Our Family Trip to Colorado (Part 2)

We returned from Colorado last Monday, but the daily demands of life after a 12-day vacation prevented me from giving an update regarding our trip until now. On Wednesday (July 28), we left Estes Park and drove to Cripple Creek, which is now primarily a gambling town. I was personally pleased to see at least one or two casinos out of business. We had planned two activities for that afternoon and evening in Cripple Creek. First, we toured the Mollie Kathleen gold mine; at least the chemical engineer found that interesting. Then, after dinner in the car (prepared by Sarah), we went to the Butte Theater for a production of Gunslinger: The Legend of Billy the Kid. This was a small theater, with about 50 in the audience. The musical was written in the early 1900s. The cast did a good job, and we enjoyed the experience of an Old West melodrama. The show was followed by a "summer olio," which was hilarious, the highlight of the day. We would definitely recommend seeing this show.

On Thursday, we drove to the top of Pike's Peak. We encountered sleet (3 mm white balls of ice) just short of the peak, which resulted in an hour delay when they temporarily closed the road. That afternoon, we intended to visit the Garden of the Gods, but rain resulted in the postponement of that outing.

On Friday, we visited Focus on the Family's soda shoppe and bookstore. (Unfortunately, KYDS Radio was closed.) We then tried again to visit Garden of the Gods, with partial success. A torrential downpour terminated that visit prematurely. In the evening, we enjoyed a Chuckwagon Dinner at the Flying W Ranch.

Our last day before heading home was Saturday. We visited the Olympic Training Center, taking a brief but interesting tour and visiting the gift shop. We also visited the "living history" site at Rock Ledge Ranch.

On Sunday, we visited a good friend in Louisville, dropped off a distance runner at CSU in Fort Collins for the Jim Ryun Running Camp, and headed east.

Our Family Trip to Colorado (Part 1)

Yesterday marked the midpoint of our family trip to the Rockies in Colorado. We were in Estes Park for 5 nights. Thus far, this trip has been a wonderful opportunity to experience different topography than we Michiganders typically enjoy. We arrived Friday night, picking up Luke from this week at a Freedom Academy I, sponsored by the Foundation Economic Education. Saturday through Monday, we spent our sightseeing hours in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Before lunch on Saturday, we enjoyed a pleasant walk around Sprague Lake.

After lunch, we drove through the park on Trail Ridge Road, learning about the three different ecosystems in the park: montane, subalpine, and alpine tundra. Entering from near Estes Park, we turned around after reaching the Alpine Visitor Center.

On Sunday, we hiked to Emerald Lake via Dream Lake and Nymph Lake. What a beautiful hike!

On Monday, we drove to a different park entrance and hiked from the Wild Basin Trailhead to Ouzel Falls. At the Ouzel Falls, the kids and I extended the hike by climbing to the top of the falls. We would highly recommend each of these outings for others. The drive and the two hikes were each a 4-hour outing, including lots of stops for snacks, drinks, and photographs.

On Tuesday, we went on a whitewater rafting trip. The bus ride was long, about 80 minutes each way, but the rafting was fun. Luke came the closest to flying out of the boat, but the other three family members immediately grabbed him when he was first launched outward from his position on the front right of the raft. Leah was sore on Wednesday morning; she paddled hard.