OUR VACATION IN ESTES PARK (PART 1)

The other day I shared pictures of the YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park Center where my husband and I enjoyed three days with our son Jeffrey and his family.  We had a blast! There was plenty to do to keep us busy.

It was time to eat when we arrived in Estes Park. With seven hungry bodies, we decided to eat at The Egg and I. Everyone else wanted to eat there, too, though so we had to wait for a while.  

Here is a picture of Sadie, Hallie, and Colby while we were waiting.  If you look in the window, you can see the reflections of Sara and me.










After eating, we left feeling very full and made our way out to our lodgings at the YMCA of the Rockies.  We were a little early but our rooms were ready and we were able to check in.  (You can see pictures of it in my earlier post HERE .)  

With the car unpacked, we decided to walk around and check out the place. A dark cloud came up and we were sprinkled on a bit. We were disappointed to see that the pool was closed due to filtering equipment problems.  We walked over to the 9 and 18 - hole mini-golf courses and decided to play on the 9 - hole one.  It was especially fun for the kids. The hole was twice the size of a normal hole so it was easy for them to hit the ball in.

That night we ordered pizza from the pizza kitchen and then played some board games that we "borrowed" from the game room.  (If you take the games from the building, you have to leave a deposit that they return to you when you return the games.)

After breakfast the next morning at the all-you-can-eat dining room, we headed out to the Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park and the national park are popular vacation spots for Jeffrey and his family, so he knew exactly where he wanted to take us in the park.  We were told that the only way we could get to Bear Lake, one of the two places they wanted to take us, was by shuttle.  

Jeffrey decided we would first drive to a falls that formed when Lawn Lake flooded in the early 80s first.  Here are some pictures I took there.

SADIE

HALLIE

WITH COLBY AND GRANDAD

THE FALLS

THE OTHER VIEW

SARA AND JEFFREY

MY HUSBAND AND ME

I had to take a picture of this beautiful tree...

















Back in the car and back to the entrance to catch the shuttle for the trip to Bear Lake. Not as easy as it sounds.  It was quite an event trying to get their on the shuttles..

It was a popular place that day and we also had a little problem with the weather.












With the rain also came a drop in the temperatures.

Fortunately I had an extra shirt for Sadie....

Hallie appreciated Grandad's golf windbreaker

Even Jeffrey utilized his dad's other extra shirt.









...

The shower was brief though (that one anyway), the next shuttle finally came, and we were finally on our way to Bear Lake.

Just as we get there....so did the rain again....this time harder though.

Realizing it wasn't going to stop raining any time soon, we decided to walk the short distance to the lake so my husband and I could say we saw it.

We decided not to walk the half mile or so around it so I took a picture of the kids in front of it.  Jeffrey had decided to give up his dad's shirt so Colby could get warm.







We were finally able to get on the second shuttle back down the mountain and to the suburban.

Back at the Y and cleaned up, we decided to go into Estes Park for dinner and walk around the town.  I lost count of all the ice cream parlors there.  It is a really beautiful town and we all enjoyed our evening there. 

We went to bed that night hoping the pool would be open the next day and looking forward to the camp activities we wanted to do. 

Read Part 2 HERE.