July 2023
Hello all!
It has been awhile. Life has been pretty busy for me these days and I am getting around to sharing photos from our family road trip visiting 5 National Parks! For some context: unfortunately, E’s parents were not able to attend our Colorado wedding in 2020 (2021) due to the pandemic. However, we still wanted to show them my home state and where we got married. We initially planned just to go to Colorado, but E’s father has been wanting to visit the Grand Canyon for some time, even though it is a bit far from Colorado. Also, E’s parents are also wonderful to our dog, Shirie. They spoil her like the grand-dog that she is and they didn’t want to leave her at home with a dogsitter or at a pet care facility. Then, we decided to turn this trip to Colorado into a massive road trip of Maryland to Colorado to the Grand Canyon!
Denver, Colorado
The first leg of the road trip, Maryland to Colorado, E did with just his parents and Shirie. I agreed to fly to Colorado and meet up with them there. They made some stops along the way including visiting family and seeing The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, while I visited with family in Colorado until they joined us. Before they arrived, I went hiking with my mom and her friend near Breckenridge. Here, we could see fields of wonderful mountain wildflowers! After our short hike, We drove up Boreas Pass to take in the views. At the top of Boreas Pass, I thought E’s family would love to see it and so I decided to return with his family and incorporate it into the next part of the road trip.
Once they arrived in Colorado, we spent around two full days in Denver and the surrounding areas. On the first day, we walked around Downtown Denver, showed them the Capitol building, ate fried chicken in the Milk Market, then made our way to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. We ended their first day eating dinner and meeting my family that they hadn’t met yet. Day two took us to Golden, Boettcher Mansion and Lookout Mountain. We got married in 2020 in Golden, had the party in 2021 at Boettcher Mansion, but since E’s parents couldn’t attend, we wanted to show them the area. Because of this, I booked a tour of Boettcher Mansion, so then they could see our venue! We had an enjoyable visit with a short trip up the mountain to see the view of Denver and Golden from Lookout Mountain. Since Shirie also was not able to attend the wedding, we brought her along and got some family photos of us on the mansion grounds. She probably got some good sniffs in. After, Boettcher Mansion, we made our way back down to Golden to walk around the creek and get some lunch in the town. We finished the day off visiting Red Rocks. However, due to a concert that evening, they closed Red Rocks early, so we didn’t see much. Since we had some time in Denver after the Grand Canyon, we planned to return to Red Rocks later.
Salida and the Rocky Mountains, Colorado
We left early on day three to make our way to Salida. Shirie did not come with us at this point in the road trip. She does not like long car drives anyways, so we gave her a break and my parents watched her while we were gone. Our first stop on the next leg of the road trip would be Salida. We went the long way to get to Salida, by driving through Breckenridge to see Isak Heartstone or the Breckenridge troll, then through Boreas Pass to see the views and made our way to Salida.
While in Salida, we took my in-laws to go kayaking for the first time, and they loved it! E and I went paddleboarding, while E’s parents kayaked together on a calm lake nearby. We also took them to Mt. Princeton Hot Springs. They both really enjoyed relaxing in the hot springs, despite how warm it was outside in July. Unfortunately, the best part of Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, the natural springs in the river, was closed due to high water levels. Good for Colorado to have all that moisture, but unfortunate for us. Everything about Salida E’s parents really loved. From kayaking, to the hot spring and even the pizza from Moonlight Pizza & Brewpub. I think they would love to go back to Salida, if opportunity arises.
National Parks of Colorado: Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde
On Day 5, we began the National Park portion of our road trip with stops at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Mesa Verde National Park. We didn’t spend too much time at the Great Sand Dunes because it was mid-day and quite hot. Still, we saw enough to get a taste. We briefly stopped at Pagosa Springs for lunch and then in Durango to visit a train museum and get some ice cream before we made our way to our hotel in Cortez near Mesa Verde. We rested that evening and got ourselves ready for a tour of Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde. I think everyone enjoyed this part. However, it was quite hot, so it made us feel a bit sluggish. After our Mesa Verde tour and a bit of driving around the area, we made our way to our next destination, the Grand Canyon.
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
We arrived at the Grand Canyon by sunset. The drive was quite long, hot, and a bit tedious, but that was expected. However, the view upon arrival made it all worth it. We stopped by Desert Watchtower to see this first sunset over the Canyon and take in the first views. I was fortunate enough to find a room for a decent price inside the national park at a late date at Maswik Lodge. The lodge itself was ok, it had the minimal things we need, a place to stay that was clean. However, the main benefit was convenience to the South Rim, since we planned to stay along the South Rim for our visit.
We spent the next 2 full days exploring the Grand Canyon. E decided to surprise his parents with a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon; however, his father did not want to go, so I enjoyed it with my mother-in-law while they got us some breakfast. That afternoon consisted of driving and walking around some of the major spots along the Grand Canyon, such as walking along near Bright Angel Trailhead and stopping by the various viewpoints near the Grand Canyon Visitor Center. Of course, due to the heat, we took frequent breaks in our hotel room to cool off and rest. Since we were visiting on a new moon night and the days around a new moon, I wanted to identify great spots to view the stars or see the sunrise. This first day gave us a chance to scope out locations during the daylight.
After dinner and another cooling break, I managed to convince E and my father-in-law to join me in viewing the stars and Milky Way at night. I am glad we checked out the stars this first night because unfortunately, a storm rolled in on the new moon night (our second night), so no stars were visible. The second full day consisted of taking the bus up to Hermit’s Rest. E’s parents wanted to do some hiking, but given the heat we couldn’t go deep into the Canyon. Therefore, we agreed to hike about 30 minutes along Hermit Trailhead to catch some views within the canyon and still feel refreshed enough to hike back. Unfortunately, a storm came in the afternoon, so we had to take it much easier. Even though the temperature cooled, we didn’t want to risk getting caught in poor weather since that can be quite dangerous. We still managed to watch walk along the South Rim from Bright Angel Trailhead to Mather Point and catch our final sunset at Mather Point. The stormy, cloudy skies gave a moody feel to this sunset.
Since I did not have a second chance to view the Milky Way in the Grand Canyon, I woke up early to catch a bus to Hopi Point. Since E and his parents wanted to sleep, I did this on my own, but wasn’t too difficult since the bus came right near our room and I returned just before everyone was waking up. I am glad i did go, because I got some beautiful shots of the sunrise from this spot.
National Parks of Utah: Canyonlands and Arches
The last bit of our trip was a bit more of a struggle. The heat was starting to get to me. We made our way to Canyonlands and Arches National Park. We visited Canyonlands in the evening before taking it easy and sleeping well that night. Arches National Park became our last stop before driving back to Denver. Due to the heat, we weren’t able to do too much hiking, but we managed to go on a couple of short hikes to see different arches including, Delicate Arch and North and South Window Arches. After that, we made our way back to Denver to get some rest before E and his parents began to drive back to Maryland.
Until next time,
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