At last!!! We finally make it to the crown jewel of our vacation. We’d had fun in Breck and WP was alright, but this was IT! I was so excited to show H the park. I made him wake up early and we skipped breakfast to head straight for the park. We compromised by getting a breakfast/lunch make-your-own combo from a cute country grocery store.
The visit to RMNP started out with a bang! or at least quite a few Elk! Animal spottings are easy there- just look for all the tourists pulled over on the road and people chasing the poor animals with cameras. Since I wasn’t trusting my beloved new camera to H yet, I had to pull off the road and snap a few quick pics.
Eager to see something- anything, we stopped off at one of the first trailheads we drove by on the West side of the park. The Colorado River trailhead appeared interesting enough, and why not catch a glimpse of the might headwaters. Luckily the stream is pretty tame here and only a short hike it. We came, we saw, we conquered. We headed for greener pastures, taller mountains and better vistas on the famous Trail Ridge Road.
As we climbed higher and higher in the mountains, my dear husband’s voice grew higher, his breathing more rapid and the color was slowly draining from his face. He wouldn’t let me drive any faster than 20 mph (I could sneak up to 30 if he wasn’t paying attention). We’d pull over at ever scenic overlook to regroup and refocus before continuing our way up the mountain.
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: We are so lucky to have such a great national/state/local park system preserves great places like these.
