Wild West Day Three

Wow! We did A Lot of things today!

Day three saw us getting on the road before 6, a vacation miracle. The kids and I took Dramamine for our trip through the mountains, so I wasn’t really conscious for the first couple hours. I woke up to snow. At the continental divide. The kids weren’t that excited until they realized they could climb the rocks.

Matt being contemplative......

Further on, we had lunch at the legitimately beautiful "no name" rest stop. Look how happy the sienna looks in the mountains!

The girls were taken with these weird-dandelion on steroids- flowers.

Further down the road (and now it’s hot!) we were in Pallisades for some fruit stands and a lavender farm.

Inside they had lots of yummy things to try. Alex got a taste for some fruity balsamic with bread.

Just a little more down the road we found our first national park, Colorado National Monument.

What am I doing in this picture, did I mention we did a lot of things this day?

The drive to the top was beautiful and terrifying. I was going to call it a canyon, then monolith but wanted to be accurate, so this is from the nps website.

"Towering monoliths exist within a vast plateau and canyon panorama."

This is the view from right outside the visitor center where the kids did their junior ranger packet. That got sworn in by a new ranger.

Alex spotted the first lizard!

The drive from Colorado to Moab...wow.  Being from Iowa Mountains of any kind are impressive, so seeing 2 or 3 different types at the same time is overwhelming in a good way. As we got towards Moab the red rocks and cliffs and other formations I can’t name. On our way to the condo we passed by Arches and Matt could not help himself but get a brief preview. 

We finally made it to the condo and met our old friends Anna and Daniel and our new friend Frannie. The kids’ manic excitement was palpable. They talked and asked questions and played with Frannie. I suggested playing a game to slow them down but exploding kittens is not really the right game for that.

Wild West Day Two

Fort Collins is such a fun town. It feels like a really upscale college town but smaller and more manageable than Boulder. It also has a lot of beer. Like a lot.

So the place we stayed was this wonderfully unique hotel/hostel I found on Airbnb. Solarium Intetnational. We stayed in the green room which was a hit because it had the exact right number of beds including a bunk. But it’s the "solarium component", an indoor oasis/common area that made it truly serene.

We at a late breakfast at Choice City a place we discovered when we were here 9 years ago for a cousin’s wedding. We still have one or two Chimay glasses the owner sold matt last time. 

We had a brewery tour to get to and tried to find a playground we had passed but weren’t able to retrace our steps quite right/bathroom was needed urgently/miscommunication between parents about when the tour started meant we didn’t really get to play but were really early for the tour!

New Belgium has a great tour complete with samples and a slide. The kids entertained themselves with my old phone turned camera.!

Eva listening attentively.

Alex drinking water from a fancy glass.

This is where they make the sours.

Slide/fire escape!

We met Matt’s cousin, Brian, in old town and the kids got to play on the bear.

We had Colorado pizza which is crusty and tasty! Lucy got spaghetti on a pizza "bowl". All the carbs!

Lastly a stop at a rock shop for souvenirs. Look I found some dragon glass!

Lucy got some Little Rock’s for her collection.

Thanks Fort Collins! You were a great first stop!

Wild West Day 1

We left! Wasn’t sure that it would really happen. But it did and it did early. I didn’t go to bed til 5, trying to pack and finish up a few things for work. Our plan was to leave at 7 and we left at 7:10. Vacation Miracle!

Why are you guys driving 600 in one day? We like driving? It’s true. Well... Matt loves driving and I love being a passenger while he’s driving. And we are pretty good at it. We are patient with each other. We have great conversations. We used to drive from Baltimore to Iowa and back several times a year. 

The kids are good in the car as well. The older they get the longer we push them as far as distance in a day. They certainly make things more complicated. And they definitely have moments of impatience, defiance, urgent bathroom needs, and annoying sounds. But they are 8 and that’s exactly what they are supposed to do. And they are still young enough for enthusiasm for experiences we plan and ones we take for granted.

There are other reasons for the trip--dear friends, new babies, relative cheapness, influence of neighbors, etc. I may get into more of these as I go.

First stop, Lewis and Clark historical trail visitors center in Omaha. We got there before it opened!

Matt likes maps!

Guest book with an inkwell and Quill.

Fish and bird statues.

In Omaha we saw a Uhaul with a monument we are planning to visit. National Parks are so hot right now!

We tried doing a tablet, reading, writing rotation. It worked....ok. We have car sickness and technology issues. Mostly we listed to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as read by Jim Dale. So entertaining.

I can’t say I was super impressed with north platte, ne. What can I say Iowans are socialized to be pretty snooty about Nebraska. But it did have a Train Museum next to the little league fields. 

We found a local coffee shop "downtown". We tried to get frozen yogurt from a new place but they were out of... frozen yogurt. Lucy liked her mango smoothie.

After a fun drive though the last of western Nebraska and Colorado (patiently waiting for the kids to notice the mountains) we arrived at our Airbnb/ Hostel. It’s called Solarium international and I can’t recommend it enough. Cheap and comfortable and unique!

It even has hammocks!

Finally it was time to eat dinner at a random Irish pub in old town Fort Collins. It was delicious in the way that food at the end of a long day when you are super tired and hungry is kinda the best.

Then we poured ourselves into bed feeling super encouraged that our first day went so well.