Summer Vacation 2023 (Denver)- Part 9

We did not get a chance to check out the Stanley hotel during our time in Estes Park, so we decided to go for breakfast. It wasn't a great experience. The hostess was so rude and our food was so expensive! But it was cool to see the building, it is really pretty.

Our flight didn't leave until late that night and it was supposed to be about 100 degrees in Denver. We decided it would be best to find a pool, so Michael booked a room at the Gaylord Rockies in Denver.  It is right next to the airport and has a great pool for the kids. We swam all day and the kids had a blast.  Around dinner time we headed to the airport. It was a really fun last day of vacation. 

We had the best time exploring out west.  We weren't quite sure what to expect, but we had so many fun new experiences! 

Summer Vacation 2023- Rocky Mountain National Park (Part 8)

On our third day in the park, we drove Old Fall River Road to the top of the park. It was a gorgeous road and we listened to the history of the road in our car as we drove to the top.

We stopped at a short little hike to Chasm Falls.  

It was rushing and really pretty. 

It's an old dirt road and had really pretty views. 

We made it to the top!

We saw a gorgeous herd of elk!

It was hard to get a good picture, but we walked up beside them and it was really amazing to see. 

We made it to the Alpine Visitor Center. It had closed by the time we had arrived the day before, so we were excited to be able to visit today. We grabbed coffee and hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls and enjoyed the gorgeous views. 

Then we made the trek to the top! It is nicknamed Huffers Hill because it gains 200 feet of elevation in just three tenths of a mile. It is only a half of a mile hike, but it is straight uphill. It is also at 12,000 feet above sea level, so it makes it much harder!

This is halfway up. It was freeeeezing! The boys did fine, but sweet little Caitie was really pouting about it!

Can you tell how windy it was up there?

The views were so pretty from every direction!

We made our way to the other side of the park, the grand lake side. We stopped at Grand Lake Lodge for some lunch. It had beautiful views of the lake and was so yummy! We wished we had stayed here for the night. The grand lake side of the park has a lot of wildlife. 

We headed back into the park in the late afternoon and played in the creek for a while. We were hoping to spot more wildlife around dusk and we had a little time to kill before then. 

We got a little tired and headed back up trail ridge road a little earlier than planned. A few of us were struggling with the elevation and decided not to try and drive trail ridge road at night since it is quite treacherous. 

We also stopped at the continental divide on the way back. 

On our way out of the park we saw a gorgeous Buck.

We were starving by the time we arrived back at the cabin so we walked back to the Dunraven. It was definitely our go-to spot since it was so close!

We were sad to wrap up our time in Rocky Mountain National Park. We filled our days with adventure, but there were still so many more things that were on our list to see!