Estes Park is a 3.5 hour drive from Mitchell. If Grandpa had his way, he would have us on the road at 5am “to beat the traffic”. Not sure what traffic Grandpa is referring to in Nebraska! We talked him into 7am. After being out late for the 4th of July, 7am was plenty early! Andy was joining us for our Estes Park adventure. The girls love Uncle Andy because he is a big kid. Two summers ago, Terri, Grandma, Grandpa, the girls and I went to Estes Park for my 25th class reunion. We had such a fun time everyone wanted to go again.
We stayed in a cabin at a place called “Idlewild on the River” – the location was perfect. Grandpa got his fishing box out the minute we arrived.
Elle was always available to help Grandpa. Many fish hooks were lost this day with the fast flowing Thomson river.
With a bit of team work, they got the line untangled from the log!
The girls had fun practicing their casting skills.
Elle started using a “crazy cast” of 360 degrees. We all stood WAY back from her.
Mom still has it!
A good day of fishing on the river – listening to the flow and feeling the sunshine while “napping” – Grandpa did make us leave early this morning!
The porch swing was a favorite place to hang by everyone.
We spent the day playing and fishing at the river because we only have one night at this cabin. During the summer, the minimum stay is 5 nights. We just called to squeeze in between reservations. We were only have 2 nights for our Estes Park adventure.
We bbq some buffalo burgers and had Poppy’s pizza for dinner. After dinner, we toasted mashmallows in a real fire pit! The next morning we had to pack our bags to move to another cabin. We enjoyed the morning at the river since our next cabin would not be on the river.
We had to hurry to lunch onced we learned there was a parade in town for the opening night of the rodeo. We watched a portion of the parade while we walked to lunch. We were having lunch at Poppy’s, the best pizza in town (or anywhere). Poppy’s is owed by my Mitchell High classmate, Rob. The wait is always very long to get into Poppy’s. Rob has a prime location on the river. His pizza has the such fresh ingredients that the pepperoni is not greasy.
We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon on the deck at Poppy’s.
The girls had fun playing with Andy at the river. They can’t go alone as the river is moving too fast if they should fall in.
After enjoying lunch on the river, we started our tour of the Rocky Mountain National Park. Our first stop was to hike the Allervue Fan trail. It is an easy trail the girls and grandparents could walk. It was paved up to the falls.
Once we reached the falls, Terri and Andy took the girls climbing on the rocks through the river. They loved it.
After we left the trail, we drove to the top of the summit. ALL the way up, Eleri was seeing the snow cap mountains. She kept asking when she could play in the snow. All the way to the top as we drove, the snow was on the other side of the canyon.
We finally found a snow patch off a hiking path. Elle couldn’t wait to get to the snow. Once she started playing, she yelled, “cold, cold” as she had on sandals. The girls had fun playing in the snow in July.
After playing in the snow, we drove to the top of the summit. The stop at the bathrooms at the top of the summit was funny. The bathrooms were a sort-of port-a-potty, but with air to suck everything down. We were laughing so hard trying to get the seat cover on for Elle before it got sucked down. The girls had fun shopping in the gift shop because Grandpa gave each girl $10 to spend.
It was a fun day in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We drove back down for dinner at Twin Owls Restaurant. It was a bit pricey, but a nice atmosphere. Terri didn’t eat her meal because she wanted Rob’s pizza. She got a take away to eat when we got home.
On our last day, we meet some Mitchell friends at Poppy’s. Another classmate, Brenda, lives here along with a Mitchell High teacher, Vern, and his wife, Kathy. It was fun to see old friends.
A fun video Andy put together on Terri’s new iphone 4. He is so creative!
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The drive home was easy as both girls slept most of the way from all the adventures.