2014 Colorado Vacation

Last week we spent another vacation in beautiful Colorado.  It's one of our favorite places to visit, especially in the summer because of the comfortable temps and low humidity.  Not to mention the gorgeous scenery and never ending amount of fun stuff to do.  This year we decided to start off in Colorado Springs then work our way to a cabin outside of Cripple Creek for a few days before going to Breckenridge for another couple of days.  It was an aggressive itinerary with lots of fun stuff planned!

Day 1: Drive to Colorado Springs
We left Olathe around 7AM and got to Co. Springs about 3:30PM.  The drive was fairly uneventful, thanks in part to the DVD players we had strapped behind the front seats.  I'll bet the kids watched 8-10 movies that day!  We had planned to arrive a little early so we had time to hit the pool and get the wiggles out before dinner after such a long day in the truck.

Less than 1 block from our house... :)

We made it!  Who wants to go swimming?!?!

Day 2: Garden of the Gods, Cave of the Winds, and Cripple Creek Cabin
We started off the day at Garden of the Gods where we played on the rocks, did a short hike, and picnicked for lunch.  It was a Sunday so it was pretty busy.  So busy in fact that we couldn't find parking at Steamboat and Balancing rocks.  Oh well, it was fun anyway.  After lunch we took a short drive to Cave of the Winds.  This was the first time the kids had been in a cave and they really liked it.  The tour was really cool and we got to see all sorts of stalactites and stalagmites.  The kids were running on fumes by this time, so we headed for our cabin that was to be our home for the next 3 nights.  It was about 1 hour away just north of Cripple Creek.  The kids slept on the way.  The cabin was pretty neat.  It was fairly secluded and private, had a sweet view, and had a very cozy, rocky mountain feel.  Just what we wanted.  After unpacking our stuff we took the short drive into Cripple Creek to scope out the town and buy provisions at the local store.  We grilled burgers and hot dogs for dinner.  

The kids were delighted to learn that our cabin came fully equipped with a sandbox and clubhouse.

Day 3: Pikes Peak & Santa's North Pole
On Monday morning we drove up Pikes Peak.  The temperature went from 65 to 40 degrees as we ascended the mountain.  The kids were thrilled/scared by some of the drop offs along the road.  But, we made it.  Owen was enamored with the Pikes Peak Tram, and we got to see it depart down the mountain. After walking around for a little while and getting hot chocolate and a donut at the gift shop, we headed down.  We had lunch by a reservoir towards the bottom and then went to Santa's North Pole amusement park.  We got in 4 or 5 rides and a chat with Santa before it started raining.  It rained and rained and showed no signs of letting up so we left and drove back to the cabin.  The kids both passed out as soon as we got in the truck.

As we drove up Hwy 24 heading west towards the cabin, it was clear that we'd narrowly missed a significant weather event.  There was ponding all over the road and a bit farther down the road it looked like it had snowed!  In reality it was just a very thick layer of hail.  Thankfully we missed all of that, but we did get to see the aftermath.  Back at the cabin, it had barely rained.  The kids played in the sandbox and Sarah went to town to pick up food for dinner.  She made spaghetti for the kids and brought home a ginormous steak for me!  After dinner we had a family movie night.  We watched "Tangled" and the kids had popcorn, candy, and root beer.  It was a fitting end to a great day. 

Can you tell this little guy likes trains?

Seeing Santa in July was a bit of a shock for the kids, but they sat on his lap and told him what they wanted anyhow.  Santa advised Owen and Elsie to be nice to each other. :)

The kids were LOVING the rides and having SUCH a good time...and then the rain started.  :(

This is part of the chaos that we just missed.

Day 4: Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine, Train Ride, and American Eagles Mine Overlook

We stayed around Cripple Creek on Tuesday.  First thing on our agenda was a tour of the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine.  This is a real gold mine that is not currently being mined.  It goes down 1000ft in a real mine elevator just like miners use.  How cool is that!  The tour was really neat and we had it all to ourselves because we were the first group of the day.  We even got to ride in an air powered tram inside of the mine.

Next, we took a ride on the authentic Cripple Creek and Victor Railroad.  It wound through some hills between the two towns.  The scenery was neat and we got to see a ton of old mines.  They are literally everywhere out there.  And did I mention that Owen likes trains?  This was the highlight of his trip to this point.  For souvenirs he picked out a little lego train and some train socks.  :)

After lunch we drove up to the American Eagle's Scenic Overlook between Cripple Creek and Victor.  It provides a spectacular view of the current mining operations going on outside of CC.  It was really cool.  The pictures just don't do it justice...  

That's the elevator in the background...

Down we go!

That thing was LOUD!!!

....and so was this one!

Underground outhouse

Souvenir's from the mine

He's in heaven

Day 5: Mueller State Park and drive to Breckenridge
Wednesday we started off the day by packing up and leaving our cabin.  Sad to go, but looking forward to the adventures that lay ahead.  Before we headed to Breckenridge, we wanted to check out Mueller State Park.  We'd never been there before but had heard there are a lot of neat hiking trails.  The first one was a kid friendly trail with lots of educational things along it.  Very cool.  The second was a half mile hike up to an overlook.  The kids complained and didn't want to go, but once we got to the top it was totally worth it.  The view was AMAZING.  I'm not sure how far we could see, but it was a LONG ways.  We took one other educational hike and then it was time to find lunch in a nearby town.  After lunch we drove about 2hrs to Breckenridge while the kids slept.  We checked in to our condo in downtown Breck and then went out for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, The Breckenridge Brewery.

This was cool.  They had pictures of different animals spaced out by how far they can jump and you can jump to see how you compare against rabbits, deer, etc.

This was just funny.  Even funnier?  Our kids got them all right!

This is the overlook from our hike.  Lots of rocks to crawl around on and breathtaking scenery.

Elsie took this one of Owen.  She asked him to smile.  :)

Our condo in Breck was on the 7th floor and had quite a view.

Day 6: Breckenridge Fun Park

One of the most fun days on our trip was the day we spent at the Peak 8 Fun Park at the base of the ski slopes.  They've figured out how to make summer activities at the ski resorts almost as much fun as skiing...and almost as expensive too.  We went here last year too, but Owen was too young to ride all the fun stuff.  This year he could so we splurged on day passes and went all out!  We rode the mountain coaster, alpine slide, putt putt, bungee trampoline, bouncy house, maze, and got to play in a gigantic snow pile.  It was an epic day.  So much fun with the kids.  They were SO excited after some of the thrilling rides, and they both LOVED the bungee trampoline.

Day 7: Downhill Mountain Biking
On Friday morning I decided to schedule some "me" time and do something I have never done before but have always wanted to do - downhill mountain biking!  They have a pretty sweet setup.  You basically rent a full suspension mountain bike for a half day or full day (I did a half) and then purchase a lift ticket for a nearby lift.  You go up the mountain and they hang your bike on the lift for you.  At the top they unload it for you and off you go.  They have some trail set up similar to ski slopes in the winter.  Green is easy, blue is medium, and black is hard.  There were no nearby greens so I started with a blue. It was bumpy and you had to ride the breaks most of the way down to keep things under control but I did it.  In fact, I felt so good about it that the next one I tried was the easier of the two black ones.  It was much narrower and bumpier.  It also had some banked corners, bridges, and a few small jumps.  IT WAS AWESOME!  So awesome that I did it a second time.  After that I was feeling good so I tried the more difficult of the two blacks.  It was super narrow and curvy, steep, bumpy, and had a lot banked corners.  I survived though and aside from being sore (mostly my hands from holding the breaks) came away unscathed.  It was one of the most fun things I have ever done.  Just me, a bike, my iPod, and a few mountain trails...  Of course, not having to go UP the trails makes it that much more fun. :)

Banked corner

Tight corner on one of the black trails.  It drops off right over the side so you definitely don't want to go flying in there. 

Day 8: Drive Home
We decided to drive all the way home on Saturday.  We had breakfast at our favorite place, The Blue Moose, and then loaded up and checked out of the condo.  We were so sad to go.  It's no fun to get back to real life and all the responsibilities that come with it, but nonetheless we were looking forward to being home.  We left Breck around 8AM and got home around 7:30PM.  The kids were good in the car again and watched a bunch of movies.  Elsie really missed our cat and was happy to get to see her.  It was good to be home, and glad we had one extra day to unpack, mow, and get back in the groove.

Here's to another great trip to Colorado!
Ryan, Sarah, Elsie, and Owen