Denver

We found an awesome hotel just outside of the city and enjoyed relaxing in the hotel that night.  The next day we headed out to Denver but instead of visiting the downtown area we decided to do a museum instead – The Science and Nature Museum.  This was a very good choice because the museum was awesome and very much geared towards children.  It was cool too because when we went through the wildlife area we discovered that we had seen most of the animals from the areas we had been to and we also realized how much we had learned about the wildlife throughout the trip!  It kind of was a nice wrap-up to our trip.  We also went to their awesome IMAX theater to see the adorable movie Born to be Wild.  It talked about how two women in Africa had taken it upon themselves to raise orangutans and elephants.  The footage was very beautiful and very interesting to watch!  They also had a display with robotic dinosaurs which was VERY realistic!!  Not surprising that Elisabeth would not get anywhere near the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops!  The robots even had sensors in their eyes that showed what they were seeing on a TV screen above.  When someone would get too close the T-Rex would sniff him and let out a loud roar.  It was very cool!  There were other awesome displays including one on geology and human health where you could use a personalized card to measure your level of health.  We stayed at the museum the whole day and just grabbed a pizza on the way home to eat in our hotel room watching the Tiger’s game (Go Tigers!). 

A piece of the moon!!

Rocky Mountain National Park

This would be our last national park on the trip…sadly.  We had an amazing drive up to the park, through all the well-known ski resorts in Canada including Aspen and Vail.  Driving along the Colorado River was spectacular; the road was winding along the river edge through tunnels and over mountains.  The trees are just starting to change colors and so there are whole mountains that are colored yellow.  We were a little concerned about the weather coming into this park in October since it is at least at 9,000 feet above sea level.  We were originally thinking to stay in a cabin but there were none in the park so we opted for one of the only campsites still open on the west side of the park – Timber Creek.  Since it was after the peak season than most of the campgrounds were closed and they had shut off the running water, so the campsite was only half the price that it usually was.  Well this worked out for us but it did get a little chilly at night at that altitude!  The first day we were there we just got settled and heard our first elk brays in the distance.  This is mating season for the elks so the males are braying all night and day to protect their territories.  We saw elk everywhere, including in our campsite!  The bull elk were huge!  We found out that there was a field right near our campsite that was the main stomping grounds for the elk, there were people huddled around everywhere to watch the elk, waiting for the bull elk to battle over the females.  It was really cool to see! 

We went out to see some short hikes in the area, first checking out a historical site where there used to be a resort before the area became a national park.  They had taken out most of the buildings when the park became a national park, but they did leave a small cluster of buildings for historical reasons.  We then did a 4 mile hike out crossing over the not-so-mighty Colorado River.  This is where the river is just starting out and looks more like a small creek here than the Colorado we would imagine. 

This is the beginning of the Colorado River!

The next day we tried to get up not so late to get out on the Green Mountain trail for an 8 mile hike. The hike climbed up the mountain through the forest before opening up to the meadows that stretched out into the distance.  The meadow was gorgeous and we spent some time to look at the birds and cross over the little bridge that goes over a little river running through the meadow.  The hike was somewhat strenuous but very beautiful, especially with the trees changing colors.  It started sprinkling at one point but never really rained very hard.  Thankfully this time we came equipped with our rain gear!! 

 That night we had planned on doing a nice steak dinner since we had done the grocery shopping not too long ago.  We got back not too late to start the fire for our dinner.  It started to rain a little and we realized that it may really come down so we rigged a little tent to huddle under and eat our dinner.  Elisabeth loved it!  It worked pretty well, especially right next to the fire to keep us warm while it was raining around us.  We went in the car when we started seeing lightning.  Besides the Loop Trail in Glacier this was the first rain that we had during the trip.  We ended up having a fun night anyways. 

The next day we waited for the sun to heat up enough to dry our tent before packing everything up.  We crossed the scenic road in the park that day, which happens to be one of the highest major highways in the US.  The views were amazing! 

We stopped at the Alpine Visitor Center which was over 11,000 feet.  We found out that in about 10 days they would be closing this road due to impeding snow storms.  Since this area of the park was above tree level than it was considered the alpine tundra, which makes it a very fragile ecosystem.  Surprisingly there are a number of flowers that are still able to grow at this altitude!!  Elisabeth completed her junior ranger booklet at the visitor center and became an official junior ranger of Rocky Mountain National Park!  The ranger that inaugurated her did a really nice job by doing the sermon and announcing to everyone in the visitor center that she was the parks most recent junior ranger.  Elisabeth was very proud!  Antoine congratulated her with a few gifts including a little stuffed moose and a book.  We continued on through the park but decided that we wouldn’t stay in the campground on the other side of the park due to the weather, and it was very cold at night!!  So we had lunch at Estes Park just outside the park before heading down to Denver. 

Moab, Utah

Moab is a little city that exists thanks to the tourism that comes to the local national parks – Arches and Canyonlands.  Here you can find any of the extreme sports from rafting, to driving a hummer through the desert, and especially mountain biking.  But the city has a cool vibe to it kind of like a ski resort where you can tell the people are there to have some serious fun!  We offered ourselves a bit of luxury and stayed at an awesome campsite with all the amenities including a pool and a hot tub.  The first day we spent just relaxing at the campsite and going in the pool.  We ended up meeting this really nice family from Nancy, France who were on a 16 month bike trek from Canada to Buenos Aires in Argentina!  Their only transportation being by bicycle and camping along the way.  Each of the bikes were tandem with a seat in the front for two of the kids and the third riding his own bike.  Well to say the least we were very impressed by this ambitious feat!  We ended up having them over to our campsite for dinner that night, which was fun for the kids who played in the tent. 

The next day we went to Arches National Park which had some really cool features including the famous arches that are created from erosion of the sandstone over the years.  The heat was overbearing so we didn’t go crazy with the hikes, but we did do a few 2 mile hikes out to see the arches. 

Our favorite was actually the last hike that we did which led out to the Sand Dune Arch.  This was a very cool hike and my favorite part of the park.  The hike leads through this narrow canyon with fine Sahara sand cushioning our feet.  It was a real little oasis in the shade and fun to explore!  That night we went back to the campground to chill out in the pool and we had dinner with our friends again while the kids played. 

We had a day to relax before going to Canyonlands the day after.  We took our friends advice and went out to Mill Creek that was a recreation area just behind Moab.  It is not very well-known but is a great place to walk around and cool off in the afternoon sun.  The creek runs between the canyon walls which has created an oasis of jungle like plants and conditions.  We walked along the creek and found a little spot to have our picnic.  Elisabeth waded in the creek a little and I made her a little boat out of sticks to sail down the creek.  We jumped in the pool before heading into town to have a pizza at a local restaurant.  It was perfect weather to sit out on the patio for dinner and there was an awesome ambiance! 

The next day we tried to get an early start out to Canyonlands which was about an hour drive away.  The park is naturally separated by the Green River and the Colorado River into three sections including The Maze, The Island in the Sky, and The Needles.  We went to the part of the park that is the most accessible by car which is the Island in the Sky.  The Needles require a three hour drive to get to and the Maze is accessed only by backcountry hiking.  We went around to the various vista points to check out the amazing views.  We saw some cool stuff including a suspended boulder that was on top of a hoodoo.  After lunch we took a hike to overlook Upheaval dome which looks like a giant crater.  Scientists have various theories on how this was formed including the existence of a salt bed under the ground eating away at the landscape and also the theory that a meteorite had come crashing down here.  We then headed down to Grand View overlook that was awesome because you could see for hundreds of miles in the distance.  It was very cool.  That night we headed back to the campsite to jump in the pool and have dinner.  We went out for an ice cream dessert in town and to walk around a bit.  We discovered this awesome little used book store where we bought a few books. 

The next day we would head out of here towards Rocky Mountain National Park!  On the way there we stopped at a dinosaur museum that was on the way.  Elisabeth was kind of freaked out by the robotic dinosaurs but we had fun looking at the fossils and learning about the dinosaurs.  We just had to keep reassuring Elisabeth that they were not real!