Weekend Getaway

Isaac came home last Wednesday evening and said to me, "Jaycee, I need you to do something for me."

After I hesitantly said "okkk?", he surprised me by saying, "Let's go to Colorado and spend the weekend in Estes Park hiking, and biking." 

After getting approval from my supervisor, we started planning our mini-vacay. I reserved a room at the Coyote Mountain Lodge while Isaac planned our activities for the weekend. 

We headed west Thursday evening and made a pit-stop in Russell to spend the night and drop Mr. Benson off with my parents.

We hit the road early on Friday morning, (so early, we were the first customers at McDonalds!) and had quite a fun drive to Colorado. We drank way too much coffee, and spent 8 hours dancing and singing our hearts out. I'm married to such a fun guy!

After arriving in Estes Park, we walked up and down main street and the river walk, and had lunch at Chicagos Best Pizza.

There are so many retail stores in Estes. If you are in need of cheap T-Shirts or ice cream, this is your place. I read in a visitors guide that Estes has over 3 million visitors a year!

After getting acquainted with the town and checking into our motel, we rented bikes and hit the trails for an 8 mile ride. 

 While riding around Estes Lake, we came across hundreds of Elk. They were in rut, and ran around the town like they owned the place.

 Such beautiful scenery!

 After our bike ride, we cleaned up and headed to dinner. I asked Isaac to choose a place for us to eat, and the below picture is the result of that:

 He MUST analyze every restaurant within a 10 mile radius...price, menu variety, location, reviews..and so on. This could explain why we get a long so well, we're just two peas in a pod.

 After hours (it seemed) of analyzing, Isaac finally decided Ed's Cantina would be the perfect place to have dinner, and it certainly was. Isaac ordered the gigantic 14'er burrito while I opted for the tequila chicken and bean tacos, which were scrumptious.

The next morning we woke up early, filled our Camelbacks, and geared up to head to Rocky Mountain National Park to hike to Fern Lake. It was a crisp, refreshing 40 degrees at the beginning of our hike. I was a bit nervous about meeting a bear or mountain lion since we didn't have our bear spray in tow, but after 30 minutes or so, those worries passed.

 The nearly 8 mile hile was full of beautiful scenery and animals. 

Isaac is the perfect hiking companion; so helpful, prepared, and considerate of my slower pace.  

 The first half of our hike was a moderate climb to Fern Falls (2 pictures above). The second half was a continually upward climb (or instant butt lift, as I called it) to the picturesque Fern Lake.

 Isaac decided to soak his feet at the lake, which proved to be a wise decision. He wasn't nearly as sore the next day. 

 The hike down to the trailhead obviously quite a bit easier than our hike up, and we did it in about half the time. 

 This hike really pushed me to my limit, and I loved it. 

 We did it!!

 That evening, Estes was hosting a Beer, Brats and Bands outdoor party in the park. Morgan and Eddie came up from Boulder to spend the evening with us. We started out in the park listening to the music, and then headed to main street for a little window shopping and dinner. 

 It was so nice spending time with them! 

 That evening, Isaac and I spent some time on main street shopping, relaxing by the Riverwalk, eating ice cream and watching the KSU vs. OU game.

 It got a bit cold downtown, so we retired to the ol' Coyote Mountain Lodge where we observed "Fat Saturday" eating a variety of junk food, drinking coffee and beer, and watching football. I kept telling myself that surely the junk food calories don't count, since we hiked 8 miles...right?

I woke up the next morning to the sound of an Elk bugling right outside of our motel. 

Isaac and I went outside to see what all the ruckus was about, and saw three bulls just walking around in the yard. Isaac got within 15 feet, and got some wonderful footage. 

We spent our last morning in Estes taking a walk around Estes Lake and taking in the fresh mountain air and scenery one last time. On the way home, we stopped in Loveland for lunch at Rockbottom Brewery. Isaac had a burger and I had a Southwest salad. I recently started eating salads ( I went 22 years without doing so) and am constantly craving them. I think my body is making up for all those years without it. 

I am convinced that September is the perfect time to visit Colorado. The trees are turning beautiful fall shades, the temperature is in the low 70's and there aren't as many visitors are the busy summer seasons. 

I hope we can visit again soon!