Rocky Mountain National Park

Summer around Wyoming/Colorado is beautiful, so we couldn't pass up the chance to head up to Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park. 

We have been wanting to head back up to Estes Park since we went there with Amber (my sister), but have had other things to do on our weekends. We wanted to make a point to get up there before school started back up, so with only a couple weeks left before school starts, we are heading up to Estes Park, but mainly spend our time in the Rocky Mountains. 

When we took Amber around Estes Park, the road that we really wanted to take her on was still closed for the winter, so we were excited to take the road through the mountains to get to Estes Park! 

We had the kids put their iPads down and have them really enjoy the beauty of the mountains. And with that, the kids asked to stop on the side of the road, just as much as I did. I wanted to take pictures, but the kids wanted to see the water that was flowing along the road. It was breathtaking for sure. We were able to get right up to the water and let the kids feel what the water felt like coming right from the mountains, "very, very cold", they said.  

After about 5 different stops and spending time just enjoying the sound of the water flowing, we finally made it to our spot, the Rocky Mountain National Park. 

Let me tell you... 

We will be heading back here whenever we want to get out of the house and do something. What a beautiful park with so many trails and heck... I could just sit there watching all the birds and random animals roaming around and just enjoy nature. 

The view coming into the park. 

 We packed a picnic for lunch, so our first mission when we got into the park was to find a picnic area. We found a great picnic area and unfortunately, as soon as we parked, it started to rain. Times like that is when I am thankful we have our van 'cuz we got the kids settled with their lunches in the back of the van and they couldn't have been more happier. 

Then, literally as soon as we were done eating, the rain stopped, so time to do some exploring.

Once we were done walking around our picnic area, we decided to head up this dirt road. We really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into by going up this road, we had just seen lots of cars head up that way, so heck... why not.

We quickly realized that this was a one way road, heading straight up the mountain. 

Even though it took us a few hours to make it up the mountain (we stopped many, many times along the way) it was so worth it. With each turn we took, the views got better and better. It was truly breathtaking. 

We got to see little water falls, we got to go on some trails, and we even came across a deer. 

This was one of our last stops that we did. We decided to go walk along this trail and all of a sudden, McKenna goes, "I see some ears!" Well, it was a deer. The deer even started to come to us before leaping back across the water. 

On our way out of the park, we came across a parking area and decided to get out to take in the views one last time. When we got to the edge, I looked down and spotted a bunch of elk just roaming around. What a cool site to see!

These next few pictures of the elk were pictures I took from inside the car. The elk were literally on the side of the road. 

Good bye for now Rocky Mountain National Park!! 

Until next time....