West Vacation (Part 1)

We took an amazing, crazy, fun road trip out west this summer.  My oldest brother lives in New Mexico, and the past few years we've talked about taking the time to drive out to visit him and his family. We did it! What an adventure.  It all feels like a dream!

 

We left on a Friday evening and spent our first night at John's parents house in Indy. Easy Breezy.  Saturday was supposed to be our longest leg, and we were hoping to get half-way through Kansas. Now, I must say that my #1 fear going into this trip was our van breaking down.  Well, about 1.5 hours from Kansas city our air conditioning stopped working. It was close to 100 degrees, we were all sweating, and John and I were trying to convince/remind the girls that air conditioning is a modern day luxury!  We pulled off close to Kansas City, and the van was making an unhappy sound.  Long story short, we stayed in a hotel that night and John found a mechanic who fixed the van that Sunday.  I am so thankful that we were close to a big city & that we found a hotel with a pool. It set us back half a day, but it all worked out! Sunday was long day driving through Kansas. We made it to Denver, spent the night, and then drove the final 2 hours through the amazing and beautiful mountains to Grand Lake, where we stayed just outside of the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.

 

Our time in Colorado was picture perfect. Truly. It was beautiful. The kids loved it & my memory bank is full.  It was my first time to the Rockies & I love it.

 

This is the house we rented. 

 After we arrived on Monday, we went our first hike to Adam's Falls. It was easy and Anna especially loved it.

 Playing in front of Grand Lake

 We drove to the Alpine Visitor Center. The drive was amazing.  We were above 12,000 feet.  We were above tree line and saw such expansive views. The girls couldn't believe they were walking through snow :)

 

John, Anna, and Jane took an extra little hike to the tippy top!  Some of us were feeling a bit of altitude sickness!

A favorite for the girls was looking for all of the wildlife. We saw moose, elk, and mule deer. 

On Tuesday morning we went on a 3 hour hike along the Colorado River Trail.  I'm so proud of the girls. They pushed themselves and barely complained. There were a few steep places that were especially scary for Sarah (see her frightened face below?) but they were always safe.  At one point Anna said, "This isn't like hiking in Ohio. It's a lot harder and better."  The girls got to walk through a shallow part of the river which was a fun memory. We also did stick races :)

After lunch and naps we came back to the park and walked the short hike to the Holzwarth Historic Site. Park Rangers/volunteers give tours of an old dude ranch.  The girls loved it. 

 



John is a mountain man!!