An Epic Drive Through The Rockies

These photos start in Rockie Mountain park at the east entrance. The continue through the park as we drove along trail ridge road. We stopped in Coyote Valley to hike a few miles. Then we stopped at another valley to check out a family of Elk in the woods. Afterwards, we stopped in Grand Lake for some BBQ and exploring. We drove south along Arapaho national forest, winter park, and then through rockies via I-70 back to Denver. I highly recommend the drive.

Here is a map of where we went. Click the "view larger map" link to see the route we took.


View Larger Map

An Epic Rockie Drive

Roxborough Part 2

Halfway through the trail, we came upon Persse Place. This house was built around 1900. One of the first settlers in the area.

 

Stacy peeked in.

 

The land formations on the way back were great.

 

Walking is always fun.

 

Roxborough Part 1

We hiked through beautiful Roxborough Park. The trail was about 2.5 miles. It wound through grassy meadows and spectacular rock formations.

 

We look pretty.

 

Awesome rock formations everywhere.

 

I liked this rock formation, kind of like a finger. What do you see?

 

Castlewood Canyon

We drove down near the source of Cherry Creek (the bike trail near our house). A storm was coming through, but we toughed it out. The view was worth it.

 

We hiked into the canyon and up to the creek, but the bridge collapsed. We took photos of plants and cacti on the way.

 

The sky was wild. It seemed as it were cut into two parts - one sunny and beautiful and the other looming and scary.

 

The sunny side of helped make this shadow of us.

 

Barr Lake

Stacy and I drove north to Barr Lake Park. We rode the 9 mile path around the lake and enjoyed the view. For about a mile, two small deer ran along with us. Stacy rode a hard tail with two slicks. She had no problems. However, I popped both tires within the last mile of the ride. Instead of fixing the wheels, I just ran the trail out. We finished with the last light of the day. Stacy took this shot when I was changing my tires.

 

More hiking pics (Stacy's first blogging attempt)

 

Steph said she could cross off a location from her "Places to see in the world" list. We really enjoyed our time being refreshed by the outdoors.

 

Superman up in the mountains

 

Shaun left this one out of his original post, but I had to add it in. I like how he managed to get the whole waterfall in the shot. It was so loud with the roar of the water, but peaceful at the same time.

 

The weather changes so quickly in the mountains.. as Shaun said we headed down with the first crack of thunder. It wasn't because we were tired or anything :/ yeah, thunder.. that's it.

Bear Lake

After our hike I pooped at the visitor's center (and caused a line). Then Stacy drove down the road to Bear lake. Lightning and Thunder were roaring in the sky, but we walked the mile around the lake. It was worth it.

A little guy eating some bread.

 

Stacy love mountain lakes. Who doesn't?

 

Posing for the camera.

 

Interesting grasses in the lake.

 

Estes Park

Steph drove 12 hours from Dallas, TX. We spent a day walking in the Rockies.

 

There are hundreds (maybe more) of trailes in Estes park. We each chose one. We came across my choice first: Fern Falls. It was about an 8 mile hike. Yes, I chose Fern falls because of Mr. Fernando "The Furnace" Pacheo. As always, Fern has led us great places.

Here are some pics on the way to the falls. For me, this was the most beautiful location in Colorado.

Eating under a rock:

 

Little Steph:

 

Fern Falls:

 

After the Wedding

We drove to Brooklyn with Jess and Ryan and then rode the LIRR to Jamaica and eventually Farmingdale. Again, our flight was cancelled back to Denver (thanks Jet Blue). We stayed the night with my Grandma and went to the beach. Stacy flew out the next morning (the last seat on a 7:50am flight to Denver). I stayed until Friday.

 

Mario went to Jones Beach with me and I tried to belly flop in the ocean like Mr. Kris Kubiak. It hurt.

 

I played with the waves.

 

Grandma and I went to the Bayard Cutting Aboretum and drank coffee in the cool breeze. The flowers were fantastic.

 

Jumpstreet

Our flights to and from JFK were cancelled. Thanks Jet Blue!

We had an extra day in Denver before the wedding. We drove to Jumpstreet before our flight. Stacy didn't jump (her back was a little sore).

At Jumpstreet, you pay $12 for an hour of trampoline madness. The floors and walls are trampolines. There is also a seperate trampoline dodgeball court.

Here is Lenny flipping.

 

Stacia flipping (she could do front and back flips)

 

Stacia taught me to flip.

 

Jenn and Pete's Wedding:

We went from Denver to JFK to Massena. It was an epic journey. We had a blast. Click the "view larger map" to see the basic route we took.


View Larger Map


Ryan and Jess picked us up from JFK and Ryan drove us straight up to Massena.

Jenn gave Stacy a nice set of earrings.

 

Pete hugging Stacy.

 

Pete and Jenn at the rehearsal.

 

Ryan and Jess post drive.