Colorado Vacation: Part 2

The next morning, July 7, everyone woke up healthy and ready to explore. We packed up some snacks and started out on a bit of a drive to get to the main event of the day: Royal Gorge. Remembering my Colorado vacation from childhood, I expected to take the kids on the funicular railway at the Gorge. I also knew there was a cable car. To say that we were a bit disappointed to discover, upon our arrival after an hour drive, that the funicular burned in the forest fire a few years back and the Gorge was too windy for the cable car to run that day yet we still had to pay $20/each just to get in to see the bridge, is a slight understatement. I was highly irritated, in fact, and felt completely ripped off. Had we realized what an absolute tourist trap the place is, we certainly would have scratched it from our list. It was at this point that we made the decision to stick to more authentic destinations for the rest of the vacation. Tourist traps just lead to disappointment and buyer's remorse. 

We made the best of our time at Royal Gorge, taking advantage of what our admission price included: a pretty cool play area, a carousel, a magic show, and of course, a walk across the still pretty impressive bridge. There was even some wildlife to behold, roaming freely in the park. At one point, a mountain goat, or whatever the heck it was, made a sudden decision to charge across the walkway just as Paul, with Claire atop his shoulders, was walking directly in it's path. It was a moment of bewilderment as we watched the strong beast take off up the rocky mountain. It was a scorching hot day with the sun burning in a cloudless skin. We had brought in a water bottle or two and had perhaps applied a thin coat of sunscreen, but we had enough of neither. We were grateful for the relief of the air-conditioned magic show and grateful also for arriving just in time to take the little trolley that drive you across the drive. That's a very long walk across the bridge when you're ready to be done. 

 

That evening, not wanting to resign ourselves to the hotel room for the rest of the night, some of us decided to explore Garden of the Gods. The boys had endured more time than they could handle in close quarters with each other, and Sam needed some decompression time, so he stayed at the hotel. The rest of us enjoyed a gorgeous evening, beautiful weather and beautiful scenery. We took turns spotting an abundance of wildlife- bunnies and deer. But it was I who spotted the Michael Kors wristlet card holder that belonged to a, ahem, gentlemen. I did some sleuthing on social media, found him, contacted him and ultimately was able to return it to him when he and his beau drove from Denver to meet us in the lobby of our hotel. 

The next morning it was time for us to leave Colorado Springs. After breakfast we decided to show Sam what he missed out on the evening before, We decided to take a different trail at Garden of the Gods because there is so much to explore. 

Then we stopped by the Air Force Academy and tried to convince Nathanael to set his sights on attending there one day. We had hoped to be able to see the cathedral, but that is past the checkpoint, so all we could see was just a view of the campus from an overlook. Claire chose that time to have a bit of a breakdown about not being able to see Mimi RIGHT NOW. 

Then it was a 2.5 hour scenic drive to our home for the second half of our trip: Keystone, CO. Upon arrival, it was as if we were in Heaven. We had rented a condo, and that was perfectly furnished and lovely, but the resort itself was the most beautiful setting. The resort is wonderfully family friendly and offers lots of activities, many free of charge. The evening we arrived was some sort of Family Fun night, when lift rides to the summit were free and music and games awaited guests at the top. The summit provided the most splendid views and the kids had to be dragged away when we were ready to go back down. 

Some time after putting the kiddos to bed, perhaps even after we had gone to bed ourselves (I can't remember precisely), Nathanael came out of his bedroom, having vomited all over his bed and the floor....