May 27-31: Colorado

What an adventure in Colorado! We apologize for so many pictures this post, but we experienced an abundance of amazing things making it difficult to pick the best.

All of our driving through Kansas paid off as we made it to Denver, CO.
There was no doubt we were out west now.

New places means new wildlife. This magpie greeted us upon our arrival to the campground and seemed to follow us around the whole time we explored Colorado. He was always by himself and just popped in and out for a quick, hello. He was a unique and beautiful bird.

After settling in at our camp site near Denver, our next priority was to get to the airport. Ella was on her way adventure with us for the next two weeks. With storms in the air her flight had to circle the airport for over an hour.

She finally landed safely and we had a fun first night together. We introduced her to Torchy’s Tacos, which she loved. The next morning we walked the campground and enjoyed the beautiful lake.

But, it was time to get driving. With the Rockies in our sights, we headed right for them.

We had to drive through our first mountain in the RV. The three-lane tunnels were not super long but definitely a little nerve racking.

To get to our campground we had to climb, climb, climb up to where the snow was still falling. Good thing we did not have to get out of the car as we all had shorts on.

We had to wind our way through the snow covered mountains to make our way to our stopping place for the next few nights.

Luckily, we went down the mountain on the other side some where it was warmer and sunny to Winding Rivers Grand Lake RV Resort. This is where we started our journey at the entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park just north of the Grand Lake community.

We were excited to get outside and see what was around us. A few miles outside of the park entrance was Addams Falls that feeds down into Grand Lake. It was flowing with great power from all the snow melt.

When we went back to the campground, we had a few friends visit.

Ella was excited to get up close and personal with the moose.

With two days in Rocky National Park, we had plenty of time to see every thing we wanted to see. Our campground was on the west side of the park and most of the things we wanted to see and explore were closer to the east side entrance. This meant we needed to drive up and over the summit, which we did not mind because the views were just incredible. The part of the road we were on had just been opened 3 days prior to our arrival. It takes the park 6 weeks to clear the road, overlooks, and trailhead parking lots. Their goal is to have it open for Memorial Day weekend.

We were excited to visit the Alluvial Fan. This was a place where a flood in the 80’s sent rushing water down the hill and had very obviously reshaped the landscape. It clearly looks like a fan now.

On our second day, we hiked round trip about 6 miles to three different lakes. As we climbed in elevation an additional 1000 ft. to the highest pool, we had to trek through more and more snow across very, very narrow paths teetering on the edge of the cliffs. It was definitely what you would call a strenuous hike. But it was well worth it as each lake was more wondrous and frozen than the last.

The frozen ground and lakes here definitely called us to walk and check them out. Hiking through the snow was super fun, but we were all grateful that our campground was not in the snow.

After two days exploring and hiking Rocky Mountain National Park, it is time to go to our next set of national parks in Utah. Hope it is warmer there!