Rocky Mountain National Park



Day 31: Monday, July 29, 2019

We were on the road again by 8 am despite a “gully washer” (Sean’s term!) sweeping through exactly when Sean was finishing up the RV pack-up. I hurried the kids into the car and by the time we were at the dump station, the heavy rain had passed through and the skies were brightening up. This happened a few times during our time in SD so I think this just might be part of their summer weather.

We crossed into our 9th state of the trip—Colorado!! (we didn’t get a glimpse of the state sign, though) We made a Walmart stop about 30 miles out from the campground and picked up groceries and lunch. We planned to stay at the Jellystone Campground in Estes Park, CO because we had such fond memories of the times we went to the Jellystone in Virginia when the kids were little. It was a similar campground with a jumping pillow, mini golf, and a pool (though no water slides or splash pad like the other one). They also did the flag raising and lowering with Yogi each day.



When we were checking in at the registration office, there was an apparent medical emergency with a young girl. We stayed our distance but as the minutes went by, it looked increasingly more serious and Sean (who is EMT-certified) stepped in to help while the paramedics were being called. He doesn’t like it when I volunteer him for things, especially offering medical support, but I could tell the family was in an utter panic as their daughter appeared to be losing consciousness. Sean stepped in gracefully and calmly and I was in awe of how well he handled the situation. I helped by talking to the 911 operator when the mom couldn’t talk anymore and we stayed with them until the paramedics arrived. It turns out that the girl was dehydrated and suffering the effects of the high altitude and improved pretty quickly when she got some fluids. Sean is very humble, but I was so proud of how he supported these strangers and helped to make a scary situation a little easier for them. This is why he is the one who will handle any medical emergency in our family if it ever arises, as I am not nearly calm enough and much too panicked in these situations.

Once we finally got the RV set up, we took the kids to explore the mini golf and jumping pillow, then participated in the flag lowering and dance party with Yogi. The kids swam at the pool for a while and then we heated up some leftovers for an easy dinner and made s’mores over the campfire. We called it an early night to be ready for getting into the park at a reasonable time in the morning.












Day 32: Tuesday, July 30, 2019

We got up and at ‘em pretty early to be at Rocky Mountain National Park by 8 am. We headed straight to the visitor center for the junior ranger books and the line was very slow moving….ugh, but patience is a virtue as my mom always said.
  


From there, we headed up the mountain to drive Trail Ridge Road and hike up the Alpine Ridge trail, 200 stairs up to the peak at 12,005 feet. We saw four elk chilling on the tundra and we learned that the RM elk migrate up to the tundra in the summer for the lush grass that only grows for about 40 days, and then the elk from other local forests migrate up to the meadows which is a higher point for them. Interesting!!












We checked out the Alpine visitor center and then headed back down the mountain to the Junior Ranger Headquarters. We chatted with some of the rangers and explored their station. Barrett and Kinsey got a lot of interest and admiration in their vests and many badges!




Next we headed to the area where they would be hosting the Discovery Days, an event to showcase all the various ranger jobs. We had a quick picnic lunch and then spent about 2 hours exploring the 8-10 stations of ranger jobs. It was very interesting and both kids really liked getting to scoop out the trash from the pit toilets—disgusting!! Barrett even said he would like to do that job, or be a law enforcement ranger. Kinsey’s favorite was the science ranger and she asked a ton of questions to learn more about the research that ranger did.
















The kids definitely earned their junior ranger badges with this event, so they were sworn in before we left.


While we were there, a ranger showed the kids a small bat that had been sleeping in between the rocks on the building. It was the first time for them to see a bat up close and it impacted Barrett enough that he was talking about it after bedtime that night. Now he really wants to go to Austin and see the bats fly out from under the Congress Bridge.


Though we were pretty tired and wanted to call it a day at that point, we knew we had to try to get out to Bear Lake, which is usually so packed that it’s impossible to get to any earlier in the day. We got there as the crowds were exiting, and we were able to do the lake loop hike before thunder and storms rolled in. It was a pretty lake and an easy little hike, but it’s hard to top some of the other amazing lakes we’ve seen on this trip like Avalanche Lake (Glacier) and Crater Lake.




On our way home we drove through the town of Estes Park, CO, which is a cute, little town—I wish we had more time to explore! The kids went off to the jumping pillow and made a friend, then went to swim for a little while. Then we cooked a delicious dinner of grilled chicken, macaroni salad, and corn on cob. I love some good sweet corn in the summer and this did not disappoint! We made s’mores and hung by the fire before calling it a night.

Tomorrow the adventure continues!

Rocky Mountain National Park Highlights
BDG-seeing a marmot and a bat
KPG-learning about all the different types of rangers
EAG-seeing the many jobs rangers can do throughout the park
SGG-seeing the bull elk at the alpine ridge

Location: Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA

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