Dillon Days & Rocky Mountain National Park

On Sunday after leaving Jill, Paul and the kids, we drove just a quick two hours to Dillon, Colorado.  We were blessed to stay in my cousin’s condo on the lake (which is a reservoir, so no swimming, but all the views you could wish for).  

We took a walk to dinner and found a fantastic playground.

The walking is really getting to Jansen!  Poor bug!  He still managed a smile. 

We got back to the condo in time for the sunset view off the porch.  Beautiful!

On Monday we enjoyed the porch view in the morning and eventually made our way out for a quick trip to Rocky Mountain National Park.

It was a beautiful drive and we stopped for a picnic at Grand Lake.  There were inland white pelicans sunbathing and lots of Canadian geese.  We even saw a deer with her feet in the water!  

The Rockies are gorgeous.  We went into the park on the West side.  We made a quick stop at the Visitor’s Center.  We are keeping up our tradition of getting a sticker at each park for the car top carrier.  I need to get an updated picture.  This was park number 9!  The Visitor’s Centers always have helpful, informative displays we enjoy that help us learn about the topography, the wildlife and other interesting things about the particular park.  We did take a few minutes to check that out too.  Then we drove into the park for a bit listening to our Gypsy Guide app giving us insight into the park history and sights.  The biggest take away from the small section we drove was the terrible fire that scathed the area in 2020.  Although fires are a natural phenomenon, they leave a sad mark on the landscape. 

We did one quick hike to Adams Falls.  It’s short, but it was quite warm, so it was good it wasn’t longer, because man, Jansen cannot do hot hikes (especially when a bit overtired from so much fun at our friends’ and still recovering!).  Doug walked with him this time.  Here they are talking about how fly fishing works.  So cute.  And oh my goodness, I love this long sock phase.  Cutest thing ever.

The Falls were beautiful!  Looked very inviting!  Just a tiny glimpse of the gorgeous beauty in this park and throughout these mountains.

Here’s the view of Grand Lake and Rockies around it from the Falls.

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We got the kids to bed on time (and Jansen even a little early, yay!).  Because the next day we leave for Cody, Wyoming…a dude ranch where we will be for four nights as we explore Yellowstone, the cowboy life (and hopefully dip down to the Grand Tetons too).