On the way to Colorado

Last summer (June of 2008) our whole family spent a wonderful week in Colorado - the first time we have gone on a trip with all of our kids and grandkids. We left home early on a Saturday morning, met up with Rod and Jen and the girls in Salina, and took off. The little girls did amazingly well on the long trip. Of course, we had to stop in Burlington at the playground that has been a traditional stop on all of our trips to the mountains.

We arrived in Estes Park early in the evening and were so excited to find that our cabin was right by the river! This three-bedroom cabin with a fireplace was our cozy home for a week.

Of course, the focus of the week was on the outdoors - the mountains, the wildlife, hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, fishing for trout and panning for gold. We took several long hikes and loved seeing all the elk everywhere. A couple of evenings we even saw elk walking right past our cabin as they browsed their way down the river!

No trip to Estes Park would be complete without visiting the famous Stanley Hotel and taking the ghost tour. Although we didn't see anything spooky, the girls were pretty intrigued with the stories.

Of course, we had to do some shopping in Estes Park for t-shirts and saltwater taffy and hit the fun park for goofy golf and the giant slide.

We all hated to leave the mountains when the week was over!