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Published: August 15th 2014
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Adam's Falls
This the deer we saw on the way to Adam's falls. It started two years ago with my parents telling us about the retirement trip they had planed, one which would take them all round the world in 4 months, starting with a road trip across America from Denver to San Francisco, on to Hawaii for two weeks, then New Zealand, Australia and Tasmania, then finishing the trip in Thailand. Then came the invitation, would Paula and myself like to come along? And who could pass up an off like that?!
So here we are, starting the trip of a life time. Yesterday we flew out to Denver, Colorado to start an epic journey, one that is going to take us all over the world.
Colorado is stunning. We have spent two days up in the mountains in a town called Winter Park and we have couldn't have asked for a better start to the trip.
On Friday night we went to see some live music and in the audience there was the most lovely couple who invited us back to their mountain home for an all American evening. As well as the invite, they told us about some of the local sites.
Adam's Falls
This is the bottom of Adam's Falls. So on Saturday we went for a trip to Grand Lake, with a plan to go for a walk up to Adams falls, but when we got to Grand lake there was a meeting of the local Corvette club, so we had a look around all the cars first, there where some beautiful old Corvettes including a classic 59.
After that we went for a walk up to the falls. The sun was out and so was the wild life, as we where walking up to the falls we spotted a deer just off the track grazing.
We carried on up the trail and saw butterfly's, birds and chipmunks. The falls themselves where pretty as well, with the mountains making a fantastic backdrop.
After that we headed up to Ginia and Kens' house. It is absolutely incredible, built out in the mountains with a beautiful view. While there we had a few beers, played horseshoes and frisbee golf followed by pizza and more beers. We where also treated to songs and stories around the campfire and we tried s'mores for the first time.
On Monday Paula and
Adam's Falls
This is Paula stood at the top of the falls. myself spent the day with a friend if hers that she met when working for a camp a few years back. Cory spent the day showing us around the camp he works at now in Idaho Springs. We grabbed lunch in the local pizza place where we had the first experience of a mountain pie which is a pizza with a very thick crust so you can fit more topping on. After that we headed to the local brewery called Tommyknockers, where we had to have the sampler.
The Rocky Mountains National Park was our next port of call. The park is has a road that runs all around the park, taking you from the lower valleys all the way up to the top of the mountains at 12,000 feet, with stops along the way at the points of interest and incredible view points.
Our first stop was an old ranch from 1915, originally a homestead and eventually turned into a dude ranch where people could stay and go hunting. What I found interesting was the time scale of it all, when I think of homesteads and cowboys I think of it in terms
hundreds of years ago, but this ranch was set up in 1915 and was still running until the 1970s.
The rest of the trip around the Rockies was all amazing vistas and hikes to the top of peeks. I'm reasonably fit, I have an active job teaching kids outdoor activities like rock climbing and canoeing, but at 12,000 feet just breathing is a task in itself, hiking even 100 meters to the top of a peek is hard work, but the effort to get there is well worth it with for the views from the top.
Our last point of call was steam boat, all we had heard from everyone was how beautiful it was. It didn't disappoint. It was a few hours away so we set off late morning just I time to get there for lunch, so we stopped in one of the local smokehouses where the menu was pulled pork, slow cooked brisket and local sausages, fantastic. After that we had a walk around town, if you imagine a modern take on a wild western town your probably not far off. Unfortunately it was a bit of a fly by visit
as we had a long days travel the next day, so we had to get back to pack and get a good rest.
Our time at Winter Parks has come to an end and it is time to move on to so we here new. Ahead of us is a 600 mile drive to Zion National Park, but our time in Denver has been amazing and we couldn't have asked for a better start to the trip.
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