"Never mind, it's just another moose." The Rocchi Mountains!

   Mike and I have really enjoyed traveling together first as a couple and now as a family.  We've enjoyed piecing together several adventures in order to visit and experience as many states as possible on one trip.  My dad mentioned a few years ago that he wanted to visit the McCartys in Kansas (more on that later) so that got the wheels turning for this summer's big adventure...

First stop was Wilmot Township to take a quick dip in the pool and get my dad ready to travel!

Little Emma knew something was up!

She really wanted to come -- but instead got to enjoy a great week with my Aunt Jill!

Flying was just fine!  We had to wear masks but everything went smoothly.

4 hours later we were in DENVER!

Red Rocks Ampitheatre was on Mike's list to see.  It was beautiful!

I loved this picture in the museum showing the first musicians to perform in front of the red rocks before the ampitheatre was created.

This listed all of the musical acts who have ever performed there!

We will be back to see a concert!

We also checked out Dino Ridge which was right by the Ampitheatre.

Those are actual dino footprints!

The scenery was beautiful!!

My mom stopped by to say hello.

Dad spent some time at our awesome hotel while we checked out the History Colorado Museum in Denver with the kiddos.

Slightly creepy...you could turn yourself into someone from the 1920s!

We didn't know where Mike went until we rounded the corner and saw this!

Interactive car ride was fun!  

Made sure to show the twins this!

 The twins especially liked the farm section:

Milk the cow!

Gather the eggs!

 Everyone knows Colorado is famous for skiing - we got to train to be a Slalom Ski jumper...Mommy was the one to figure out how to make it across that finish line instead or wiping out!

Mike's form is pretty good...

Go Cam!

Allie was also successful because she listened to Mommy's pointers!

 We then began the long trip east to Kansas.  As mentioned above, the main purpose of this trip was to visit the McCartys.  Tom and Judy McCarty are originally from Bradford County - Sugar Run to be exact.  They relocated to Kansas 22 years ago in order to build a larger dairy farm - and that they did!  Many locals from Bradford County make this trip in order to visit the McCartys and check out their amazing dairy farms.

License plate game was in full force!!!

We made it!

After the mountains of Colorado, Kansas was....well...FLAT!

 We have a good friend named Jim who is working on climbing the highest mountain in each of the United States.  When he heard we were traveling to Kansas, he recommended we check out the highest summit there....please notice our beautiful rented Cadillac Escalade pictured below.....

 We drove this thing on many dirt roads trying to find this summit Jim spoke of....I'm sure we are one of the first customers to drive this vehicle on those roads!

BUT -- we made it - and it was awesome!

Obviously we were not on a mountain - but Mt. Sunflower is the highest natural point in Kansas coming in at 4,039 feet!  Jim told us the spot is owned by local farmers, the Harold Family, and they have made it a neat spot to visit.

Yup....highest spot...

They had a sign-in book where we signed our names -- the book also said, "Leave a beer for the owner!" so we did!

My favorite part was it was so quiet and peaceful - we were the only ones around for miles!

 We then continued east until we got to our home for the next few days: Winona, Kansas!

Winona was SMALL!  There were a few roads with houses, including ours pictured above.  There was a feed mill, a restaurant...and that's about it!

 The day we headed to Rexford to visit the McCartys clocked in at 101 degrees - but we didn't let that slow us down!

We made it!

I love the Sugar Run sign hanging on the fence.

Tom let me take this jeep out for a spin with the family!

I haven't driven stick since high school - so fun!

Tom and Judy gave us a great tour of their farm.

COWS!!!!!!!!!

MORE COWS!

This milking parlor operates 24/7!

Great picture of their property in Rexford.

After the tour, we headed back to their home to relax and cool off!

 We had such a good visit!!

Ken and I went to high school together - it was great seeing him again!

 We spent one more night in Winona and then headed west again....

We stopped at the Buffalo Bill sculpture in Oakley, Kansas.  Mike saw on a billboard that you had to kiss the buffalo in order to have good luck...so kiss we did!

We stopped at the Old Town Museum in Burlington, Colorado.

Fake antelope here....

....but we did see real antelope in Kansas!

The museum was really neat -- Allie found some OLD Barbies!

The saloon....

Country Store....

A barn where weddings would have been held -- Cam gave us a great rendition of a song from his lesson book!

Dad checking out the old farming pictures and sharing his memories of using that machinery. 

One room school house

The Soda Fountain!

We kept moving!

Here come the Rockys!

Once we got into the Rocky Mountains, we stopped in Georgetown to ride the open-air car!

Yes, we went across that bridge!!!

Here we go!!!

Uh oh...are those rain clouds????

My dad said he really enjoyed our ride.

Yes...it rained...a lot!  Cam took cover under the seats!

But we survived and the rain stopped!

Cold and wet but all smiles!

 We then kept moving through the Rocky Mountains in search of our final destination...

WE MADE IT!

Things to a little crazy in the car after hours or riding....that bag of Bugles definitely helped things!

 BUT yes, we made it to Elk Run in Grand Lake, Colorado.

We loved this house!

 We loved our Air BnB but it was so sad to see the devastation left from the East Troublesome Fire from October of 2020.   It started in Grand County on the Arapaho National Forest.  Within 3 days, the fire had spread to over 10,000 acres and then spread dramatically over the next 4 days to 187,964 acres.  The fire did go into the Rocky Mountain National Park, crossed the Continental Divide and made it all the way to Estes Park.   Many roads and hiking trails are still closed because of the damage from this horrific fire.

 We couldn't figure out if the home were were staying in was saved from the wild fires or if it was built back again.  There was damage from the wildfire all around the property.

This was the lot right next to our home.

For all the devastation it was still a beautiful spot!

We enjoyed both the beautiful night sky and my dad and my old standby dinner!

 The next morning we were hanging out on the deck and all of a sudden Mike said, "MOOSE!!"  This little guy came pretty close to our house.  Little did we know we'd be seeing many more during our stay!

 We headed out to do some hiking and learned a very important lesson about Grand County, Colorado....if you see cars pulled over, you stop too!!! 

A momma and her baby!!!

 Onward to Adams Falls!

Not nearly as nerve-wracking as Maine!

Adams Falls!

We tried to recreate Bubble Rock in Acadia!

These were Mule Deer and yes, they were that close to us!

Ummm....took this picture after the hike...

 We then decided to do a few fun things in Grand Lake!

So beautiful!



A sign of good things to come!  I found these new flowers while walking around Elk Run.

Mini golfing with a beautiful view!

These little guys were everywhere!

More mommas and babies!

 We visited the Kawuneeche Valley for the first time during the evening.  We were so hopeful that we would see more moose and wildlife!

And we did!!!  We were SO excited as we began to see moose.  Little did we know that by the end of our trip, Dad would be saying, "Never mind, it's just another moose!"

An entire herd of elk!

 The next day we traveled the Trail Ridge Road.  The road covers 48 miles between Grand Lake and Estes Park and runs through the Rocky Mountains National Park.  

Here we come!

We were surprised by how quickly we climbed when we started the trip.  We climbed 4,000 feet higher into the sky within a matter of minutes.  You can see the Kawuneeche Valley pictured below.

Onward!

 We were all excited to realize that the snow we had been seeing on the tops of these mountains would soon be right along the road.  Cam asked if he could jump out and make a "June Snowball".  Yes!

                                                                

This highway truly is a highway to the sky.  Being able to see the changes in the environment as we climbed was really neat....and also a little bit scary.  A snow squall blew through while we were getting close to the highest elevation and visibility was very limited -- on all sides of the car!

 The temperature dropped steadily as we climbed upward - it began around 75 degrees and did drop down into the 30s!  We got out at the Alpine Visitor Center and I got this picture of the snow that was all around.  We were officially in the Tundra!

We were able to get a few more stamps in our Passport books!

Luckily the bad weather didn't last long so we were able to enjoy these beautiful views as we continued onward to Estes Park!

Yes....I did sing some tunes from "The Sound of Music" while we were here!!!

We saw several Yellow-Bellied Marmots out on the rocks.

 We got to climb a few rocks as well but again, nothing compared to Acadia!

 

We stopped at another Visitor Center in order to earn a Junior Ranger Badge.

Allie checked the temp of the stream -- it came in at a chilly 46 degrees!

They took the oath and became Junior Rangers of the Rocky Mountains!

My dad loved the Rockies.  He said several times, "This is just beautiful."

A coyote ran right across our path!

We did really well with the License Plate game this time around - the only states we were lacking were Alaska, Hawaii and Washington, D.C.

 We made it to Estes Park and had a delicious lunch of BISON BURGERS!

This little guy was cool - we saw him right before we stopped for lunch...

....and we're pretty sure he followed us to the restaurant!

We tried so hard to find Bighorn Sheep but to no avail!

It was then time to head back along the trail to Grand Lake.

There's our valley

Even though we saw a lot of moose and elk, it was still pretty exciting!!

 We also did a bit of hiking on the River Trail.  This didn't last long as it was so devastated from the wildfires that there wasn't much to see.  I truly hope this area can recover and grow back to its true beauty!

And last but certainly not least!  My dad spotted Prairie Dogs when we were waiting for the bus at Dino Ridge.  They were so cute and we really enjoyed watching them.

So that was our trip.  I am very thankful my dad made the decision to come with us.  He hasn't traveled in 30 years and I know he was a little nervous about it.  He hung in there and did well...and said our next trip will be to Yellowstone!!!