Wild, Wild West Senior Trip - Day 7

I woke up a little earlier than the boys today and headed to the small downtown area of Estes Park, Colorado. It's a quaint town but not at all quiet! It's definitely a busy and popular vacation spot. As I walked along the sidewalk, I thought to myself, "This town smells like candy!" Then I saw this amazing window!!

Last year, we just drove through Estes Park and didn't get to stop. So, this morning, I walked the main street with camera in hand and did a little shopping as well. I even spotted the historical Stanley Hotel - set of The Shining!

Self-Portrait

Stanley Hotel

When the guys were ready, we grabbed some sandwiches for later and headed to our 11:00 appointment to pick up our gear for today's adventure - riding trails in the Rocky Mountains! My Guy couldn't get out of Estes and to the mountain soon enough! The busyness and the crowded nature of the place made him quickly determine that he would be perfectly fine never coming back! 

When we got to the trails, the Backbone Adventure folks gave us the little ATV schooling and a trail map then we were off. The boys had 4 wheelers and Chris and I shared a two-seater UTV. It wasn't very long before I decided that if I had to spend the next 3 hours in that UTV, I was going to be one unhappy momma. And you know what they say about keeping mom happy! The ride was so jerky and rattly and unpleasant. I was wondering how folks found this fun! My guy did remark that he wasn't sure why it was surging forward like it was. So, when the slight rain started, I said - take me to the car! I was perfectly content to sit and listen to my audiobook rather than get whiplash. 

We pulled in to the starting area and one of Backbone folks instantly walked up to us and said, "Sounds like it's not working for you - let's give you another one!"  Soooooooooooo much better!!

So we rode trails for the next 2 1/2 hours - zipping through straight stretches, zooming around some curves and climbing over rocks. Toward the end, the boys wanted to switch so I actually got to be more than just a sidekick! My Guy and I took the 4 wheelers for a bit and the boys took the UTV. 

The boys wore their UNCW shirts today and amazingly, just as we pulled over to a spot to take a photo, a group in other UTV stopped and said, "Hey UNCW! I graduated from there!" Small world!!

Everyone ended up having a good time and we all finished safely without hurting ourselves or the vehicles! Success!

We left the area late afternoon and headed to Denver for the night. On our way, we spotted the elusive long horned sheep. My guy looked for them during our whole trip last year. Finally spotted them today!

We hung out at the hotel for a little down time, cleaned up and then went for pizza! I mean after all, it's Friday night and pizza is our Friday night tradition!

Grimaldi's Pizzeria in downtown Denver was our selection and it proved to be a good one! Great service, fantastic pizza, outdoor patio (a plus in my book!) - overall great!! AND they had Oreo cheesecake - my fav - so I took a slice to go! Cheesecake research!!

We walked around the very pedestrian friendly area then headed back to the hotel. 

Tomorrow is an early rise and shine as we start our trek back toward home!

Wild, Wild West Senior Trip - Day 6

Today was incredible! We had an incredibly early start and late finish but it was such a great day!

We left our hotel bright and early to make our 8:30 appointment at AVA Adventures! We had zip lining scheduled for the morning and white water rafting for the afternoon. Up until two weeks ago, I only knew about the white water rafting. My guy and my not-so-little guy were keeping a surprise from me - zip lining!! I have said for some time now that I really wanted to zip line. Let's just say that AVA did NOT disappoint! 

Our guides for the zipline were Cam and Brandon. They were amazing. Incredibly patient with everyone in our group, seemed to genuinely enjoy their job, gave great instructions and were super fun to be around!

The race

We accomplished six different ziplines nestled in a small Colorado town - really in the middle of nowhere, it seemed. The longest zipline was a 1/4 of mile long and was a double line so we got to race with a partner. My guy and I raced and the boys, of course, raced each other. Who doesn't love a little competition on the zipline?

At each of our zipline launches, AVA had a little sign with historical information about the area. The closest town is Leadville. We passed through the adorable downtown on our way. It is so named for its incredible mining history. It is the town in Colorado that mined the largest amount of gold during the gold rush!

Leadville

After our zipline expedition, AVA provided us a fantastic lunch! We had a great chicken fajita meal complete with rice and black beans and toppings - all cooked in the outdoors under a canopy. Our fajita chef from AVA was just a spectacular as our zipline guides. 

After a relaxing lunch break, we suited up and prepared for our white water rafting expedition. Honestly, last night after watching the required safety video, I told my guy that I very likely was going to back out of the white water rafting portion of our day! I wasn't sure I could do it, especially when I found out we were doing Class IV rapids. I debated and listened to folks have conversations about rafting and decided I would do it. I am soooo glad I did! We had a great time!

Our rafting guides, Blake and Paul, were so encouraging and gave us specific and clear instructions. We all survived. We did have one man overboard - my guy. But he was quickly pulled back into the raft. And somehow, I have no idea how, I lost my paddle during that whole scare! The boys volunteered to be up front and take the brunt of the water, but we all walked away quite soaked. Along our 7 mile trip down the Arkansas River, I saw lots of smiles, heard loads of laughter and shrieks of excitement, and many memories were made! My not-so-little guy said at dinner that rafting has been his favorite thus far!

After our morning and afternoon of adventure, the plan was to head to Estes Park where we were staying for the night. My not-so-little guy asked if we could drive though Rocky Mountain National Park on the way. 

Long tunnel through the Rocky Mountains... I can't resist a great line shot- even if it's with my pocket cam - AKA iPhone.

Herd of Elk and cool looking plants I can't resist.

We visited there last summer, but I'm so glad we made a return trip. The mountain tops were covered with much more snow and we caught an amazing sunset!

Photo Cred - Jac Patterson

We stood at an elevation of 12,305 feet! That's over two miles above sea level. It's hard to belief that these two boys - young men - in just a few short weeks, will be living at sea level at UNCW!

We rolled into Estes Park, CO a little later than planned, grabbed some dinner and crashed for the night. 

Tomorrow - the mountain trails await!!


*All rafting pics and most of the zip line pics were taken by AVA.