Our long time friends, the DeSantiagos once again joined us on a vacation adventure! Mr. Tom Tom their new friend the GPS helped us find our way. Mr. Tom Tom who judges in terms of meters, threw us off at times but we successfully arrived at our first destination, Steam Boat Springs, Colorado. This place was similar to Estes Park and many people we met were trying to decided which town they preferred! Our one day experience was just enough time to test the pool, sauna and steam room and then ventured into town for dinner!
We were back on the road for our final destination Estes Park! Now a little more familiar with Mr. Tom Tom's directional guide we drive right into Colorado's Rocky Mountain Nation Park! Nature is breathtaking hence my favorite quote: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the number of moment that take our breath away.
Climbing higher and higher we reached the Alpine visitor center, exactly 11,796 feet high. We decided to snap that $20.00 family photo(made up for our entrance fee into the park).
Exhilarating......they say your on top of the world and that is exactly what it felt like! We were feeling great, all seemed possible...and BOOOOMMMMM! The best way I can express this feeling is relating this to a child about to take a lick of his creamy, over sized scoop of ice cream on a sweet sugar cone! Just when he is about to take his first lick when.......huhh.....it falls to the ground. He was just on top of the world, everything was awesome and within seconds his dreams are crushed!
Well to make a long story short our van gave out on us just two minutes away from our cabin! The transmition was in ruins! Thankfully we had the DeSantiagos to help us deal with this unexpected trial. So on our first day arriving we pile into their van, arrive at the cabin and wait....wait...wait.. all on no breakfast or lunch until our car scenario is solved or at least for the evening! But wait...Ray! Our friend Ray flew into Denver to spend the week with us! He sits and waits patiently for 2 hours until we finally arrive with a jam packed van. It was a big joke to have us open the back van door and have him pile in on the floor next to us for the two our ride back to the cabin!
I must say this trial didn't ruin our fun. Life continues and our vacation was a blast despite the obvious!
Bubba Gump Shrimp was our dinner stop for the evening! This place has been our family tradition while on vacation. The last time we ate there was in Frisco with the DeSantiagos, Ray Ray and us, me being 5 months prego. It was nice to finally have Caitlyn join in on this tradition!
Something a few months ago we jokingly discussed became a reality. This was definitely not on our list of things to do on vacation however it was crossed off within 3 hrs and we were driving back into Estes Park with a new to us 2005 Ford Mercury Mariner. What a surprise but also a sure sense of security for our family and the rest of our vacation! We arrive back in town believing the rest is in the past when we come to find out Matthew's tooth was infected and his whole side of face is swollen!!! So off to emergency they go as we again wait for a miracle! Thankfully the emergency doctor on duty also new some dental work which was a miracle for us! We decided then at their return that this was just the beginning of our vacation and so it was!
Downtown Estes was fun. A historic and tourist place filled with lots of what I call a reminder that those little tragic episodes in our lives are just temporary and so minuscule compared to eternity! We all had our share of homemade mouthwatering ice cream. We were back on top of the world and ready for a great week! I actually spotted about 5 creameries just walking distance from each other! Hummm one for every night?
Frank, Ivanna, the kids and Ray had never been fishing! So the perfect place we found to guarantee a successful catch was at the Trout Haven Fishing Pond! No license required, however what ever you catch is .95 cents a lb, So we figure this was the best alternative than siting at a lake possibly for hours with an expensive paid out of state fishing license and no fish! The children were so excited when they caught their first fish ever! This would be #2 for Caitlyn.
Sonny even tried to fish the Big Thompson River just outside our cabin. The rapid river sound was amazing to fall asleep and wake up to!
Our hiking adventure led us to Lily Lake State Park, a .5 mile hike which was perfect for our group! We didn't want to end up carrying anyone back so this mostly flat trail gave us a taste of the great outdoors and just how relaxing nature is!
If you have ever seen the movie "The Shining"(Here's Johnny!) well.... this was the place it was filmed or at least part of it! The Stanely Hotel located on top of the hill overseeing Estes Park! We didn't see any spirits floating around even though they say a few of the rooms are haunted.
Relaxation was one of our top priorities on our list of things to do! So I'm not sure you can call swimming,Rock Band, WII fit to help with our expanding stomachs or Frank's stressful and disappointing Laker game relaxing but it was fun!
We decided to do an all day trip into Denver. First stop was the Celestial Time Tea factory! This was a much needed aroma therapy session, especially in the mint room! The art is what I found interesting. Each box has it's own piece of art work. Once the flavor is created it's given to the artist and then inspiration takes place! I really enjoyed this FREE tour! It gave us all the urge to try new flavors you can't find at home!
Getting ready to tour the factory.
The Buckhorn Exchange was our next stop for lunch. Sonny and I saw this restaurant featured on the food network channel months ago so we new this was a must on our list! This is the oldest restaurant in Denver with liquor License #1. It was founded by famous cowboy “Shorty Scout”, the youngest member of Buffalo Bill Cody's band of scouts. There are over 500 animals and birds displayed inside. Buffalo, elk, quail, game hen and prime rib are some of the dishes you can choose from. Exotic appetizers such as rattlesnake, alligator tail and rocky mountain oysters are also available so I just had to order a plate of the one and only...Rocky Mountain Oysters! I must say I had every one trying some, except for Frank and Ivanna...they didn't give in! We all had a BALL and they tasted like....chicken just a little chewy and a slight after taste! It was worth trying once. Matthew even got a free slice of cheesecake for trying one!
This is Caitlyn eating some...she just wanted more chicken.
Lodo...lower downtown Colorado was our way of walking off lunch and making room for dinner! With in a few hours we were eating once again at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Frank is OSF manager here in Orem, so he made an attempt to stop by and check up on his sister store. Also how can you say no to a FREE meal?
Food, Fun and Friendship...a much needed vacation despite all the mishaps!
This is twin owls peak in Estes Park...can you see them?
Our homemade “Last Supper” at our cabin as Ivanna called it was another of our delicious and over served plates! Salmon, buttered rice, spinach salad and for the second time BBQ brown sugared pineapple(We think better than Tucanos).
One of the last restaurants we tried in Denver was Jack n Grill, another TV episode of Food Network seen this time by the DeSantiagos the morning we were leaving for our road trip... We all tried the 7lb breakfast burrito, that is we all shared one!
What a vacation and a time to remember....Oh wait here is THE CAR!
Here are a few misc. pictures I thought were funny!
This one is for Chris!
So another vacation filled with unforgetable memories....Where shall we go next time...Hawaii any one?
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6 comments:
I love vacations and spending time with you and caitlyn, The DeSantiago's, & Ray. We had a blast but it went buy to fast. I hope you like your new car sweetheart.
Wow, that looks like you had an awesome time!
The pictures and journaling are fabulous, thanks for sharing your adventure with the rest of us... looks like some place we might have to check out, but I think Hawaii, OR Ireland sounds like fun too!!??
so we all know colorado is the best! glad you had fun in my hometown! and yes, everyone is "high" w/ in 100 miles of Boulder!!!!
Awesome trip guys. Gonna have to fly fish those rivers. The trout looked great.
It looks like so much fun. I would love to go there some day. Love your new car, too!
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