Colorado May/June 2024

At the end of May, we drove to Colorado to spend a week in one of our favorite states.  We stayed the first two nights with our friends Johnny and Celina at their new home in Erie.  This is the view from their deck. Amazing!

I took Jack to Golden to tour Colorado School of Mines. Then, we met up with the rest of the group in Boulder for a short hike.

The Flatirons are behind us.

Then, we drove to a rental house near Dillon.  Our family stopped along the way and used the money Nana and Papa gave us for Christmas to go ziplining.  It was fun, and a little scary! Here are Jack and Patrick:

Maggie and Jim coming in hot!

What a fun adventure!

The kids waited by the water as Dad made his final run.

We met up with Kitty and Keith in Dillon.

Lake Dillon.

The next morning, we all hiked the North Tenmile Creek Hiking Trail near Frisco.

After lunch, we went to Breckenridge and visited this troll.

We came across the shop with a great name in Breckenridge.  

After 2 nights at the rental with Kitty, Keith, Johnny, Ethan, and Alanna, we checked out and drove to Loveland Pass for a chilly hike.  We didn't hike very far, but enjoyed some snow in June.

Then, we stopped outside of Frisco and hiked to Lily Pad lake.

We had some snacks when we got to the pretty lake.

We then set up camp at the Elliot Creek Campground near the Green Mountain Reservoir, where we stayed for two nights. Kitty and Keith joined us the first night.

Here is some hail on Kitty and Keith's tent after a brief storm.

We had a nice, secluded campsite.

The six of us drove to a remote area and hiked around Lower Cataract Lake.

You can see barely see Jim and the kids hiking on the trail. 

This was a fun water crossing.

It was a scenic hike and we had the place to ourselves. 

After the hike, Jim, Jack, and Patrick explored the reservoir. 

That evening, we played games by the campfire.

We used the camping washers set Jim got for Christmas.

After breaking down camp the next morning, we drove to Boulder. Jim, Jack, and Patrick toured CU Boulder.

 I took Charlie and Maggie to a cool playground and then a local library.  

After Boulder, we drove to Denver to stay a night with Kitty and Keith.

After dinner, we walked to get ice cream.  

We drove home the next day. I'd like to say it was uneventful, but that would be a lie. We hit a heavy object on the highway and had to make an emergency stop at a local car shop. After looking under the car, they thought we could probably make it home.  Patrick was starting summer school the next morning, and Jim and Charlie were leaving for Charlie's 12-year-old trip, so we didn't really have time to add a day for car repairs. We drove on and made it home a little after midnight.