Colorado Trip Day 3 - The Rockies

We woke up on Day 3 to breakfast cooked by my Uncle Ray (I have never in my life had eggs, hashbrowns and pork chops for breakfast, but it was pretty tasty) and he, Brandi and myself took off in his convertible towards the Rocky Mountains.

The best way in the world to see the mountains will always be to walk or climb up them. I dream about someday taking a backpacking hike through the Black Hills or Rockies and travel for a few days. That being said, if you don't have the time and gumption for a backpacking trip, the second best way to see them has to be in a convertible. It was all open air and sunshine and a view I can't even begin to describe....

First stop was Estes Park and the Stanley Hotel. This is where Stephen King wrote The Stand, and where the movie was shot. More recently the Ghost Hunters did an investigation there and I believe declared it one of the most haunted hotels in America. Sadly all we could do was drive through the parking lot and look at it up close, but it was cool seeing it.

We continued up Fall River Road, which eventually wound up to Chasm Falls, which is where Brandi and I were officially engaged. We hiked down to the bottom of the falls and saw a guy setting up a camera tripod with a bunch of other equipment and his two daughters helping him. We asked one of the girls if they'd take a picture of us with our camera.

After another hour or two of winding roads and breathtaking views, we pulled up to the top of Fall River Road, where it met up with the larger Trail Ridge Road. At the top there is a little cafeteria area, gift shop, a really nice overlook point, and a trail leading yet further up the hillside. The trail looks like the sort of incline that a reasonably out of shape person could easily tackle if given some time. The only problem with this theory is that this particular trail is a filthy filthy liar....

Sure it looks like a pleasant walk, but the thin air this high up gives you the stamina of someone 20 years your senior...and very out of breath. The fun of finally being out of the car lasts until about step four, and by the time you're halfway up you are fantasizing about that car seat. Or at least I was.

Brandi on the other hand, who was up here many many years ago and crapped out on step 3 or so, seemed to be doing okay. Not great mind you...nobody runs up this trail....but she walked the same speed and got the entire way up this time around. Yay Brandi!

And at the top of this trail, the view gets even better. It's almost 360 degrees of pure "Wow!". You can see out for miles and miles and miles, and since it's all a preserved national park, you're seeing nothing but trees and rock and snow and rivers and wildlife. I've often heard of God's country....I have to believe this is it.

After coming down from the trail, we did some gift shopping and descended Trail Ridge road towards Estes Park again. We stopped at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (for Brandi) and the Estes Park Brewery (for me), and a small winery with free samples (for both of us). Then we had to hightail it back to Greeley to meet my Grandma and Uncle Bill for grilled steaks and steak fries for supper.

Also along the way back down I noticed something else....annoying. Remember when I mentioned the sun? Yeah my skin had turned a very alarming shade of red, and by this point it'd started seriously hurting, so I went to bed early.