After canceling several trips this year, we decided to drive to Colorado for a socially-distant family vacation. We drove straight through to Colorado Springs and the kids fell asleep easily at the home we rented.
The next morning was the Fourth of July and we met lovebirds Kitty and Keith at Garden of the Gods. You can see the kissing camels rock formation in the background behind us.
We saw some rock climbers.
The kids enjoyed climbing on the rocks.
We brought our bikes and rode around the park.
After lunch, the kids relaxed with a movie while Jim and I walked to Old Colorado City. We passed a deer in a yard on our way!
That evening, after it rained, we went to Manitou Springs with Kitty and Keith. We tasted mineral water from the springs and the kids had fun playing in this amphitheater.
The next morning we drove to Pike's Peak. Jim drove us to mile 16 and then we took the shuttle to the top. I would not have wanted to drive on those roads! You can see some of the road behind Patrick.
We stopped along the way for pictures.
Jim pulled over on the side of the road so the kids could play in snow.
The summit!
Maggie was tired! Actually, I think Maggie and I both experienced some altitude sickness.
It was cold at the top!
That afternoon, we rode along some bike trails in Colorado Springs and stopped at a few places along the way.
The next day, we drove to Ridgway State Park. We stopped in Buena Vista for a picnic lunch and ice cream.
We arrived at Ridgway State Park, our home for the next 4 nights. The boys set up their tent and we set up the tent for the adults and Maggie.
On our second night, Jim woke up to some really loud, persistent banging in the middle of the night. We heard from another camper in the morning that he witnessed a "friendly" black bear banging on RVs and dumpsters. We reminded the kids not to get out of their tent in the night if they heard any noises outside. The moon looked awesome peaking out from the clouds at night.
The following morning we visited Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It was not crowded at all!
There were some neat views.
We hiked part of the way into the canyon.
It's a long way down to the Gunnison River!
If there is water, the kids will throw rocks in it.
We visited the beach at Ridgway State Park.
Our little mermaid...
The next day we drove to Telluride.
Our first stop was a hike to Bridal Veil Falls.
We came upon this waterfall on our way.
We took a gondola up a ski hill to hike.
We might have been just a little afraid to see this sign at the start of our hike.
Unsurprisingly, we did not see any explosives in the woods.
After the hike, we explored Telluride. The kids had fun near the creek.
We picked up some Brown Dog Pizza and ate it in a nearby park.
Our next day was spent in Ouray, a beautiful box canyon town.
We started out with a short hike to the falls.
Maggie was well-hydrated with her new CamelBak.
We had lunch outside at Maggie's Kitchen.
We are so grateful to Jim, who waited in the hot sun for a loooonnnngg time to get us tickets to the Ouray Hot Springs Pool. They were operating at 25% capacity so tickets were scarce.
We drove along the Million Dollar Highway on our way from Ridgway to Durango, our destination for the next 4 nights. Once again, I was glad Jim was driving.
We stopped in Silverton for lunch. Jim's favorite part was the Old Western Ragtime pianist. It was our first time eating indoors since the pandemic. When we arrived, we were the only customers in there. They had lots of windows and doors open for cross breezes, but we were still a little nervous.
After lunch, we went on a mine tour.
After the tour, we mined for gold and silver.
We found some good bike paths in Durango to explore.
We asked the kids what they wanted to do in Durango. Whitewater rafting was at the top of everyone's list. We had a blast!
After whitewater rafting, we discovered this cool pump track. We took the kids back later to ride.
We also enjoyed riding on the bike paths along the Animas River.
We visited Mesa Verde National Park another day.
We got to see Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings. Unfortunately, due to Covid, we could not climb into them.
It was so very hot!
There was no rain, but umbrellas were used for shade.
You can see some cliff dwellings in the background behind the boys.
We saw several pithouses which were used before they made the cliff dwellings.
Another cliff dwelling:
Jim and I went out for dinner one night. The kids were happy to have a movie and tortellini night without us.
Jim and I got up early one morning and went mountain biking without the kids. I think I had to walk just as much going down as I did going uphill. It was tough, but fun.
On our last full day in Durango we drove to Vallecito Lake and hung out by the shore.
The kids played by the water.
The views were spectacular.
I'm not sure why they stood these poles up in the sand, but they had fun. Jack is standing by another one in the background. We made them knock them down before we left so they wouldn't fall on anyone.
We decided to find a new place for a picnic lunch. We didn't see a place we could go without paying, so we started a hike and just sat down along the path to eat. Only one pair of people came by while we ate lunch.
That evening we went back to the pump track. Everyone loved it!
Our final stop was at Great Sand Dunes National Park.
We arrived just as a storm was coming.
Lots of people turned back because of the storm. We forged ahead (for a little bit).
The wind was so strong!
Check out this video of Jack climbing a sand dune in the wind:
After leaving Great Sand Dune, we drove to a cabin in a small town to spend the night before driving home the next day. We drove through a terrible storm and had to pull off the highway for awhile. Then, we took a different route to avoid the storm and had the worst Mexican food I've ever had. We eventually made it to our cabin, had a good night's sleep, and drove home the next day. It was a great trip!
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