Day 4 Mount Evans and Arapaho National Forest

After breakfast we checked out of our hotel and headed towards Mount Evans. This would prove to be one of the prettiest scenic drives and the day was perfect. Finally we are seeing snow capped mountains! The drive was wonderful.

On the way up to Mount Evans we stopped at Mount Goliath Natural area. We did a small hiking to see some old bristle cone pines. Some of them were 1,600 years old! Next we stopped off at Summit Lake to take a few photos and take in the view. GORGEOUS. Finally we reached the top via the byway called the "Road to the Stars." The boys did some rock scrambling and we climbed around in the old castle. We stayed up there for a while b/c it was just amazing.






























After making our way back to the bottom we stopped off to the Echo Lake Lodge where we bought a few postcards. We had thought about having our picnic at Echo Lake but I had read that a better spot was Chicago Forks. I hadn't seen any pictures but we thought we'd take a chance. WOW, am I glad we did. The Chicago Creek runs through this area and there were so many beautiful spots. It also happens to be in the Arapaho National Forest. There were picnic tables in the woods near the creek so we set up lunch. Afterwards Levi took some photos of the scenery and the boys scrambled rocks. Jackie accidentally walked of one of the rocks and skinned up his nose. OUCH. Talk about scaring me to death!







Finally we were on our way to Estes Park. We were taking scenic byways but missed a turn in Nederland and ended up in Boulder. We made it to Estes Park in the late afternoon where we settled into our cabin (just 9 ft off the Big Thompson River). Later we had pizza at Bob and Tony's where coincidentally we sat down next to another family from Kansas City. Small world!!

Day 3 Pike's Peak, Manitou Springs and Garden of the Gods

Day three's venture led us to Manitou Springs where we boarded the Pike's Peak Cog Rail to the summit of Pike's Peak. The scenery on the way up was gorgeous and finally we had found something the boys all enjoyed. When we got to the summit it was in the low 30's and snowing. Brr. We walked around for only about 5 minutes (probably less) and because it was so cold we took the boys in to warm up in the cafe', where we all had Rocky Mountain doughnuts. Of course the twins turned their noses up but the little guy made up for that by eating two!










Getting his Rocky Mountain High on doughnuts!







After returning from the summit we drove around Manitou Springs then went to Memorial Park where we had a picnic. Afterwards the boys played on the playground. Later we went to Garden of the Gods. WOW....It's beautiful. If you are ever in the Colorado Springs area you HAVE to check out Garden of the Gods. It took my breath away. We eventually found our way to the paved trail and went on a little hike w/ the boys. We took the stroller for Jackson because we didn't know how he'd do walking but as it turned out it caused more problems than it did good. The three boys fought over the stroller the entire time so that was THE last time we used it on vacation! Anyway that was pretty much our day!! It was really fun and such beautiful scenery. Oh, we stopped at Bear Country and bought a souvenir for our back deck. It's a chainsaw cut bear. So neat! Well that's the day..






















A Garden fit for the Gods!