Months ago, Mallory decided to run in the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon, to be held in late July in Estes Park, CO. One thing led to another in various discussions and the Baumann clan decided we’d all go. It had been years since some of the girls had been to Colorado and Meg and Calvin had never seen “the mountains” before, so plans were set in motion.
We left Marshall last Monday and stayed overnight in Nebraska via Airbnb. It was an 8 hour drive that took more like 10 hours, but we’re glad we split up the trip to Colorado into two days, giving the kids a bit more “decompression time” after being in the car for so long. Also, we could be a bit more leisurely in our plans, allowing for longer stops and possible diversions along the way. The kids did pretty well, really, as Brooke loaded up some thin plastic bins with activities, and I grabbed a season of a TV show for each of them to load onto their Kindle Fires. They were very ready to be done with driving once we got there, and getting to run around the front yard of a house (as opposed to around the beds in a hotel room) was great.
We drove toward Estes Park the next day, taking a trip through Big Thompson Canyon, which contains the Big Thompson River. It’s a pretty drive and the kids enjoyed looking up as high as they could along the rocky walls of the canyon. Again, nothing that Brooke and I hadn’t seen before, but to them, where rocks don’t normally get that tall in Missouri, it was pretty neat. Eastern Colorado and the drive through the canyon took more than a few hours (it always takes longer than you think…), but we ultimately reached our destination early-afternoon on Tuesday, July 23rd.
The house we stayed in was pretty cool, though it was located in a more suburban neighborhood a few miles from downtown Estes Park. It was pretty close to everywhere we wanted to be, though, and we could get to Rocky Mountain National Park within 20 min or less, depending on traffic. The house had 3 bedrooms and a loft on the third floor, so plenty of space for people to get away from things, as well as a large living room and a “living space” on the second floor with couches. There were two full baths, though the hot water pressure could have been better. Overall, it was a beautiful place to stay for a few days!
That first day, we killed some time in RMNP with a picnic, letting Meg and Calvin run around a bit and get their feet wet (literally). We also stocked up at Safeway, though being the only grocery store in town meant that everyone in town was there (also literally). The rest of the Baumann clan had driven in overnight from St. Louis, so they were on the tired side of things and opted to take it easy for the rest of the day: fine by us!
The next day, Mark, Brooke, the kids and me traveled to Fort Collins to go hiking with Brooke’s cousin, Jared, and his daughter, Elle. We went hiking on a dirt trail out in Larimer County, not within RMNP. It was a pretty easy hike, really, though Elle and Calvin wanted to walk for part of the trip, slowing us down considerably. This was our first real “hiking experience” in Colorado, and though the weather was actually pretty good, there wasn’t much shade, so the kids got tired, too. We only went a few miles, but found a trickle of a waterfall at the end, so that made the trip worth it for the kids.
After the hike, we all went to Coopersmith’s Pub & Brewing for lunch (also joined by Jared’s wife, Andrea) in downtown Fort Collins. The food was great, especially after a morning outside. The flight of beer I got was also very good, though I wished I could have stayed longer to sample some more. However, we had reservations for a tour at New Belgium Brewing Company and couldn’t stay long.
The New Belgium tour was great and, shockingly, the kids also were very well-behaved! Maybe they were just worn out from the morning (heavy sun can do that to you…), but they actually listened pretty well when we told them what to do, and also stayed pretty quiet while the tour guide was speaking to us. The tour itself was also good, though not necessarily informative (once you’ve been on a beer tour, you’ve seen most of what you can possibly see…). We didn’t learn all that much over the course of the 1.5 hour tour, but we did get to taste four 6 oz volumes of different brews, including Fat Tire, Sunshine, Heavy Melon and La Folie (which is a sour beer that apparently starts out as Brooke’s favorite, 1554, but is instead aged in red wine barrels). We filled up a growler with De Konink from their bar after the tour and took it back to the house with us. If you’re ever visiting Fort Collins, take that growler along because they’ll fill it with their regular, all-season beers for $6. A steal!
After that, we stopped for ice cream on the way home because the kids were so good and headed back to the house. I think Brooke and I agree that this was probably our favorite day of the trip. Not that the other days weren’t good, but everyone seemed to be in a good mood, it was great to see Jared, Andrea and Elle, and it was our first real day of “vacation,” so everyone was excited to see some cool new stuff.
And beer. There’s nothing wrong with beer. 🙂
The next day, we spent a lot of time in RMNP…but that’s best saved for another post!