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!
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| Self-Portrait |
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| 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!
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