2009 Estes Park Vacation
August 5-10

 Wednesday, August 5

q  Left Johnston at around 5:45am.  After a couple of false starts (i.e. “The William Crease Incident”).  Picked up Grammy at around 6:20AM.

q  Stopped at the McDonald’s on 74^th Street in WDM to pick up coffee.  Found 5 employees standing in the parking lot waiting for their manager to come and open the store.  Traveled on to Stuart for coffee and an McGriddle for Ben.

q  Kicked some real booty at Travel Yahtzee

q  After several more potty stops than gas stops, finally arrived at Estes Park and “Machins Cottages in the Pines” cottage #12 at 5:30pm MDT.  About 12.5 hours of driving.

q  Unloaded the van and headed back in town for a real meal.  “The Other Side” was just OK.  It was close and we had a coupon!

q  Got groceries, unpacked and crashed!

 Thursday, August 6

q  Got up around 6am.  Tim, Ben and Mac, the wonder puppy, did some early exploring.

q  Had a wonderful breakfast:  Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, coffee, juice.

q  Took a wonderful day trip to the beautiful Bear Lake inside Rocky Mountain National Park .  Had a picnic in the Sienna (because Mac wasn’t allowed in the park.)  Ben, Mom and Dad did the easy .6 miles around the lake admiring the breath-taking views.  Shot a lot of pictures and video.

q  Mom, Dad, Ben and Erin went to the Estes Park library so that Mom could work on her class finals on their wi-fi.  The kids were wonderful in the VERY quiet section of the library.  Ben went to the bathroom by himself.  Erin returned some kids books all by herself.

q  Enjoyed K-Bobs on the grill for dinner and rediscovered the fun of Shuffle Board thanks to a family from Ankeny staying in Cabin #1.

q  Made a special run to the nearest liquor store for some relief from “The Buzzsaw.”

q  Nephew Matt arrived around 10pm.  After some initial hugs, we all crashed.

 Friday, August 7

q  Got up and made a wonderful breakfast in preparation for a hike up to the top of Eagle Cliff Mountain .

q  Nancy, Matt, Ben and Tim embarked on our journey at 10 AM.  It wasn’t very long before all of us soon realized that this was not going to be a leisurely stroll.  This was a strait-up, rocky hike.  With our water rations nearly gone as we approached the summit, we rejoiced at our accomplishment.  Our bubble was promptly burst when a gentleman laying on a rock at the top…leisurely reading the newspaper…told us that the elevation of Eagle Cliff was 8,900 ft. that our climb was just barely 1,000 feet.  Needless to say, the trip down sucked.

q  The hiking team crawled back to camp at about 1:30 PM a wonderful lunch from Grammy.

q  Late afternoon, we all headed down to town.  Nancy went to the library to work more on class while Grammy shopped for a gift.  The boys and Erin went to the fun park and ride go-karts and mini-golf.

q  Saw a herd/family of 8 Elk stop traffic around the fun park, venture into the stream and then end up hangin’ out not more than 50 ft. from patrons.  Only in Colorado .

q  After a quick trip to the store, came back to the cottage for grilled hot dogs, sautéed Zucchini, baked beans, s’mores and ice cream.

q  Grammy & Tim took on Matt and Ben in a late night game of Shuffleboard.

 Saturday, August 8

q  Nancy & Tim got up extra early and headed out to Starbucks so Nancy could figure and post final grades for class.  Got back to the cottage at 8:30.

q  The whole gang piled into the Sienna for the historic and breath-taking drive up Trail Ridge Road .  It didn’t disappoint.

q  On the way back down Trail Ridge Road , we stopped at the Hidden Valley Recreation Area for a perfect picnic lunch…in a perfect setting.

q  The boys headed out to complete an unfinished round of miniature golf.  The previous day, we were called away during a game so we just stuck our balls and clubs in the van! J  After golf, it was the duel of all duels on the go-cart track:  Mat & Ben vs. Timmy.

q  The gang headed downtown for dinner at the Wapiti Grill and Pub.  Delicious.

q  Said goodbye to Matt after a very fun visit.

 Sunday, August 9

q  After breakfast, headed back to Bear Lake for some time in God’s sanctuary.  Beautiful.

q  Went for short walks, played shuffleboard.

q  Go-Karts…one more time.

q  Ice Cream and Souvenirs’ in Estes

q  Packing and preparing for departure.

 Monday, August 10

q  The drive home.  Left at 6am MDT and arrived back in Johnston at 6:30 pm CST.

Check out the video of our Estes Vacation here.

We counted VW Bugs!  Old and new.  "Skittles" are yellow bugs.  "Rag Tops" are convertibles.

Other Lame Observations