YEAR VISITED: 2005, 2011, & 2018
FAVORITE CITIES AND EXPERIENCES: Without a doubt we have fewer expereinces in Colorado than any other state west of the Mississippii River. While we have been to Colorado on three different occasions, for whatever reason we haven’t been able to explore as much as some other states. We flew into the Denver Airport in 2005, rented a car, and drove to our friends home in Lawrence Kansas. In 2011 we drove to Estes Park for a family reunion. All nine families stayed at the YMCA of the Rockies in a Mountainside Lodge.
At nearly 9,000 feet the lodge was located at nearly the highest elevation of the park. While cramming nine families into one location, especially those with children under the age of 10 is not an easy task, the rustic cabin never felt crowded and the four nights we stayed there were a blast.
The kids enjoyed riding horses with their cousins while the adults got a kick out of the names of the horses which were Star, Shortcake, Strawberry, and Nibbles.
While the point of the trip was to connect with family, we still managed to go ziplining, explore downtown Estes Park, and go hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park.
While I am unable to find any old pictures we did drive into Boulder and explore the University of Colorado as well. Somewhere along the lines we drove into Denver and had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.
We try to have a meal at a HR Cafe in every city that we travel to.
STADIUMS AND/OR SPORTING EVENTS: On our return from visiting friends in Lawrence, Kansas we manged to get to a Colorado Rockies game before flying home.
We arrrived at Coors Field a little over an hour early and were able to explore the inside and outside of the stadium. We settled into our seats right at first pitch where we couldn’t help but notice the storm clouds forming on the horizon.
As the game went on the sky got darker and darker. While we enjoyed the game the sky opened up within 10 minutes of the conclusion of the game and we were forced to run to our rental car. We expereinced rain, hail, and then torrential rain just on the trek to the parking lot. The scarriest part was the hail as it was the size of small rocks or pebbles and actually hurt when it hit you. Once we arrived at our rental car we waited an additional 35 minutes just for the rain to let up enough for us to be able to attempt exiting the stadium parking lot. While we may not have enjoyed the storm in the moment, looking back we not only enjoyed Coors Field but we also enjoyed the education we received around the power of a mid west storm.
NOTABLE DESTINATIONS & STOPS: The movie “The Shining” is one of the spookiest horror movies I have ever seen. I can still see the horrible smirk on Jack Nicholson’s face in the scene where he chops a hole in the bathroom door and infamously pronounces, “here’s Johnny.” (my attempt at making a Here’s Johnny face)
While the Timberline Lodge atop Mt Hood (a place we have visited multiple times) is the setting for the movie, the Stanley Hotel located outside of Estes Park is the actual hotel filmed in the movie. It is said to be one of the most haunted locations in America and there have been hundreds of ghost sightings. During the day, we had a blast exploring the lobby of the hotel, taking pictures on the stair case said to be haunted, and standing outside room #217.
This is the room that Stephen King stayed in while writing the story and was the room that the clairvoyant Danny was told to never enter in the movie. Subsequently in real life it is the most coveted room in the hotel and famous guests range from Theodore Roosevelt, Jim Carrey, John McCain, Johnny Cash, Wayne Newton, and Bob Dylan. On a different note, this is also the hotel used in the movie Dumb and Dumber.
ADVENTURE: As we were planning our 2018 Roadtrip, Jill continued to bring up the possibility of visiting Mesa Verde National Park. After all, it was in the vacinity of Four Corners and on our route to Albuquerque.
While we ultimately visited the park and the girls greatly enjoyed its beauty, I did not originally want to go. I had never heard of this national park and I remember asking,”how good could a national park be if you have never heard of it?” As a result, in a fun-loving manner I was a stick in the mud during the visit and we all enjoyed some sarcastic laughs. However, I can now admit the answer to my question regarding how good could the national park be is, “fantastic.”
It was spectacular seeing the cliff dwellings of the Pueblo-Indian and crazy to find out the dwellings date back to the 12th century. Additionally the natural beauty of the land and the many views definitely made this a worthwhile visit.
- OUR LIST TO VISIT OR RETURN TO:
- Denver Bronco game at Mile High Stadium (preferrably against the Raiders)
- Colorado Buffalo football game at Folsom Field
- Generally explore more of the Rocky Mountains
- Coors Brewing Company
‘Stros on the Road 