View from Trail Ridge Road

Every summer we head over to Grand Lake and play. We start out at the Fat Cat Cafe, which has the best breakfast in the world. Try it for yourself. The owner, Sally, is a fantastic hostess. I thought she told me that she has about 200 people per day for her weekend buffet. Pastries, scotch eggs, tons of bacon, cinnamon rolls and desserts of all kinds, I could go on and on…

Best Breakfast Around

My kids aren’t really into hiking these days so we planned a short hike on the Green Mountain trail. Our main goal was to see MOOSE, which we were very successful.

Moose in Big Meadow

Moose Cow and Calf

We saw bulls, a cow and calf and many wild flowers on our way to Big Meadow. It rained all day and the mosquitoes were horrible so it was pretty difficult to keep the kids motivated. All in all I would highly recommend a early summer hike on the West side of Rocky Mountain National Park. The Calypso Orchids were just amazing.

Calypso Orchids

We also spent about an hour at Grand Lake watching the sailboats race. The best way to finish off the day is at Grand Lake Chocolates for some of their world famous ice cream.

Sailboats on Grand Lake

I have said this once and I will say it again, one of the best advantages of living in Estes Park is access to Rocky Mountain National Park. The second weekend in March my family headed out with our snowshoes to RMNP. We hiked up a back country winter trail to Lake Haiyaha to stomp, sled and play on the ice. Watch the video our our silly antics and the amazing igloo we warmed up in between sled runs (Many thanks to our forum friends who built it the weekend before). We brought our heavy duty Thermos with hot herbal tea. We bought a light weight roll up sled at the hardware store, but ended up sliding on our snowpants instead.

If you are wondering what those shiny rolls are in my husband’s backpack are they are reflective windshield shades. They work fantastic to keep your seat warm while sitting on the ice or snow and the best part is they are cheap. I picked them up at a garage sale. The snow has all melted from the April storm and it looks like Spring here. The golf course is greening up and we are starting to see some Spring flowers. Bye for now!

I think the weatherman is right on, school was canceled here today. My kids are delighted and ready to break out the sleds.

This is the forecast from weather underground:
Today
Snow. Snow accumulation of 6 to 12 inches. Highs 30 to 36. North winds 10 to 20 mph.

It’s time get out the snow gear and go shoveling.  I have an appt at 9:30 am across town.

Here is the view from my balcony today

The sense of community in this small town is great. Halloween is one example of our town supporting a family event wholeheartedly.  Around 5pm on October 31, the 100 East and West blocks of Elkhorn Avenue are blocked off and the trick-or-treaters descend on downtown.  Local businesses hand out candy to all the kids (or adults??). There are firetrucks, police cars and a haunted ambulance parked in the streets for the kids to tour. Laura’s Fudge hands out 4000 caramel apples! Ed’s Cantina had a haunted maze this year for kids brave enough to enter. The TV station interviewed trick-or-treaters and then they play it back on their station all week.  I know Elkhorn Properties handed out at least 30 pounds of candy.  We had a great time greeting friends and clients and making new friends too.  This was a safe, family friendly environment for the kids to enjoy Halloween and I just want to thank the businesses and volunteers that made it possible.

Here is my broker, Mike Carnes, who grew his hair out just for Halloween.

Mike

Some other noteable creative costumes. . .

Toilet Girl

Cute Bee

Mustard Man and Ketchup Kid

My Tricksters

Apple bob at the pool

For a small mountain town, the resources we have compare to that of a much larger city. We have many recreation opportunities that are great for families and retirees alike. I want to brag about our Aquatic Center. I took my three daughters to the Estes Park Aquatic Center on Wednesday evening for family night. For $2 per person, swimming is offered from 7-8:30 p.m. When you think about what it costs to go to a movie or concert, this is cheap entertainment. The physical benefits are great too. They had inflatable toys, noodles, and you could shoot hoops in the shallow end. In the 10′ area there is a rope where you can swing and drop off into the water and a diving board. For little ones there is a shallow play area. Also a few lanes were roped off for lap swimming. The girls enjoyed playing with each other and saw some of their friends too. My kids were sooo wiped out when we got home. I think this is a new Wednesday tradition for us. It will be great for my sanity this winter when it is too cold to play outside.