RED(rum), WHITE(water), & BLUE(birds)- A Grand Finale TR to Our Year of the National Parks

[HouCuseChickie]

DAY 12...that sounds right!

First off...I think we've been on vacation for a year by now, and yet I felt conflicted about it all. I was starting to feel that end of vacation sadness, yet I was also so sick of living out of a suitcase and sharing a room/bed. It also didn't help that my tummy wasn't quite right. That Hershey's shell stuff didn't have milk listed in their allergens, but I'd later discover it in some fine print...and I'm guessing this was the source of some tummy problems towards the tail end of the trip. Oh well...motoring on...

I woke up to hit the gym. Because this place was motel style, the lobby section was separate from the wings with the rooms. So, I had to walk through a picnic area with a bunch of people eating their complimentary breakfasts...which felt a bit odd to me. Still I walked through and went inside. The gym was small, but had what I needed. I did some warm up walking, but my feet wanted nothing to do with running...so I hit the elliptical for a while instead. It was kind of annoying because their WIFI wasn't as good and I couldn't get a strong enough connection to watch Netflix. I usually only rely on music for runs...but I know this is hardly a catastrophe.

I did some work on my back towards the end of my workout and found myself focusing on the numbers on the machine since I wasn't watching any kind of show. I had to laugh that the number I was using as my focal point was a Houston number. It was this strange...what's familiar here sort of thing...not that I've ever heard of this company.

I met David and fam inside the lobby area for breakfast after this. Everyone was looking a bit drained, but I think we also just were as excited for our next national park. Great Sand Dunes NP was the last park in my list for this trip. We had already made the decision the night before not to do sled rentals. The kids like stuff like this in snow, but the appeal of doing it in sand just wasn't there. So now, we were pretty much just planning to show up...see it...and move on.

So, we checked out and hit the road. Lots of neat trains on our way out of Alamosa...

Crossed the Rio Grande again...

And part of me was a bit curious about the True Grits steakhouse.

Oh well, on to Great Sand Dunes!

You can kind of see it in the pics above, but obviously, it becomes more visible as you get closer. i.e. this is not a park where you drive miles and miles inside of park boundaries to get to the central portion...

Almost there...

And we're heading in...

We decide to go to the visitor center to check things out...

As I was milling around the store, I heard a ranger saying that the recent rains (like, last week) caused a mudslide and washed out the rest of the road up to the dunes. Sooooo, here we are with more mudslide stuff. Ultimately, it was buggy and the spray I'd brought was deep in the luggage, so we checked out what we could at the visitor center and decided to leave it at that.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Seeing the people on the dunes does give you some perspective for just how massive they are. I couldn't even imagine climbing to the top. Supposedly the top highest dune is 750' tall!

You may also see in the pics that the dunes look kind of wet...and they were. With all of the rain, the sand was a wet sticky mess. This was another reason I didn't want to get the bug spray and head out there. Let it be know...I HATE SAND! Growing up in NJ, we had a house down the shore and spent a good chunk of my summers at the beach. I loved going in the ocean, but I hated coming out because of that feeling of wet sand caking on your skin. So, the idea of hitting those big wet sand dunes at this NP made my skin crawl! On the flip side, if we had perfect conditions...they can hit 150 degrees in the summer...which sounds pretty nasty as well.

I took a few pics on the way out...

I will say that we didn't stay long enough for me to make any good dunes jokes. I'd seen a billboard that said "You're Dune Good!" and I was looking for a chance to use it. I mean, that's as good as dam jokes! Honestly...even if the road were fine and the sand weren't wet, I'm not sure we would have been there long. I know it doesn't feel like I'm giving it much of a chance, but it left all of us cold and had more of a monument vs. park feel to it.

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Coming up- We head to Buena Vista, CO for 2 nights and feel a little less nomadic.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Before moving on...I'd like to note that I hate sand, so Great Sand Dunes was probably not the best national park for me. Still, we went because we were there and I wanted to see it. I'll spare you my long history with sand, but we spent most of our summers down the shore in NJ, which meant days at Ortley Beach and Island Beach State Park nearly every day. Rain or going out fishing were the only times we weren't at the beach. And even before we had our house in Toms River, my mom would take us down to Sea Bright and we'd spend weeks or weekends here and there in Beach Haven. It was just too much beach for me, and while I love being in the water, I loathe the feeling of wet sand. This is why Stormalong Bay does nothing for me and I have no great desire to vacation in the islands or Hawaii.

And then it's time to hit the road. I may hate the sand, but it is a fun game to see how far you can drive before you can't see the dunes!

Funny signs...

Fields of yellow...

You can also probably tell that we're driving back into the mountains...

We drove through some cute towns on the way...

We found the other Bonanza...

Still doesn't get old driving by all of the mountains...

But it was time to head back towards the mountains with snow on them! Next stop ...Buena Vista, CO!

Very pretty drive...

Another little town...

Just soooo pretty!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Saw lots of birds on our way in.

Almost there...

And we have arrived!!!

This isn't a particularly long drive so we were really early. We decided to head to our hotel just to see if we could do anything with our check in paperwork. So, we headed through Buena Vista...

(Odd that this is the only pic I took on the first drive through)

It's another Best Western, but this one had more of a mini ski lodge vibe.

We could get to our room yet, but they let us do the paperwork and said they'd call when our room was ready. So, we headed into the center of town to check things out. It's a really neat little area.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Oh, how I miss being able to eat kolaches!!!

Still walking a bit...

We were hoping to find some place to eat in town, but the lines were insane and the place we really wanted to go was closed for a funeral. We stood in the line at this place for a bit, but David and the kids got fed up...

So, we decided to head back to the car to look in some other parts of the area.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

It's kind of funny to be in the middle of a sea of buses carrying rafts...

Found nothing over here and the picture didn't really turn out, but I swear...it looked pretty...

We think this was a medical helicopter we passed. I wonder how often they need to do emergency flights from here into Denver for people who get injured.

We actually wound up right across the street from where we were booked to raft the next morning.

David spotted an old gas station that had been converted into a cafe. Not a huge menu, but the place was so adorable and the ladies there were super sweet. And they all got a good laugh when he got mixed up and went to pay with his Costco card. Hey...it's been a long trip!

The kids marveled at the Coke bottles too. They wanted to take them home and were shattered when I told them I could buy these in Houston. LOL

After this, we decided to try and find Browns Canyon NM. It was where we'd be rafting, but we figured surely, there must be some area for us to hike or a visitor center. We ended up taking a wrong turn and wound up in a picnic spot with some nice views...

Then we drove the first way the GPS directed us and wound up in a spot where all of the rafts were coming out...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Nothing for the monument there, so time to head back out...

Then we drove to another spot that was also coming up at the NM, where all of the rafts were going in the water, through some of the correctional center's property, but still nothing.

So, we decided to head back into the main areas of Buena Vista. Photographed this along the way...which I'm guessing is their local skiing.

Now back towards the center of Buena Vista...

Love that this place takes credit cards. LOL

I also found that our room was ready...so we headed in.

I've never seen this before, but they gave us a Fresh Remote!

It's a decent room and a nice view...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We relaxed for a bit and discussed dinner. We decided to go with this steak place that does nothing but steaks. S-Th, they serve nothing but filet and Friday and Saturday, it was strictly prime rib and sirloin. OK, they did offer vegetarian lasagna for those who don't eat meat and mac & cheese for kids, but that's it. I had to have my salad dry with no cheese, no bread, no toppings for my potato, and no au jus, but it was still really good for the price...and the drinks were cheap!

I couldn't eat their desserts, so we headed to the local market to see what I could find. What I found...City Market is also owned by Kroger!

We must have been tired too. David was looking in the veggie section and kept thinking the avocados were eggs. Like he just couldn't wrap his head around it at the moment.

We drove back to the hotel and took some pics on the way...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

And had our in-room dessert.

Oh, and we found out something important shortly before bed this evening. Since day 1, I had been looking for lotion as part of the in-room toiletries. I live in a very humid area and my skin was quite dry after just a day or two in Colorado. I wound up using some of David's since he brings along a big bottle. Still, it seemed odd that we were this far into the trip and I had yet to see any lotion. In fact, all toiletries were on the light side. Yeah...we discovered that Kendall had been swiping nearly ALL of them. Not that you can't use those little bottles, soaps, etc., but she had been hoarding them all for her home collection!

Something else we discovered before bed is that the rafting place didn't have lockers. i.e. your vehicle is your locker. So, I had to figure out a plan for our stuff. I made it work, but it added some stress to the night.

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Coming up...whitewater rafting, hot springs, and hanging out.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

DAY 13- rafting day!!!

I made the executive decision to skip the gym. I've never been whitewater rafting before, I knew we'd be out there for several hours, and I didn't want the gym to zap my energy for paddling and such. So, we all got up, hit the complimentary breakfast...and then went to the rafting place.

I will admit that I was nervous. Beyond that...it was just getting into wet suits and personal flotation devices and helmets. David and I had no issues, but Sam and K each took a couple of tries to find a wet suit that fit properly. Well, K's was really too big for her, but she was throwing a fit about stuff being snug. Oh well...it was on her. And we got mocked a bit for all us us having Keen Newports. It was all in fun...but everyone else used either Tevas or Chacos OR the neoprene booties that they offered. Personally, I like the support of a full shoe and the toe protection of the Newports.

I was also nervous, but the guides were super supportive...in a very chill surfer dude sort of way. I told one guy...Flounder, I think...that I was nervous and he was like "whoooa, that makes for the best ride! All that adrenaline is gonna keep you pumped!" I still had my phone, so I took a few pics (some with my thumb over the lens) as we waited...

We were some of the first ones there, so that's also why there's nobody else in my pics.

Then it was time to raft! I have no personal pics from this point on, but we loaded the bus and headed to the put in spot we visited the day before. We got a safety talk on the way there, but the guides were really good about keeping it fun...while still hitting on everything important. And when we got there, David and I were the leads for our raft (at least, to start), so we led the raft down the rails and into the water....the 39-41 DEGREE (depending on the spot) water! Nothing wakes you up quite like dipping your feet into frigid water! I guess this is why the state mandates wet suits.

So, it was the four of us in our raft, our guide Kat, and a girl and her boyfriend...the girl was their brand new office staff...so, it was a different kind of vibe from being in a raft that was all tourists. David and I started in the front...which was a total soak fest, but she shifted me and pretty much everyone else but David a few times during the trip. It's pretty interesting trying to change positions on a wet raft while going down a river. These were Class II-III rapids, but they had a ton of water flowing through the river this year, so things were a bit more intense than usual. The kids aren't old enough to ride anything more intense, but they asked for "the meat" which meant we wanted to hit the most intense whitewater we'd be seeing...some of which has been known to throw people out of the raft...especially the guides. The kids were more likely to panic if thrown, so I was really hoping we'd all remain in the raft...which we did. Along the way, we chatted...got some info on some of the spots along the river...saw some wildlife (after doing some research, I've figured out that they were female and juvenile big horn sheep)...and we learned why we didn't find any trails or visitor center for Browns Canyon NM. The only way to see this national monument is from the river! On our first class III, we all sang happy birthday to the office staff riding with us...which was interesting...row and sing! Oh, and we did have the option to get out and swim for a bit, but only the kids wanted to do it and I didn't want to have to drag them back into the raft. Sadly...most of their rock ledges they previously used for jumping into the river are now privately owned. Boooooo! We did at least get a choice for what to do on our last rapid run...the kids picked going backwards while the new office staff member wanted to stand up (something the kids tried a little earlier)...so we paddled the raft around to take it backwards and this girl held onto the tethers to do it while standing. One last fun part...towards the end of the rafting, our guide suggested we do a splash sneak attack on one of the other rafts. They didn't go for the meat quite like we did, so we dug our paddles in and made sure they got wet. LOL There were lots of teams doing this though throughout the trip...so, it's not like we were the only ones.

Oh...and while my legs were fine when we got out, my feet took a bit from being in the cold water for several hours. I heard others saying that the neoprene booties also got water in them...so I guess cold numb feet were a given no matter what you were wearing.

I wound up buying the photo package...so, here are all of our river pics!

That one of the paddles reminds me...we had a section on the river where you're supposed to try and hit the bridge with the tip of your paddle. It's a luck thing. At least one person on our raft made it, so we were good. I wasn't even close!

We also had a fun ride back. We started honking and cheering at one of the buses we were passing from a rival rafting company. I felt like a bunch of kids on a camp bus!

After the river, some of the guides grilled us some burgers for lunch. It wasn't a huge group of us that did the lunch part, but it was nice. They even took my dietary issues into mind and I saw my lone cheese-less burger on the grill.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

It was also nice to smell the grill and have grilled food. At some point during our rafting, we passed a camp site where someone had the grill going and it smelled amazing!

It was also just nice being right next to the river while we ate. I even took some vid!



We had booked a hot springs visit with our rafting package, but it was good all day until 10pm and David was tired, so we went back to the room to rest a bit before hot springs time.

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Coming up- I ordered a hot spring, not a pool, our last night in Buena Vista, and how to make the most of what's left.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

After a nap, we drove to the Mount Princeton resort. I got a little nervous when we drove up because I just saw a series of swimming pools. After going to the wrong building to check in (and overhearing a man losing his mind because his room wasn't ready right at 4pm), we found the right place and turned in our passes for wrist bands.

Here's where the disappointment really comes in. I wanted a traditional natural hot spring and I had seen some of that in their pictures. Well, I guess their natural hot springs are part of this creek...and as you can see...it's closed.

I get there's a safety risk, but I have a hard time referring to the pools pictured below as hot springs. I took some video to show how rapidly the water was rushing through the creek. Of course, the reason for the creek closure is why we had such good rafting...and I'll take that over the hot springs.





So, we were stuck with the chlorinated pools and a steam room that were naturally heated by said hot springs.

Yeah...it's a pretty setting and all, but I can go into a naturally warmed (by the sun) chlorinated pool at home for part of my HOA fees. There were other pools...but we saw them...and they were just pools like this. Our day pass also didn't entitle us to towels or slide use. I've seen video of the slide since we got back and it's nothing. It's longer than a Disney pool slide, but shorter than a water park slide. It reminds me of the old cement slides you used to see in NJ. In fact, it reminds me a lot of the ones built into this mound/hill in Beach Haven. And the guy at the desk didn't seem to want to do anything else with us since we weren't buying into all of the up-charges. So, I wasn't loving this and it was time to go after some air drying time.

We made our way out and back to the car.

We decided to take a slightly different way back to the hotel...since the navigation sent us on some winding road vs. the highway. We found ourselves leaving the San Isabel National Forest.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We also drove past the spot where we put our raft in the water earlier in the day. It didn't seem that long, but David and I had to guide the raft all the way down that stair step railing. Man, I still get chills thinking about how cold that water was when we guided it in...

We went back to the hotel to clean up. We didn't have to discuss dinner because we knew where we wanted to go. We had seen a place with a funky moose that is apparently a local fave. There wouldn't be a lot for me to eat, but I knew it would be cheap eats and I could make it work.

See...Moose!

(I know I don't speak or type the Queen's English, but the "your" vs. "you're" on this sign makes me crazy!)

They also use antlers in all of their decorating (among other things)...

(teepee fan!)

And in case you didn't know you were in Colorado...

Food time!

The food was just OK and I had to skip on some of mine because I'm pretty sure it had butter. I'd just have to fill up on leftover sweet stuff back at the room.

This sign spoke to me!

A couple of last pics on our way out...

I also was constantly marveling at the number of Jeeps. I know it's the preferred off-road vehicle. It just felt like every single day, we were passing tons of them...from rentals to Jeeps people have owned for ages. I owned a Jeep about 10 years ago...never again!

The sun was setting by the time we got back to the hotel. We never were able to see it before it was behind the mountains.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We weren't in the mood to just sit in the room, so we went out to one of the little patio areas to have some drinks and play some cards and relax.

The kids don't shuffle well, so I walked around the hotel taking pics of random stuff.

I think the kids were satisfied with how wet they got in the river and springs, because neither of them asked to hit the pool. I think I may have actually taken this one from the gym the following morning. Oh well.

It was off to bed after this. We were checking out in the morning and heading back to Denver. So, that meant more packing! David was a little too excited to be in the final portions of this trip. He kept saying things like "in 48 hours...I will be home and getting ready to sleep in my own bed." Little did he know what was ahead of us for the last day(s).

 

[eliza61nyc]

Wow great trip report, I'm late to the party. This is my vacation plans for next year Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Yosemite. You did a lot of places I have never heard of, thank you. Lol now I have to Google. It's a shame , I wish the NPs had a marketing team like Disney

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Wow great trip report, I'm late to the party. This is my vacation plans for next year Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Yosemite. You did a lot of places I have never heard of, thank you. Lol now I have to Google. It's a shame , I wish the NPs had a marketing team like Disney

I'm really hoping to make it to Yosemite at some point. My husband went as a kid, but the closest I've been is when we were skiing in Mammoth Lakes. That side of the park isn't open in the winter due to poor road conditions, but I keep telling myself that some of the pics I took from the top were me looking into the back country portion of the park. I had no idea there were so many parks and monuments out there until I saw the big NPS map and the kids got their passport book. I will say that the ones where lodging/dining are managed by Xanterra have more of a Disney vibe. If you're staying and/or dining inside Yellowstone, you should feel some of this with how things are run and structured.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

DAY 14...and everyone is begging to go home!

Yeah...I think everyone is pretty tired at this point. The kids miss the puppies and had started pulling up pics on their phones. David's snoring, which wasn't bad early on, was really starting to get to me. And he, who was ready to go home on day 5, was now wondering why he ever agreed to this and saying I can never plan anything this long again. Good times!

I started off my day in the gym. I had the place to myself most of the time, but a man came in - briefly - to do about five curls with the 10lb weights...and then leave. Bizarre. After that, I met everyone for breakfast. I remember watching Rachel Ray with them in the breakfast room and thinking... 1. we never see this anymore in Houston because they changed the time slot 2. why is there no cooking going on? Oh well, we went back to the room to grab the bags afterwards and start loading up the car. I did tune in to Rachel Ray in the room, and she was finally cooking! Ok...so, we start making runs out to the vehicle since they had no luggage carts up front. That's when we realized our cards would no longer work on our room. When I officially checked out...the girl said they were probably demagnetized, but they worked on the gym, pool and entry doors...just stopped working on the room. So, that was not the answer. Whatever...we were leaving. At least I learned that all of the nearby mountains were named after various colleges (mainly Ivy League), so we solved the mystery of all these places with "Collegiate Peaks" in the name.

Originally, I had planned to drive past Pikes Peak and then head to Garden of the Gods...with a late lunch in Colorado Springs. Well, the drive up to Pikes Peak is $40-50 per car and we've seen lots of mountains already...so that seemed silly. And while Garden of the Gods is free and looks cool, we'd seen so many REDROCKS in Arches and Canyonlands that we just didn't need to see any more. Plus, the severe weather for the day was expected to hit that area and I didn't want hail damage. We already had a chip and a crack in the vehicle's windshield from some of the road work debris. I didn't need hail damage on top of that. David used to ski Breckenridge on an annual basis and one of the routes back to Denver would go that way...so we decided to go that route...

Seeing that biker above reminded me...we also sort of came full circle with the Sturgis bikers we saw last summer. Apparently, a bunch of them were doing tribute rides through Colorado and Utah before making their way up to Sturgis in August.

In any event...driving and dealing with detours...

Yeah...still loving all of that snow in the mountains!!!

This was kind of bizarre...

This town of Fairplay we passed through also had a bunch of Southpark signs around...which we're guessing was part of the foundation for the show. Not sure, but it's a neat little town.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

And we're out of Fairplay...

The next mountain town we went through is the highest incorporated town in the US...or so the signs said. They also have an "Al-Mart!" LOL I didn't really understand the carriage just outside of town, but that's there too...

Lots of neat structures around ...

After this, we started heading up and the temps started dropping. I think it was 61 by the time we got to the Continental Divide at Hoosier Pass...

It's a really pretty area...

Time to head back down a bit...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I see ski areas, so we most be close...

It wasn't long before we were in Breckenridge...

Some train stuff as we entered town...

It's a neat looking ski town, but it's grown up and changed a bit since David used to visit. I have no perspective, but he felt like it had become a lot more trendy than what he remembered. He'd always bash Aspen because he felt it was snooty (I have plenty of friends who love it), but he felt Breck has taken some of that turn. Oh well...we drove around just to take a look.

None of us were really feeling the love, so we decided to move on...

What's funny...I wouldn't mind coming to this area to ski, but after driving through, I think I'd rather stay in neighboring Frisco. It felt a little more functional and less trendy. I also really liked this lake in that area...

We picked up I70 at this point, which was a pretty straight shot back into Denver. It was all kind of funny for David driving through here, since every time he's been, it's been covered in snow.

The kids were so buried in their devices that they didn't even notice we were going into a tunnel...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Driving past more ski areas...

I think it was around this point that I looked at the navigation and saw a TX shaped lake.
Yeah...there's a little Texas in Colorado!

I think I was trying to get the water flowing alongside the highway...

After driving a bit more, we passed some interesting looking old miniing areas...

And another tunnel that they missed!

I never got a good pic of it, but we could now see downtown Denver up ahead. We'd been away from city life for long enough that it felt strange to be coming back into "civilization."

We decided to make a total full circle move and head back to Golden...the same area we were in on day 2.

Dancing deer in Golden!