Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Jealous?

Before my mom and stepdad left to return to Texas, they gave us their pass into Rocky Mountain National Park that had a few days left before it expired, some money for lunch and ice cream and a gas card. I had no excuse not to go.

So we went last Wedesday, and I totally forgot to blog about it! Bad me.

I was hoping to get out early enough to see all the animals before they retreated back to the cool of their hideaways. We left our house around 7:30am, and it takes almost an hour and a half to get there. By then, they were pretty much all gone. I did see one elk, but I didn't pull over in time to snap a pic. And I saw a couple of deer, but again with the not being fast enough to photograph them. I emailed my mom later to ask when they were out there (They had gotten tons of amazing pictures of the elk. They had been eating right by the road!), and she said they were out there at 6am. 6AM?! So I'd have to leave my house by...4:30am?! ok, someday, but not any day in the near future. Momma needs her sleep.

We walked around Bear Lake, and although it is beautiful, it's a carved out path that is very touristy. We tend to prefer the trails that feel a bit more like un-charted territory. This was definitely NOT one of those. But it was easy for two small kids and a pregnant mommy so it was still nice. Here are some pictures from that.



Some of the path was still covered with snow, and the kids looked like pros as they crossed it.



After Bear Lake, we went into Estes Park to find some lunch. We ended up getting burgers and eating by a river that goes through the town. It was lovely. Then we stopped into an ice cream store that sold Blue Bell! In Texas, that's just about the only kind of ice cream we eat, but Ben and I haven't been able to find it here in the stores. So I knew that's where we were going. Gillie had a Rainbow Sherbert, I had Peaches n' Cream, and Josh just had to have Krazy Kolors. Or rather his whole face had to have it.


After lots of wet wipes and walking along the river a bit more, we headed back into the park for another hike. We opted this time for Sprague Lake which is very similar to Bear Lake, meaning that it's incredibly easy and stunningly beautiful.



And even though we didn't wake up at 4-flippin-30 in the morning, we still saw a few animals. On our trip back after lunch, we came across a herd of big horned sheep. We also saw a sweet momma duck and her little chicks in Sprague Lake, and these cute little chipmunks were everywhere. Oh and these beautiful creatures...


shhh. Don't tell anyone, but they came home with me. :)

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