Rockin' the Rockies: Day 1

Did you guys miss us? Yes? No? Well, even if you didn't, I'm just going to pretend that you missed us and our crazy shenanigans so much that you didn't even know what to do without us. Okay, so maybe that's taking it a bit far - but hey, you never know!

So where were we, then? Last Thursday we left early in the morning (11:30 is early, right?) and drove out to Estes Park, Colorado, where we stayed for 3 days.

I'd never been there before, or ever seen the Rocky Mountains.

They're a bit different from the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina that my family would drive to in the fall for vacations. Mostly the part where there were evergreens all over the mountains.

Well, except at the top.

Our first day there we went on a hike with Tom's family and relatives, up a 7 mile roundtrip trail to see the Calypso Cascades. We saw some beautiful sights.

Hiking through the mountains was amazing. I was constantly intrigued and amazed by the beautiful forms of the trees around us.

I had taken 100 photos already by the time we actually reached the falls!

Not that that's a bad thing.

The view of the falls was breathtaking.

But Tom and I decided we needed to be a little closer to the action. So, naturally, we climbed it.

Those little red and white dots off to the bottom-right? Yeah, those are people.

We were high.

While we were at the bottom of the falls, we ran into a curious little chipmunk.

This little guy was fearless. He let me get quite close with my camera - without zooming in.

We saw one of the rare Calypso Orchids on our hike back down the mountain, thanks to a professional photographer and apparent flower enthusiast who was busy snapping away on the forest floor. She was nice to let me get a quick shot in with my little camera.

What a beautiful flower.

So that's Day 1 of our vacay to the Rockies. Have any of you guys ever been there? To Estes Park or any part of the Rocky Mountains? Did you go hiking too - maybe even on the same trail? Or are you planning a different sort of getaway for the summer? Let's talk about fun trips and good times!

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