Our adventures continue with this exciting summer and we are in the process of wrapping up our annual two+ week venture to beautiful Colorado. This year we decided to drive out, so my sister, mom, and nephew flew to Seattle, where we promptly met them and drove west-bound to my folks home in Buena Vista. Highlights from our trip include:
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Our first stop: Craters of the Moon National Monument. This is a dark sky observatory, however, we didn't get a chance to check out the clear, night skies due to cloud cover. However, seeing this crazy volcanic rock formations in literally the middle of nowhere Idaho was pretty surreal and cool.
Yellowstone
As always, Yellowstone was the highlight of our trip. We decided to take the kids to Old Faithful to see it erupt. It was a long hour wait,give or take + - 10 minutes, but once it erupted, the kids thought it was pretty cool. We saw 2 black bear and 2 Grizzly, elk, deer, coyote, bison, and a wolf. We stayed in Cooke City, Montana: my future summer home. I love that place. Other than tourists being typical idiots and bison causing traffic jams, Yellowstone was beautiful as always. It was so green and lush, which is unusual this time of year. We even witnessed the little grizzly cub that was estranged from its mom and just recently has been reunited with her. It was a great trip through the park.
Thermopolis
Our last Wyoming stop was to Thermopolis. We stayed and enjoyed time with my grandma. Nothing ever beats those moments. We drove up to our old "stomping grounds" at Wood River, determined to find a moose, since I failed to see any in Yellowstone. No luck on that end, but compared to when we were last up there, it is green and beautiful. We also stopped in to visit my aunt and uncle in Meteessee, as well.
Colorado Highlights
We got back to Colorado and Damion was able to spend the past week with us in Buena Vista. We planned the week with fun, inexpensive activities around the area. We celebrated my dad's birthday with a Rockies game in Denver, first. The best part was driving to Denver Monday morning and seeing 2 moose on the top of Kenosha Pass. My day was made! Here are the highlights of the fun activities from our week.
Rockies vs. Giants Game
Annual Swim Day at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs
We love the annual swim day at Mt. Princeton. They are slowly expanding the pools up there, and just finished their newest infinite pool, but it had not opened up to the public yet. I let the kids have some fun with the GoPro, going down the waterslide. It is always the highlight of our vacation in BV.
Exploring BV
We didn't get sick of exploring BV, and we made it into a scavenger hunt for the kids. I made a list of items to locate and photograph and then we scouted out around BV to locate said items. It killed the afternoon and the treat later was Louie's Ice Cream.
Monarch Pass Tram
We decided to check out the Monarch Pass Tram. Damion lost his hat, as it flew off because of the winds. Despite that flaw, it was beautiful up top.
Goat Farm and Fish Hatchery
The last few days together we enjoyed the fish hatchery, goat farm, and venturing to Salida for their mini golf. Always a good time with the kids!
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Our first stop: Craters of the Moon National Monument. This is a dark sky observatory, however, we didn't get a chance to check out the clear, night skies due to cloud cover. However, seeing this crazy volcanic rock formations in literally the middle of nowhere Idaho was pretty surreal and cool.
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| On top of the world (okay, not really, but felt like it!) |
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| Racing to the top of the hill |
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| Checking out the volcanic fields |
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| Random flowers that grew in the terrain |
Yellowstone
As always, Yellowstone was the highlight of our trip. We decided to take the kids to Old Faithful to see it erupt. It was a long hour wait,give or take + - 10 minutes, but once it erupted, the kids thought it was pretty cool. We saw 2 black bear and 2 Grizzly, elk, deer, coyote, bison, and a wolf. We stayed in Cooke City, Montana: my future summer home. I love that place. Other than tourists being typical idiots and bison causing traffic jams, Yellowstone was beautiful as always. It was so green and lush, which is unusual this time of year. We even witnessed the little grizzly cub that was estranged from its mom and just recently has been reunited with her. It was a great trip through the park.
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| Baby Bison among the herd that stopped traffic |
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| Black bear near Cooke City |
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| Goofy family pic near Moran Junction |
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| Eating lunch by the Yellowstone River |
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| Giving Aunt Lindsey hugs |
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| The "nice" family pic |
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| Waiting for Old Faithful to erupt |
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| Finally Erupting |
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| Squirrel that joined us at lunch along the Yellowstone River |
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| My favorite mountains |
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| Not the best pic, but the wolf we saw. |
Thermopolis
Our last Wyoming stop was to Thermopolis. We stayed and enjoyed time with my grandma. Nothing ever beats those moments. We drove up to our old "stomping grounds" at Wood River, determined to find a moose, since I failed to see any in Yellowstone. No luck on that end, but compared to when we were last up there, it is green and beautiful. We also stopped in to visit my aunt and uncle in Meteessee, as well.
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| Watching stars with Uncle Dean |
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| Ambushed by his cousins |
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| Game entertainment |
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| Grandma |
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| Cousins chillin' on the hammock |
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| Swatting the mosquitoes away |
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| Grandma playing with Jax |
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| Smore on fire |
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| Sprinkler anticipation |
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| Damion getting Jax |
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| Up beautiful Wood River |
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| Watching Damion create a sketch |
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| Reading |
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| Thumbs up to Taco John's. |
Colorado Highlights
We got back to Colorado and Damion was able to spend the past week with us in Buena Vista. We planned the week with fun, inexpensive activities around the area. We celebrated my dad's birthday with a Rockies game in Denver, first. The best part was driving to Denver Monday morning and seeing 2 moose on the top of Kenosha Pass. My day was made! Here are the highlights of the fun activities from our week.
Rockies vs. Giants Game
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| Coors Field view from our sits along the first base line, outfield |
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| She scored a free sticker from the girl behind us. |
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| Finally got rabbit eared by someone else. |
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| 7th Inning stretch |
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| He lost interest in the game, so the phone it was...sigh. |
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| His first light rail ride |
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| Thumbs up to his first MLB game. |
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| After a crummy loss, the light rail ride back to our parking spot was in silence. |
Annual Swim Day at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs
We love the annual swim day at Mt. Princeton. They are slowly expanding the pools up there, and just finished their newest infinite pool, but it had not opened up to the public yet. I let the kids have some fun with the GoPro, going down the waterslide. It is always the highlight of our vacation in BV.
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| Video capture |
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| Cannonball! |
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| Damion doing cannonballs. |
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| Cousins |
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| Family pic |
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| Eating lunch |
Exploring BV
We didn't get sick of exploring BV, and we made it into a scavenger hunt for the kids. I made a list of items to locate and photograph and then we scouted out around BV to locate said items. It killed the afternoon and the treat later was Louie's Ice Cream.
Monarch Pass Tram
We decided to check out the Monarch Pass Tram. Damion lost his hat, as it flew off because of the winds. Despite that flaw, it was beautiful up top.
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| Adding to the rock tower |
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| The kids and I |
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| Jax looking at the views |
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| They had to touch the snow |
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| Cousins |
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| Jax and I |
Goat Farm and Fish Hatchery
The last few days together we enjoyed the fish hatchery, goat farm, and venturing to Salida for their mini golf. Always a good time with the kids!
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| Damion and his goat |
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