I Heart Grand Junction

Day 11 – July 9, 2016

Glenwood Springs, CI – Grand Junction, CO

95 miles/1 ½ hours

Temperature - the high in GJ was 101! But dry.

Today was a day that was full of surprises – good ones. We got an early start this morning, heading west to Grand Junction, CO, which is a city located at the confluence of the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers. Upon first impression, I was very nervous. The eastern end of town is very industrial. I kept wondering what I’d gotten us into, but felt palpable relief upon pulling up at our hotel, which was located downtown on Main Street. Downtown is a very cute area, with shops and restaurants.

Grand Junction made the itinerary because it’s closely located to the Colorado National Monument. Since we’d arrived before check-in time, I decided to head over to the monument. I’m not certain what the distinction is between a National Monument and a National Park (but I definitely need to research it). I thought we were going to see one thing – a “monument.” However, in my opinion the Colorado Monument is more like a park. Visitors pass through an entrance gate and experience more than 20,000 acres of natural wonders. It’s pretty freaking awesome. The monument is part of the Colorado Plateau, which is a high desert land. The valleys of the plateau are populated with juniper tries and the contrast is quite stunning. The winding roads of the park take you to the top of the plateau, where you drive along the rim rocks and are rewarded with some breathtaking views. When you’re driving, if you look down over the edge, you’ll get vertigo. Pretty scary.

The temperatures were hovering at around 100 degrees, and the heights of some of the trails caused me to abort any plans I had for hiking. We did stop at many viewpoints though, and Cammy was quite funny. Hunter had to be dragged out of the car to look, but Cammy was quite enthusiastic about it. He insisted that we all follow him, “Because he was quite good at navigating the trails.” Hmm…I guess he preferred these conditions over the sand dunes!

As we left the park, there were signs for a dinosaur museum along the highway. I held my breath and sped up, but not quick enough. Cammy saw the signs and begged me to stop. We did, and he loved it. The museum was kind of cheesy, but it was worth it to hear Cammy rattle off the names of the various dinosaurs (along with all the boring facts).

We ate dinner at a little downtown Italian café and sat outside. It was utterly charming and I have to admit, I fell a little in love with Grand Junction. And our dinner was fabulous!

Cammy in Dino heaven!

Rocky Mountain High

Day 10 – July 8, 2016

Vail, CO – Aspen, CO – Greenwood, Co

180 miles – 3 hours

Today was a good day! Oh my gosh, we had so much fun!

So we left Vail around 10:00, which had us in Aspen a little after noon, just in time for lunch. The only problem was that we couldn’t find a place to park! We weren’t staying in Aspen (way too expensive), so that left me at the mercy of the metered party and the village was packed. Seriously, it took almost a half an hour of driving around and around until we found a spot.

We had a fabulous, albeit expensive, lunch and then took the gondola up to the top of Aspen Mountain. Oh, what a few! And the weather was perfect. Sunny and in the 80s, yet we were up high (11, 200 feet), so the breeze made it perfect. The mountain top photographer took a liking to us and kind of followed us around taking pictures – Audrey was in heaven. Also, I think he may have smoked a bong before we got there – but hey, it’s Colorado. Right? Its shame you’ll never see the pictures. When I got to the bottom of the mountain to buy them, I experienced MAJOR sticker shock.

We stayed up there for about an hour, just chilling. It was heaven.

It doesn’t sound like much, but everyone was feeling good and there were no major fights and the food and scenery were perfect. We were very happy. And then we were very tired. Dinner at the hotel and then early to bed. Although – I did turn on the TV and was disheartened by all that’s going on in the world.

On our way  gorgeous drive. 

One the way up...

Up higher...

A family selfie at the top.

A kind stranger took our pic and didn't charge us $75!

Golden, CO & Vail, CO

Day 9 – July 7, 2016

Denver – Golden – Vail

110 miles/2 hours

Everyone seems to be feeling better. How to celebrate? With a brewery tour! Yes, I know, parent of the year. Still, that’s what we did. We drove to Golden CO (cute little town) and did the Coors Brewery tour. It was cool and the kids had fun, too. And it was free – even with the beer samples.

Then we headed west, through the mountains to Vial, Co. The drive was very cool – drove through a canyon, while we got to watch people raft down the Colorado River. I wanted to take the kids zip lining in Vail, but the cost was outrageous. We’ll save that for home. So, at the end of the day, Vail ended up being a laundry stop. Momma spent most of the day doing load after load of laundry. Then we walked around the Vail village and had dinner. Whoopee!

Rocky Mountain Mishap

Day 8 – July 6, 2016

Denver – Rocky Mountain National Park – Denver

110 miles (roundtrip) 2 ½ hours

Today was a rough day. SO this update will be brief.

The day started off good. It was a beautiful day and we took a gorgeous drive over the mountains, on our way to Rocky Mountain National Park. We were all excited to go hiking and see the sites. Okay – that may be an exaggeration. Momma was excited to go hiking.

The park is beautiful. See some of the pics below. We were going to drive to Grand Lake – on the other side of the park, but it was going to be a four hour round trip drive and I don’t know, I decided to have mercy on the little warriors. Thank the Lord above I did, because...

We chose to drive to Bear Lake, and then hike to Bierstadt Lake. I will spare you a play by play – but at about ¾ of mile in, disaster struck. Everyone is alive, and we have no broken bones, and no one went to jail. Oh God, I really can’t tell you anything else, other than to say someone has either a virus or is experiencing wicked side effects from some new medication. We had to abort the hike and leave the park. That it is all…

Catch you tomorrow.

Denver, Cheyenne & Boulder

Day 7 – July 5, 2013

Denver-Cheyenne-Denver

190 miles/3 hour round trip

Today we drove to Cheyenne, WY to visit the capitol (which was too far out of the way for last year’s Yellowstone trip) and so I could have lunch with an old friend of mine from Naples. I don’t know how the capitol thing started, but it has become a “thing.” Whenever we visit a state, we have to also visit the capitol building. It’s actually very interesting to see how different some of them are architecturally; and to see to what extent to which they’re still actively used by the state government; and how we’re treated by the capitol staff. In some states we’ve experienced security like the airport and some states have an open door, come-one-come-all policy. However, this is the first (yesterday in Denver) and second time we were denied entrance into the capitol building. The building was ensconced in scaffolding and the grass was all over-grown on the property. It was rather sad. Remodeling?

Cheyenne is much smaller than I’d anticipated. It’s a clean little city, but I didn’t feel the love I was expecting. It lacks the charm of other little cities we’ve visited in the past.

We had lunch downtown with my friend Jane, who I’d not seen in twenty-four years. We worked together at the Ritz Carlton in Naples. Eventually she went off and had babies and I left for grad school. We’ve kept in touch over the years with Christmas cards, phone calls and emails – but our paths had never crossed. Until today!

It was so good to see her. She seems happy. It’s funny to see her in this environment, because Jane was a total beach girl when I knew her. Now she’s embracing the small town western life. She was actually born and raised in Jackson Hole (lucky girl), but her family moved to Cheyenne when all the millionaires moved in to that area.

After lunch, the road warriors and I headed back to Denver and just hung out by the pool until I had to go to the lobby for another rondevuex. I finally got to meet my editor from The HerStories Project, Stephanie Sprenger. She is delightful! We had a really nice time getting to know each other better and I’m excited for more HerStories Projects in the future.

We drove into Boulder for dinner. Boulder is hippy central! Oh, is was comical. But I’d like to point out that it’s probably the cleanest city I have ever seen. And that ain’t no exaggeration!

Jane and Allie

Wyoming State Capitol

Meeting Stephanie, my editor at The HerStories Project

Day 6 – July 4^th, 2016

Colorado Springs – NW Denver

101 Miles/1 hour 40 minutes

Fourth of July. We kicked off the holiday in a patriotic way. We visited the United States Air Force Academy. The campus is beautiful, although, of course, I was the only one impressed. To be fair, even I was bored during the 20 minute introduction video. We snuck out early.

I do have a funny Allie story to tell. In the visitor’s center we were waiting on Audrey, who was in the bathroom for an unusually long time. I went in and found her hiding in a stall - texting! I told her that we were going to leave, and she insisted that she had to use the bathroom. “Then go!” I told her and watched her go back into the stall. I told her she had three minutes and left. I collected the boys, who were in the gift shop, and then returned to the bathroom. I walked back to the stall where I’d seen her enter. “You better hurry the H*** up Miss Thing. You’re messing with our schedule.”

The toilet flushed, and out walked a bewildered woman I’d never seen before. I was mortified and mumbled my apologies. Audrey wasn’t even in the bathroom, but in the gift shop looking for me. 

Oops!

We drove up to Denver and stopped to have lunch with some old friends of mine from Fort Lauderdale, Deb & Steve. I worked with Deb and Steve at Shooters, right after I graduated from college. Shooter’s was/is a restaurant on the inter-coastal in Fort Lauderdale We had a lot of fun working there - and we made a lot of money, which is why I didn’t jump into the professional world after getting my Master’s. I wasn’t ready to take a pay cut. Anyway, Deb and Steve were my ideal couple. They were so in love, and yet so down-to-earth. They’re good people who always looked out for me. I was dating someone at the time who really wasn’t a nice guy. Steve constantly asked me why I was going out with him and I couldn’t give him a good reason. Finally, I promised him I wouldn’t. Bets advice ever!

After lunch we explored downtown Denver for a little bit. Unfortunately, the capitol was closed - I guess because of the holiday. In fact, the streets were empty. Then we drove to the hotel, which is located hallway between Denver and Boulder. We worked out in the gym and then had a Fourth of July dinner at a restaurant across the street from the hotel. It was a really good. Finally, we ended the night watching fireworks from our hotel.

Chapel at the USAF Academy

Lunch with the Dotys

The Shooter's Crew (circa 1994)

The Denver State Capitol Building

Pikes Peak!

Day 5 – July 3, 2016

Exploring Colorado Springs

Today was a really cool day. We woke up to bright sunny skies and a nice balmy temperature of 78 degrees. We left the hotel early and headed to the Garden of the Gods, which is a city park that you can drive through. I thought it was pretty cool – because we saw all kinds of huge boulders and rock formations, set against the back drop of the Rocky Mountains. Surly Hunter had another opinion – “Why do we have to see and climb these dumb rocks?” Next summer – he’s going to Florida to work.

Our next adventure was the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. I rode this train over thirty years ago with my parents and I thought it was the coolest thing. I couldn’t wait to experience it with my kids. Pikes Peak is not the tallest mountain in Colorado, far from it, but it is the only one that has a railway. It takes just over an hour to reach the summit and the views are breathtaking. As we traveled upward, we were encouraged to drink water, because of the change in altitude. In fact, there were signs at the depot warning passengers that some may need oxygen at the top. As you can imagine – this unnerved Audrey, who is still not over the fact I wouldn’t buy “Bear Spray” last year in Yellowstone.  I never imagined that it would affect me, but man did it ever. By the time we reached the summit (14,115 feet), I was feeling very nauseous. It was also freezing, 26 degrees, and there were even patches of snow on the ground. We were allowed to disembark for about forty minutes to take pictures and use the facilities. After pictures, we stood in line for the bathroom and I kid you not – I was dizzier than I ever remember feeling. I truly thought I was going to throw up. I was shocked by the physical reaction I had to the altitude and thin air. Audrey said she felt it – but the boys didn’t seem to have any symptoms.

As the train left the summit, on our way back down, it began to snow. It was pretty cool.

The adventure wiped me out, but I still had one more stop. I took the kids to the Broadmoor Hotel, where I stayed with my parents all those years ago. It is an amazing property and I wish I could have given the kids at least one night there, but the price is exurbanite and in no way works for the road trip budget. We had drinks and appetizers on the patio, overlooking the lake. There was a wedding going on and Audrey had fun watching the bride. Hunter could not have been more bored.

We did take-out for dinner and went to bed very early.

Quote of the day:

Hunter. Our train conductor asked us to show our enthusiasm whenever ever we passed another train. She wanted us to wave and hoot and holler as we passed. Audrey and I really got into it and were very enthusiastic. Hunter threw this line at us – “You guys are like those freaks who cheer every day on the Today Show.” Nice.

Garden of the Gods

Pure torture for Hunter...

A view on our way up.

Views from the top.

A rare moment for loving coexistence.