Staycation

We've lived in Colorado for over two years and every time the kids get a break from school we go somewhere out of state.  I think it's a result of working for the airline for so long and also living in Texas, because despite how much we liked it there we also wanted to leave as much as possible.  We're starting to realize that Colorado is an incredibly beautiful state and there are lots of amazing places to visit right here, so when the kids had Friday off we decided to go on our first in state trip.

We have friends that have been all over Colorado so took some suggestions from them, and then Charlie did a little research and realized that besides the ski lifts, not much is running after Labor Day.  Apparently there is tons to do from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but a lot of places shut down as soon as summer is over.

Charlie found a great two bedroom condo in Vail and we made that our home base.  We spent Friday and Saturday night there and during the day on Saturday we went to Glenwood Springs.  We did a one mile completely uphill through rocks and streams hike to Hanging Lake, which was breathtaking, and then hit the hot springs in the evening.  It took us about an hour and 45 minutes to get up the mountain, which was no easy feat.  The girls were super gung ho and excited for most of the journey and Andy went along for the ride because he was forced to.  It was a lot steeper than I thought it was going to be and more rock climbing that walking along a path, but a great adventure.  The lake at the top of the mountain was beautiful and totally worth the trip.  The girls did great until the final 1/4 mile on the descent and then Amanda finally lost it when she fell and scraped her knee.  I ended up carrying her on my back for about 1/8 of a mile which was a little bit of a challenge but we finally made it down the mountain.

After we got some food in the kids we went to the hot springs.  You actually don't get to go directly into the springs, instead they pump the water into a huge swimming pool.  Well, two pools, one that is around 105 degrees and another that is around 93 degrees.  It had a slight sulfur smell and you more hung out in the water than really swam, but the kids enjoyed it and I found it pretty relaxing.

The next morning after a great buffet breakfast we walked around Vail Village and there was even a little market going on.  It was fun to spend some time in the outdoors as a family with no rushing or needing to be anywhere and to know that we were just two hours away from home by car.  No airport needed.