Rocky Mountain National Park & Estes Park, CO

When we got up this morning, I got online to check the CO road conditions and to find out if going into the mountains was going to be an option. When it said that we would encounter "Icy Spots" on US Hwy 36, we had pretty much decided that we would have to stay around the Denver area. Then as we ate breakfast, the hotel staff and fellow hotel patrons weighed in on the trip idea and told us we had to go to Estes Park and just deal with the roads...it would be well worth any "icy spots" that we might hit.

So, we bundled up and hit the road. As we left the area where the hotel sits, the kids got their first sight of the majestic Rocky Mountains...and boy were they impressed. We made the hour drive up into the mountains to Estes Park and The Rocky Mountain National Park. OMG! It was beautiful and there was plenty of snow for the kids to play in.













After we were all good and cold (especially our ankles...ankle socks and tennis shoes...not so good for snow hiking), we drove back into Estes where had lunch a little hole in the wall pizza joint. During our lunch, we had a mother/son vs. father/daughter pool game. We are definitely not gifted in the area of pool. But we had fun.




We did a little shopping and then headed up to The Stanley hotel before we left town. If you don't know anything about The Stanley, it was the sight where a marvelous little movie was filmed, you might have heard of it....THE SHINING! And this place feels absolutely creepy when inside it. Ashton was totally freaked out when we mentioned the possibility of a ghost tour, so we decided against it. But I vow that I will be back here and we will stay at The Stanley and go on the tour.


We had dinner when we got back into town and now it is only 7pm local time and we are in PJs and ready for bed. We are all pooped from our wonderfully adventurous day. But I can't imagine a better way to bring in the new year, than on top of a mountain with my family.