course, but you can't stop us from water!

The kids were getting tired and so my parents walked back to the car with them (they were also starving as we went before breakfast!). It's unfortunate that they did because we saw some beautiful views.

Doug and I were just positive that we'd see another moose but we couldn't see a thing! We walked about a mile from the start, maybe closer to 1.5 miles from the beginning (in total).

And just as we were about to turn around to head back, we saw two juvenile moose running through the pasture. They were good size, so of course we stopped.

And then we saw what they were running from - a momma and her baby. At this point we were stopping to take photos, but also realized that they were headed in the same direction we were.

We watched mom and baby as the juveniles had already disappeared from view and we realized that we needed to be extra careful. We wanted to head back to the car though, so we walked slowly as we weren't sure about mom.

We lost track of the four moose in the woods as we walked back but kept seeing their tracks, which were fresh, so we were very alert to noises and our surroundings. We knew we didn't know the area and luckily we were fine. I calmed down a bit once I saw some more people walking towards us on the trail, but I did not want to come face to face with a momma moose!

And that, is our trip to Colorado! We drove part of the way home to Missouri after Grand Lake. We saw the starts of some wildfires the night before we left and they seemed to be under control as we left. Part of the area we were in was really dry with lots of dead trees, so lets hope everyone stays safe!

Don't forget to check out our other Colorado posts!

Nederland

Grand Lake - you're here!

{Colorado} Trail Ridge Road

I'd go back today if I could. I love the mountains and at one brief point in time, Doug and I had thought about moving there. It was way before kids and we were barely married and at one of those crossroads in young adulthood. Jobs weren't anything serious, our families were good, and no kids. But we stayed put, and I'm happy we did, but I can see many trips to Colorado in our future as time and money allow.

On this day, we went up Trail Ridge Road for the second time and went from Estes Park all the way to Grand Lake, unlike our other trip where we only went up part of it after our "gravel" road adventure. Colorado's idea of gravel roads is way different than Missouri's, to which we are thankful.

My dad and Nate, playing around and enjoying the view.

Lily sporting her new Mount Evans sweat shirt. She didn't make the full hike up as her headache came back. She didn't do well on our first hike up to Mount Evans and the altitude was getting her. But she's a trooper and made it almost all the way up.

On our way down, we finally saw some elk. A whole group was within eyesight finally and came out of the clearing.

And then we saw a MOOSE! Yes, that deserves all caps. I've never seen one in person but have always wanted to. So this big guy definitely stopped traffic, even though he was a ways away from the road.