It was time to leave Utah and move on to Nevada. Our next stop was Las Vegas. Ben and I have both been here before, but it’s been about 14 years for me.
We got checked into our campground and set up. So far, this is not my favorite campground, but I will get more into that when we do our review.
After getting set up, we drove to Costco. (Are you noticing a theme yet? 😉 ) This Costco sold propane per gallon from a large tank and had a large wine and liquor selection. Ben bought me a wine advent calendar! The food court was similar to others we have seen (mostly pizza, hot dogs, ice cream), but it had a window where you could watch them make the pizza. They had a cool machine that puts on the sauce, which was fun to watch.
After putting the groceries away, we headed down to Las Vegas. Our first stop was the Fremont Street Experience. Masks are required in Nevada and it wasn’t anywhere near as crowded as I remember it being. There were several street performers/buskers, some of which were not wearing a ton of clothing. The ceiling still changes and is very bright. It was fun, but seemed to be half ads instead of the crazy light show I remember it being. It was still the first time the boys had seen it, so they thought it was neat. They had a Covid safety message that would routinely show as well. (YouTube link here.)
We then drove down the Strip. It was starting to really light up at this point, which is always amazing to see. Ben managed to have perfect timing in the traffic and we were stopped at a red light right in front of the Bellagio when the fountain show went off! It was spectacular as always. Driving past New York New York, the Statue of Liberty was dressed in a Raiders jersey and a mask.
Getting back on the highway to drive home, we saw a glitter covered minivan. The back said “life without sparkles…is not life at all”.
Our passes weren’t until 11:00, so we packed up some snacks and lots of water. Everyone dressed in wicking clothes so we would dry off faster. We headed towards Zion a little early because I was worried about parking. The Visitor Lot fills up really quickly and although you can park in the town of Springdale and take their shuttle to Zion, I really wanted to park inside the park. I figured that after hiking we would be tired and would want to be able to leave as soon as possible.
We picked up our hiking gear (Zion Guru) and went into the park. I would say we got there around 9:45/10:00 am and the lot was half to 3/4 full. We had already put on our socks and boots at the store. Zion’s Visitor Center was closed (COVID), but they had lots of informational signs outside. We read those for a while and then attended a Ranger Program at 10:30. It was about mountain lions and was pretty interesting. Did you know they can leap 45 feet?!
A little before 11:00 we boarded the shuttle and headed in. We were going to do the Narrows hike that does not require a permit (Bottom-Up), the one that starts at the end of Riverside Trail (stop 9 on the shuttle). It is listed as a moderate to strenuous trail; how hard the hike is depends on water depth and flow.
The start of The Narrows Trail at the end of Riverside Trail.
It was surprisingly busy. The river was pretty shallow at the entrance point here, although it is still cold. You could probably walk here with just sandals on. The farther in you go, there are sections that got up to upper thigh on me. (Later in the hike, we heard other people talking that it was chest high farther down. The man was at least 6 foot tall, so I’m glad we didn’t get that far!)
Some spots in the river were clear and you could see the rocks and judge your path. Some spots were murky, I’m not sure if it was the crowd that stirred it up or the algae, but you couldn’t see the bottom. We were so glad to have the hiking poles to test the depth in front of us.
We saw plants growing from the walls, lots of different sizes and colors of rocks, Mystery Falls (a waterfall), Wall Street (narrowest part), and the Floating Rock (boulder in the middle of the river). We made it a little past the floating rock and decided to turn around. The Narrows is an in-and-out hike, and we were already tired. Everyone, except Will, had fallen at least once.
On our way back, Nick fell several more times in a row. We stopped and made sure he ate some peanut butter crackers and drank more water. After resting a few minutes, we started back again.
Ben jarred his back when he stepped in a hole. I tripped on a rock I couldn’t see and fell face first into the water. I will say I am glad we had on the water shoes that went above the ankle. I am sure I would have twisted something if I was in gym shoes. Will was still the winner at the end of the trail and had not fallen once!
We were exhausted when we were done. The shuttle line was long, and I would say we waited 45-60 minutes. We did see some deer and wild turkey while we waited. (YouTube video of walking the line for the shuttles.)
We returned our gear and headed home to take showers.
It was a once in a lifetime experience and really neat! If you were to hike the Narrows, I would definitely recommend renting equipment. The neoprene socks helped with the cold water and not having wet cotton socks rubbing on our feet was definitely a plus. The water shoes/boots were surprisingly helpful. Even the broom handle-ish walking stick seemed better suited than our normal walking sticks.
The campground had a laundry room, pool and hot tub, and fenced in dog area. There were also waste bags along the fence line for dog clean up. It seemed like it had a good layout. The boys made a YouTube video of the campground.
Top: shower/bath house, pool, office
The pool is nice, with a few fountains off the side shooting in and a basketball hoop. The pool is not heated, so it will cool you off on a hot day. The hot tub is off to the side of the pool. There is a changing/bathroom and an outdoor shower in the pool area as well.
The office was small and only offered a few things for sale, although they do have brochures for local attractions. They did sell ice for $2.75/bag (City Market, aka Kroger, had for $1.99/bag with loyalty card) and also had some individual ice cream items (most were $1.75). The office closed at 5:00pm. They do lock the ice after hours, so get any ice you need before then. There was a spot on the office desk for outgoing mail. TIP: There is a small holder of postcards on a shelf for $1/each of area landscapes with the Milky Way. You can get these for free in various Biz Card holders around town (Two places that I know of: McStiff’s Plaza-outdoors on side of wall near right side of their parking lot and Red Rock Bakery-inside towards the back). There was also a lounge attached to the office, but was closed for COVID.
The campground offers Wi-Fi and cable. We didn’t have much luck with the cable, just a few channels, and the WiFi was the standard campground kind.
The laundry room was nice. It was even air conditioned! There were plenty of machines and there was a change machine in the room as well. A wash cycle cost $2.25 and the dryer $1.50.
The shower/bathhouse was amazing. It was the nicest one so far. There were separate rooms that contained a toilet and shower with locking doors.
I believe the campground is all RV spots, with most sites being pull-through. We had a 50 amp site, which we definitely needed in the heat to run both A/C units. No tents/gazebos/pop-ups are allowed. There are trees and grass at each site. The trees help a little with the heat. We had an end of the row site, which was great for parking, but meant that we only had shade on one side. If you wanted more shade, I would try to get a spot further in so you get trees on both sides.
Each site had a picnic table with a concrete pad that sits right next to your RV steps. No fire pits or grills are provided in the campground. Utah also had fire bans going while we were there.
The campground is close to town (7-10 minutes), Arches (15-20 minutes), and Canyonlands (45-60 minutes depending on traffic). There are several grocery stores in town, although pricing seems a little higher here than back home. We mostly shopped at City Market (Kroger) for the fuel points and coupons.
For our stay in Colorado Springs, we stayed at the Garden Of The Gods RV Resort. There were tent sites, back-up and pull-through sites, and cabins for rent. We had a back-in 50 amp site. The electric post also had a spot for 20 amp, so we could run an extension cord for outdoor use (fan, bike charging, outdoor computer use).
There was WiFi and cable, although we didn’t have any luck with the cable. The WiFi was iffy as well since we were in the back. NOTE: Campground reviews listed AT&T as working there, but it does not work in the campground. We found this out when we checked in. Our T-Mobile and Verizon worked though.
The office sold a few souvenir type items, ice ($4.10/bag, including tax), and ice cream. They did accept packages and also had an outgoing mail box inside. The office closed at 4:00pm each day.
The laundry room had a folding table, 2 carts, a vending machine, 3 driers (although 1 was broken the time we were there), and washers. Dryers $0.25/8 minutes.They were x-large capacity dryers (could hold 3 loads). The washers were normal sized and cost $2.50/load. They did sell single use powder soap in the vending machines there for $1 and had some other laundry items for sale in the office.
There were two pools, although only one was open when we were there. It was heated and had a nice covered couch area, along with some chairs around the pool. Because of COVID, you did need to sign up for the pool. (Limit of 40 people, which seems really high for that size pool. No one really checked or seemed to keep track though.)
There was also an arcade, which the kids loved. It was mostly older machines (if you grew up in the 1980’s it was very nostalgic). Most games were $0.25. We were only there a couple of times. It seemed like little kids were sent there and never had masks on, so we tried to limit our time to when it was empty. Trying to social distance can be hard.
There were no individual fire pits, although there were two grills and two communal fire pits by the playground. There was a fire ban while we were there, so fires were not allowed. You could use the charcoal grills though. The playground was small and a little older. There was also a fenced in dog area.
The campground had two shower/bath houses. The one back by the playground was definitely nicer!
There was an on-site breakfast food truck that was open Wednesday to Saturday 8:00am to 12:00pm.
We were also right next to Manitou Springs, which is a really cute town. We made several trips in and enjoyed walking around.
Garden of the Gods was pretty much right up the street, about a 10 minute drive, Pikes Peak was about 30-45 minutes, Royal Gorge about 1.5 hours. The Olympic Training Center and Air Force Academy were closed to visitors due to COVID.
The location was convenient to attractions and grocery stores. There were two Costco’s within 40 minutes! There was a horse area close by, so sometimes in the morning you could smell it, but it wasn’t too bad. There was a full time RV or mobile home park on two sides. There were tarps overhanging the campground fence in several spots. I didn’t feel safe walking on the street by myself with the kids. The Garden Of The Gods RV Resort is fenced though.
NOTE: Beware when you make your reservation. When we had to restructure our trip, we were going to shorten or skip Colorado Springs. Because we had originally booked with Best Rate, Garden of the Gods RV would not refund, only let us move our reservation. They had had few other locations, but nowhere we were going to be. If you are worried about COVID ruining your plans, please do not choose Best Rate. Everyone there was nice, it just stinks about their policy even during a pandemic.
If we were in the area, I might stay here again, because the employees were nice and it was conveniently located, but I would definitely look more closely at the cancellation policy. We did get to see a lot, but one week would probably be long enough (not the two we had).
Today we ventured into the Great Sand Dunes National Park. It was about a 3 hour drive each way. The one thing this trip has taught us is not to be afraid of driving each day. We very rarely made trips longer than 1.5 hours at home. We saw a few animals in the campground this morning, which is always fun!
The park offers some hiking, a campground, the dunes, and a creek. The creek is usually dry in August, from what we were told. You can sled down the sand dunes, but the park claims you need a specialized board. Apparently snow sled and cardboard will not work well. There are a few stores to rent these boards from in the towns of Alamosa (which was not on our drive in), Hooper, and Blanca. We drove through Blanca and didn’t see any signs for board rentals. It was the 2nd closest rental to the park entrance, so we were hoping we wouldn’t miss the last store. The other rental is at a store right outside the park entrance. The store is called Oasis and it is open seasonally. They offer sand boards (stand up kind like snow boards) and sand sleds. Rental is $20/day/board and you need to return it by 6:00pm. They also provide you with a thing of wax for the bottom of your board.
There was quite a line to rent the boards. The store’s interior was closed, so everything was rented/ordered from the outdoor windows. The line moved slowly, but surely. It took awhile because there was a rental form to fill out, the deposit to sign, rental fee, and then the instructions. In the store’s parking lot, they had three portalets and a 2 pump gas station (no diesel). The store also offered ice, ice cream (cones and sandwiches), some hot food items, and convenience items (postcards, sunscreen, sunglasses, etc.). There were not any picnic benches around though. (TIP: Stop and use the portalets here. The Visitor Center is closed due to COVID and there could be a long wait at the park.)
Oasis store
The sky, both on the drive in and at the park, was a little hazy due to smoke from wildfires. The parking lot closest to the dunes was packed! Luckily, right when we got to the end of our first lap, we found a spot. I was driving home, so I changed into my sandals since I didn’t want sand stuck in my shoe for the whole drive home (big mistake). Everyone else stayed in gym shoes and left their Crocs for later. There is about 1/4-1/2 mile walk through sand to get to the dune area. It would have been great if there was a boardwalk there. Although this might not work well since the Ute Native Americans called this area “sowapopheuveha”* or, the land that moves back and forth. With the sand blowing around it might just cover the boardwalk.
The book stated the tallest sand dune was “750 feet and 3.8 miles (one way) difficult trudge to the top.”* So, we weren’t doing that! We stayed towards the front of the dunes, the smaller ones. It is quite the work-out to climb up the dunes to slide back down. Ben and the boys tried the sand board, but I stuck to the sand sled. The boys did pretty well for their first experience on a stand up board. Everyone had a few tumbles in the sand, but had fun sledding down the dunes!
I had secured my keys and ID in a zipper pocket, but thought on my last run I could video the trip down the dune. Dumb idea. I took the biggest tumble so far and my phone got buried in the sand. Luckily I found it pretty quickly. I would recommend using some sort of cord or something that is attached to both your phone and you, if you want to have it out.
Eventually we were tired and hungry, and began our journey back to the truck. At the parking lot we rinsed off at the outdoor showers. There were two shower poles, each had nozzles at 3 different heights. We ate our picnic lunch in the truck. We were facing the dunes, so we had a nice view. There is a picnic area down the street, but not at the dunes parking lot we were in. We could also people watch. Ben stated everyone coming in looked excited and happy (think Disney world), but coming out everyone looked exhausted and were dragging. We were definitely tired, but it was a good experience.
The park cautions that the sand can get up to 150 degrees F. I don’t think it was quite that warm when we were there, but it definitely got very hot. My sandals were not the right choice, as the sand kept sliding in or covering my feet as we walked. In the beginning, the temperatures were fine. However, on the walk back, I had to take multiple breaks to keep my feet out of the sand and stood on a board. By the time we got back, the sides of my feet and under my big toes were red and I had a couple of blisters. I’m not sure if the blisters were simply from sand rubbing between my feet and sandals, or from minor burns from the hot sand. Even after the cool water from the outdoor shower and sitting in the truck without shoes on, my feet were still red. I ended up putting aloe on them before bed, but they were still sensitive the next day (and a little the day after that too). I may have lightly burned them. If you go in the summer, I would recommend wearing closed toe shoes (we saw someone wearing boots) so your gym shoes are not saturated with sand. If you really want to wear sandals, I would maybe wear socks with them (and socks with Crocs is honestly one of my biggest no-no’s…but guys, the sand burns!).
After lunch, we drove around. The park isn’t very large in terms of a road driving through it. There was a primitive road and a campground. We headed back out and stopped at Oasis to return our boards. We also bought some ice cream and postcards. We haven’t been able to find any other Great Sand Dunes postcards, so I wish I would have bought a few more.
After an orientation session for online school in the morning, we went to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings today. I remember going to Mesa Verda when I was a kid, and being amazed that anyone could build on the side of a cliff. I wanted the boys to get an idea of these dwellings, but Mesa Verde was way out of our way (like 6 hours one way). I found the Manitou Cliff Dwellings while searching for things to do online.
According to their website, the dwellings were originally in McElmo Canyon. To help preserve the ruins, they moved them to their new location and reassembled the structures. They used a concrete mixture to reassemble so that people could walk through the buildings.
Entrance was $33.08 for the three of us. It doesn’t take a long time to walk through the dwellings, maybe an hour. Although they are amazing, they won’t take your breath away quite as much as Mesa Verde. However, if you can’t make it to Mesa Verde, these are still historical ruins and a great history lesson. The boys actually enjoyed it and Nick read a few of the signs.
There is an inside museum, as well, in the visitor center. The boys read about baskets, water containers, weapons, and pottery. Nick liked learning that they smothered the fire in the kiln with horse manure to get the black color on the pottery.
We ran to Walmart for a few items.Once back at the campground, we did a load of laundry and went swimming in the evening. It was amazing because we had the pool all to ourselves! We discovered that Will has finally passed me up. The beginning of summer, I still had a little height on him, but it looks like he finally eeked past me a little bit.
I have a YouTube video of our walkthrough at the Cliff dwellings.
We woke up a little early so we could drive up to Pikes Peak. I still felt dehydrated from yesterday.
Ben and Nick packed a lunch for us and we were off.
There was construction at the peak, so you can drive to mile marker 13 or 16, park and then take a shuttle up to the top.
I drove on the way up. There are some amazing views! It’s beautiful. (Ben drove on the way down so I could take pictures! 🙂 ). There is a video of the drive up on the You Tube Channel. Right now I can only post 15 minute videos, so I tried to grab the best parts of the drives up and down the mountain. (I had 2 hours of footage!) There are a few things to see besides the mountains in the video, so I have a Video Scavenger Hunt if you want to try it: Bigfoot/Sasquatch Crossing, Scariest Portalet, Tutus, Marmot Sunning, Overheated Car, Injured Biker, Race Cars, Santa.
On the way up, we saw several groups of bicyclers and also a lot of trucks with trailers. Apparently on 8/30, there is a race to the top of Pikes Peak (the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb) and the cars were doing test runs that morning. We saw all kinds of cars coming down the mountain! That must be one scary race. There were no guard rails on a lot of the edges!
We parked at mile marker 16. Parking was frustrating. The two attendants didn’t communicate very well. The one had me turn down a lane that was full. The other attendant told me to wait and then forgot about me for 10 minutes. When I finally started backing up, then he directed me to a new parking area.
We got in line for the shuttles. The upper restrooms were locked, but the lower ones were open. The line moved relatively quickly thanks to all the shuttle buses they had working.
We caught a shuttle up to the top and walked to the visitor center/gift shop. We wandered around looking at the items. Ben and Will headed out and Nick and I got in line for donuts, coffee, and hot chocolate. We all walked over to the rocky area near the end of Devil’s Playground trail (aka Crags Trail). We walked/climbed towards the middle to enjoy our treats. When we were done eating, we moved closer to the edge. The views were incredible. We saw a plane flying by and we were higher than the plane!
The normal viewing platforms were closed, as was the train. I would definitely recommend walking towards Devil’s Playground trail area for better views. It was hazy (later heard it was due to wild fire smoke from our bus driver down), and you couldn’t see much of anything besides construction equipment at the viewing area in the back of the gift shop area. It is a bit of a climb and harder to get to, but the views are definitely worth it near the rocky area.
We saw a few marmots on our drive up and back. They were sunning on the rocks. There were a few birds around as well. Unfortunately, we did not see any of the Big Horn Sheep. Our driver down said she normally sees them on her trips, but hadn’t yet today. She thought maybe the test driving scared them away this morning. She did have a tip though for spotting them, as they blend in with the rocks. Look for white moving objects. It will be their tail end, but she said it’s the easiest way to spot them. Also on the way back down, she pointed out Cheyenne Mountain and NORAD.
After getting back into our truck, we headed back down. (You need to use lower gear to drive down and Ben took advantage of the truck’s awesome exhaust brake.) We had a couple of stops on the way to the bottom. They stop you at mile 13 to do a brake temperature check. If your brakes are too warm, they make you park and let them cool off for 30-45 minutes. Our first stop was the Halfway Picnic area. We found a table in the shade with some nice views. We saw a ground squirrel sunning on a rock nearby.
It’s been a few days, maybe even a week, since an injury! Our streak came to an end when Nick decided to take a “short-cut” over a drainage ditch and didn’t quite make it. Now, it wasn’t a large dip, just very rocky. He scrapped his leg up pretty good. I didn’t have any of the really large band-aids, so used gauze instead.
After lunch and a little first aid, we continued our descent and stopped at the Crystal Reservoir. There was a wood statue of Bigfoot, a gift shop, and nice views of the reservoir.
Toward the bottom of the mountain is the North Pole. It’s a Christmas themed amusement park. Admission is free, although it does cost money to ride the rides. There were only 3 or 4 rides running when we were there (not sure if due to social distancing restrictions or not) and the wrist band costs $10. We didn’t ride any rides, but did enjoy walking around and shopping. It was a cute area with several neat little shops. We picked up a couple of things for Christmas. It’s a cute place, especially with free admission, so don’t pass it up on your way down from Pike’s Peak!
Once home, Ben made us breakfast for dinner with the new double sided cast iron griddle we bought at Cabela’s. It was the first time we had used it, but it worked amazingly with the bacon. It is the Chef Camp Reversible Cast Iron Griddle*. We found the 14″ at Cabela’s and Amazon has the 16″.
We decided to drive back to Garden of the Gods. Not for hiking, nope not ready for that again. I am still thirsty from yesterday. This time we just drove through and enjoyed the sunset. The landscape and the colors changed in the setting sun. The sunset behind the rocks was amazing. The sunset also brought out several mule deer in the park.
Saturday we went to Rocky Mountain National Park. The park is requiring reservation times for admission. The later afternoon ones are easier to get. I tried several times to get a morning/early afternoon time, but was unsuccessful. They sell out really quickly. There is a $2 charge, even if you have the Annual Pass. If you do not have an annual or day pass, you can buy it when you make your reservation.
Our time started at 3:00 and it was about 1 1/2 hour drive there from our campground. We decided to spend the day in Estes Park, which is right outside the park, until our time opened up.
Estes Park is really pretty and is a nice walkable town. There is a nice walking path next to the creek. We got ice cream at Sunday Saloon. They made square ice cream cones! Although very neat looking and definitely different, there is a downfall to square scoops. They fall off easily. I lost my ice cream after only a few licks. Ben bought me another ice cream later, and I learned my lesson and got it in a cup!
We went into a few stores, got some more postcards, coffee, and a slice of pie.
It was finally time to head into the park. We had perfect timing and got there right as our entrance time started. Within 10 minutes we saw a bunch of cars pulled over in a pull off. I looked over and there was a moose in the pond! We pulled in and went to look. Ben grabbed the binoculars. The moose was up to his shoulders in the water and was eating plants out of the pond. It was really neat to see.
We kept driving around the main road in the park. We saw Lava Cliffs, one of the highest, or maybe the highest point on the road. It was hard to tell based on the sign. There was a snow/glacier area there. It was beautiful with a little pond at the bottom.
Our next stop was at another Tundra area. We saw 2 marmots, which look a little like our groundhogs. They sleep up to 8 months and have to double their weight in the summer to prepare for hibernation. They ate most of the time when we were there, occasionally looking up at the tourists. The tundra area takes a long time to grow, the sign said it can take centuries for plant areas to mature.
There were signs and explanations everywhere not to walk on the tundra, to stay on the path. We saw several people walking right past to get their glamor shots and selfies. There was plenty of path to get amazing pictures at without walking all over the areas that said “Stay Off” or “Tundra Closed”. There were even just signs with pictures signaling to stay off. I just don’t understand people.
Anyway, enough of the ranting. We kept on driving up to the Alpine Visitor Center. We stopped at the visitor center first and wandered around their shop. I got a new mask (looks like a bear snoot) and an ornament for Christmas. There is a trail up the hill next to the visitor center. The peak of the hill is at 12, 005 feet above sea level! The altitude definitely makes it harder to go up the hill. It wasn’t a huge change in elevation, maybe 500 feet and there were stairs for most of it. I had to take a couple of breaks to adjust, but we all made it to the top. It had some amazing views, definitely worth the walk up!
We made it back to the car and enjoyed a nice picnic dinner that Ben had packed. It was a really nice treat.
We continued on the road and stopped at the Continental Divide. We also saw a deer at a picnic spot nearby.
We stayed on the same road to get out of the park. It’s not a loop road, so if you want to leave through the same entrance you came into, you need to turn around. We decided to just drive out of the park and take a different way back home. This drive had a lot of switchbacks, but amazing views of the mountains.
We had the dash cam up, so we have some video of our drive. I compiled clips into about a 14 minute video on our YouTube channel.
I am glad we got to see Rocky Mountain National Park and the marmots and moose. I will say that I still like Yellowstone better. Rocky Mountain was great with the glacier/tundra areas, but the landscape was mostly pine trees and mountains (which are beautiful). Yellowstone’s landscape frequently changes when you drive through, so it’s always something new to look at.
The boys and I went on a walk/hike today. I chose an easy one since my back has been giving me some problems the last couple of days.
The trail was nicely paved for parts and gravel for others, but all of it was nice and flat. There was not a lot of shade on the trail, so I am glad everyone put on sunscreen and wore their wide brim hats.
The trail wove across a few bridges, went near the lake, and through several prairie dog locations. We loved seeing them run around and call out to each other. They are so squeaky! (No wonder dogs loves squeaky toys.) I have a quick video up on the YouTube channel of them calling out to each other. The beginning of the path had a lot of bikers (bicycles not motorcycles) and even had a repair station with an air pump and some tools.
After hiking, we ran into Target to get Nick some new shoes. (This kid is rough on shoes!) We bought a few other things as well and headed to drop off some postcards. Once back in the campground, we did another load of laundry.
Ben wanted to run into Ikea when he was done with work, so off we went looking for couches. The couch in the RV is actually loveseat sized and not that comfortable long term. You can’t really lay down, the arm rests are too low to really give support but at the same time too high to use as a seat. Since we are going to be in here for a year, we thought we could replace the couch. It seemed fine when we bought the RV, but like anything you use daily, you quickly discover if it works well for you or not.
We found a couple of possibilities, but none that worked really well in the space. We’ll just keep looking.
I think the kids’ favorite part was when we were leaving. This store had an escalator ramp!
We started the morning doing laundry at the campground. It’s a pretty nice set up and we had it all to ourselves for the majority of the time.
When Ben was done with work for the day, we went on a candy factory tour. The tour was at Hammond’s Candies. The tour consisted of a video and then a walking tour. They are known for their candy canes (the large shiny ones you see at Christmas time). Their candies are carried in several stores, including Williams-Sonoma and Target (Wonderland section at Christmas). It is all made by hand!
We got to see them making candy while we were there. It seems like Covid hit them hard, as the tour guide stated they were down half of their cooks. I have a video up with clips from the tour (it’s about 4 minutes long) on the YouTube channel.
Everyone got a piece of candy at the end of the tour, which conveniently ends in the shop! We bought a few different kinds of candy to try, including a chocolate filled candy cane. I haven’t seen the filled candy canes in stores near us, so I was really excited to try it.
Afterwards Ben wanted to see Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater. I typed in Red Rock Park and ended up in Boulder near some apartments, which by the way is not where the amphitheater is. Whoops. I never would have guessed that there was a Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater and a Red Rocks Park as separate places, or that not adding on amphitheater would change my directions so much. So, we had a 40 minute detour…well more like an 80 minute detour since we had to drive back to our original starting spot. Apparently, I have not gotten that much better at directions as I have aged.
We finally made it to the amphitheater and it was really neat to see. The color of the rocks was amazing, as well as the shape of them just jutting forth. It must be an incredible place to go to a concert. It was a little crowded with visitors and people getting graduation pictures, so we didn’t stay too long.
