Colorado!

 Such a fun vacation. Exhausting at times but so fun. 

Normally we opt for a beach vacation with lots of laying around but now that the kids are getting older we need more vacations doing "stuff". Funny the kids don't like just laying in a cabana eating and drinking all day. 

I started planning this trip about a year ago. I got cheap airfare (more on that later) through Frontier and we got a great deal with their kids fly free deal. We got two kids to fly each way for free. This would come back to bite but I planned the week based on the flights we could get and went Wednesday to Wednesday. 

I worked on the itinerary a lot, tweaking, adding, taking away. 

So yea, pretty detailed.

About 6 months ago our return flight through Frontier was cancelled. No explanation just a cancellation. So there went my kids fly free deal for the way home. But luckily we had plenty of time to find another flight home so I booked a flight through Southwest. As far as I knew our flight to Denver was still fine. That is until I tried to check in 24 hours before the flight. It kept glitching and not letting me. I kept trying but had a bad feeling so I called. After numerous calls I found out the flight was cancelled. Of course. Scrambling I tried to find another flight out of Louisville but of course Frontier had nothing until two days later and all the other airlines were crazy expensive. Contemplated driving but after about 30 seconds decided no way we could drive that far with the kids (I can't imagine the fights). Eventually after a few hours of research and phone calls I found a Frontier flight out of Cincinnati for the following morning. Because our return flight was through Southwest and into Louisville we had to rent a car to drive to Cincinnati since we couldn't leave our car there. Adding an extra $180 to our travel. More on that later. 

So we lost about 12 hours, woke up at 4am Thursday morning, drove to Cincinnati and caught our flight to Denver. The original plan was to arrive Wednesday night, acclimate to the elevation before Rocky Mountain National Park hike the next day. But I was determined to keep on schedule since I had so many non-refundable reservations I needed to keep. So hiking day 1 was happening!! 

Rocky Mountain National Park - Hiking the Emerald Lake Trail. 

We picked up our rental car (Infiniti QX80 which was so badass) and headed straight from the airport to Rocky Mountain National Park because I had a timed entry reservation I needed to be there for. My reservation was at 10am and you had a two hour window to check in after that or else you couldn't get into the park that day. We arrived at 12:19 and I was hoping so much they would not turn us away. My heart was racing when we checked in but it was all ok, they guy took our payment and sent us on our way. I was so happy and could finally breath after stressing for hours and hours about this reservation. Once you were checked in you could leave and come back as much as you wanted to we pulled a big ole U-turn right past the gate and went back into Estes to get lunch. We were all starved! We hadn't eaten yet that day except some snacks on the plane. We found a grocery store that made fresh deli sandwiches and ordered them to go to eat picnic style in the park. It was called the Country Market Grocery Store and omg these sandwiches were so good. We loaded up our sandwiches and what we all thought would be enough water (wrong) and headed back into the park. We didn't have to search long for the perfect lunch spot because we came upon this rolling river/creek/stream and were amazed by how beautiful it was! This was our first taste of Colorado and quickly came to realize it's this is just what it looks like here. Everywhere!!

Yay sandwiches!!

After we refueled we headed up to the trail head. We were going to hike the Emerald Lake Trail which I of course had researched and thought it would be a great trail for us. It was a moderate trail of 3.2 miles out and back. I kept checking the trail status on All Trails and knew there would still be some ice and snow to deal with so we brought from Crampons and poles to make sure nobody (me) fell and broke a hip on day 1. 

We geared up, took as much water as we wanted to carry (not enough) and set off. 

We had to take a shuttle up to the trail head because it was posted the parking lot was full (found out later this is false). But it wasn't a bad ride. 

I was not prepared for the elevation. As much as I read up on it I wasn't prepared. We took LOTS of breaks. Drank lots of water. It was all SO worth it. This trail was so beautiful. I kept saying it all looked fake. I couldn't believe it! There are 3 lakes as you go up the trail each one more beautiful than the next. 

The beginning of the trail.

The first lake Nymph Lake. 

As we got higher it just got completely unbelievably beautiful! We stopped a lot because we were exhausted but also because pictures!! 

Seriously!!

We ran out of water about halfway through so luckily there were fresh mountain streams everywhere. At first I was skeptical but I couldn't believe how fresh and clean the water tasted!! 

Dream Lake, the second lake. 

The last half of the trail was still snowy and slippery. SO glad I brought those crampons or I would have bit it several times. 

It was surreal when we made it to Emerald Lake. The last quarter mile was so hard! But the end was worth it! The lake was still mostly frozen and it was gorgeous!

Audrey was the most worn out I think - poor thing. 

Someone there took our family picture and I was so excited but none of those turned out. They are just gray in my photos, I'm still holding out hope that somehow it was a cloud error or something but I haven't been able to retrieve them. So upset. 

When I say the trail on the way back out was 100% easier I'm not exaggerating. It went so much faster and we were back to the shuttle before we knew it. I mean, it was almost all downhill on the way back out. 

Exhausted, dehydrated and ready for bed we got back to our car and embarked on a 3-1/2 hour drive to Glenwood Springs. Initially when I planned this we would've been well-ish rested from travelling the day before and not flying in the same day of this hike. I also didn't plan on the drive being so fricking curvy and treacherous. Duh Kelly, it's through the mountains!! It was a looooong drive and I felt bad for Todd who was driving, it was 100% concentration on the road and nothing else. Not an easy highway drive where 3-1/2 hours isn't a big deal. Finally around midnight we rolled into our VRBO for the next few days. I was underwhelmed at first but oh so happy to have a shower and a bed. And didn't realize until the light of day we had this waiting for us outside. Love it!

The outdoor space totally made the place. 

The town of Glenwood Springs was great. The Colorado River rolled right through the town and it was so pretty. Unfortunately EVERYTHING shuts down about 9pm so we were forced to eat Taco Bell that first night but literally anything would've been great since we hadn't eaten since sandwiches at 1pm. Don't worry - we didn't starve the rest of the week, today was not a great day for eating. 

Day 2 Defiance Rafting Glenwood Springs

I woke up early but let everyone else sleep as long as they wanted. They all needed/deserved it after such a long day yesterday. Our big plan for today was a scenic river float which didn't start until 1pm. 

I was SO excited about this. Not one for adventure I liked the sound of everything this rafting trip had to offer. 

After arrival we were geared up and had a safety briefing. There were 4 groups in the briefing and the other 3 were going on the serious white water rafting tour and we were all briefed at the same time. The kids (and me) didn't like hearing all the stuff that could go wrong and how you could save yourself if you fell out of the boat. But it was all necessary just in case! I think it freaked the kids out though especially Erin who was scared from the start. I assured her this was a "float" and we would not be going over any major rapids. 

Ready to go!

We shuttled up river and they dropped off the first three groups who were doing the rapids and then drove us down the river to the calmer part to wait for them. We met up with the other groups and got going. 

Our guides name was Erin and she was great! Erin loved that they had the same name and we called them Erin 1 and Erin 2 :) 

The trip was so fun! There were some quick spots and we had some dips and splashes that honestly would've made me nervous reading about it in the description but I glad I didn't know about them! It was exhilarating! But nothing crazy and nothing that would've knock anybody out of the boat or anything. 

I know I need more adjectives but it was so beautiful!! They had a professional photographer at some points down the river and I was so grateful. I love these pictures!

I think there were over 40 photos and I expected and arm and a leg but I was surprised at the end when they only wanted $60 for all the digitals. Yes please! Highly recommend Defiance Rafting in Glenwood Springs. They were all around amazing. 

The kids all had a blast and I was so glad we all stepped out of our comfort zone and had a little adventure!

Day 3 Glenwood Canyon Bike Trail

I reserved e-bikes for Todd and I and regular bikes for the kids. Total mom fail but um Audrey hasn't really ever been a bike person so she was still in training wheels. Didn't really think about this until a few days before the trip. So we improvised when we got to the bike place. They were really great about adjusting and gave us a regular bike for Todd with a pull behind bike attachment. Audrey would still peddle but wasn't on her own. But they couldn't add the pull behind on a e-bike for safety reason. They told us the trail was "mostly flat" so we thought it would be fine. No. 

First, the trail was pretty difficult to find. We ended up following a couple who said they were looking for the same thing and they went through a busy roundabout and over a bridge and it was pretty terrifying and dangerous! It wasn't until we were over that I realized it was a super bad idea. A guy on the street told me "yo, that was super dangerous, there's a pedestrian bridge next time". Omg. I felt terrible. Eventually we found the trail. It was so pretty but definitely not flat. The e-bike was amazing. But everyone else was pretty zapped after a while. 

All in all I'm glad we did it but it will need to be e-bikes for all next time. Or we need to train for a longer bike ride before we go, haha. 

The next day we were moving out of Glenwood Springs and heading to our next destination, Colorado Springs. But first a trip to Aspen to hike Maroon Bells. Another timed entry so we got to the lodge to take a shuttle to the trail head. It's disappointing when they say the "parking lot is fun" and charge like $80 to take a family of 6 to the trail and of course you get there and the parking lot has plenty of spaces. But it's whatever - it was so so pretty and I think it was worth it.  Here are just a few pictures, I probably took thousands, haha. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. 

After the hike we decided to get some lunch in Aspen. Aspen was a cute town but we all felt disheveled and the kids were pretty wild. We found a quiet lunch spot and ate but bailed soon after. 

Once we left Aspen it was time to go to our next VRBO in Colorado Springs. Again, little did I know the 3 hour drive would be through the craziest twists and turns and some of the scariest heights ever! Todd was driving again and as someone who is afraid of heights I was worried! But he did great and even after I offered to drive several times he nicely let me enjoy the view and ooh and awww every three seconds while he concentrated on not running us all off a massive cliff. 

We stopped at the Continental Divide overlook. It was chilly. 

Once we arrived in Colorado Springs we checked into our next VRBO. It was a MUCH bigger house with all the amenities we were missing in the last one. They had a nice game room and a hot tub and the kids were in heaven. 

So fancy. 

Day 5 Royal Gorge Train Ride, Canon City

I was super excited about this! I saw this Royal Gorge Train Ride on my Tik Tok feed over a year previous and just knew we'd need to go! None of us had ever been on a passenger train before. The train was in Canon City about an hour away from where we were staying. I'll be honest I think I enjoyed this more than the kids did, haha. I was just excited something was taking us where we wanted to go and I didn't have to hike there. 

Boarding was pretty seamless. 

We got our seats and immediately the waitress came around to take food and drink orders. The drinks were super yummy and the food was surprisingly good!

But I was there for the open air car! 

It was about a 2 hour train ride and every turn was gorgeous. Highly recommend! 

Day 6 Garden of the Gods

On our last full day the only thing I had planned was a super easy hike through Garden of the Gods. It was our hottest day of the week, I think it hit 86 degrees at one point but it still felt great. We got super lucky all week, we had GORGEOUS weather. 

The next day, our last day, our flight didn't leave until 8pm. So after we left the VRBO we took a side trip to Red Rocks Ampitheater and had lunch. 

We may have gotten to the airport 4 hours early but these days it never hurts to be early!

The flight had no issues and we got home around 2am. I wrote to Frontier when we got home to explain how much of an inconvenience the cancelled flight was and they gave us a $450 credit to use on a future flight. Not too bad I guess but tbd if we will actually use it before it expires. 

We can't wait to explore more of this great state, we will definitely be back!