Wow, Kids! Look At That! (Day 6 -- July 31, 2016)

The day began with breakfast on the terrace at our hotel, the St. Regis in Aspen.  We took full advantage of being in beautiful weather with zero humidity.


After breakfast, Jack and Hadley made friends with some of the local wildlife...the hotel statuary.

Then, we walked around downtown Aspen in the daylight.  It really is a beautiful place!


This picture has some of the ski slopes in the background.  Having never snow skied before, I can't imagine careening down those at full speed.  I would like to give it a try, though.  We would really like to return to Aspen some day.  Less than 24 hours is not long enough to experience this lovely town.
  

Before we packed back up in the car for the drive to Denver, we did find a playground in downtown Aspen to let the younger two run off some energy.



There were two different routes to get from Aspen to Denver -- one was primarily interstate driving, and the other was the Independence Pass, which is only open in the summer months due to the high altitudes and curvy roads.  We chose the second option, as it looked like it crossed over the Continental Divide.  We had no idea how incredible this drive would be, which led to the title of this post. Around every turn we would yell, "Wow, kids!  Look at that!"  I attempted to take pictures from the car window as we continued to climb up and up.

                  

We finally made it above the tree line to the Continental Divide at an elevation of 12,095 feet.  There were patches of snow on the ground in some places.  Once again, jackets would have come in handy, but we managed without them.


We walked down a trail to get a better view of the surrounding Rocky Mountains.
                     




We spent a few minutes just looking at the view and trying to take it all in before we headed back to the car.  The air was definitely thin up there.  It was strange how the altitude affected us in different ways and at different places.  I was the first one to feel the effects of the altitude on this trip at Mesa Verde.  I experienced headaches and slight shortness of breath at the Far View Lodge.  The altitude affected Sidney the most in Aspen.  Dan felt the effects the most at Independence Pass, and it hit Lyndon in Denver.  The younger two never really seemed to be affected.  Dan and I had always heard about sports teams not playing as well in high altitudes when they are used to being closer to sea level.  I never really put much stock in it before, but now I do!  I see why Olympic athletes spend time training in Colorado.  If you are in your peak shape here, you can dominate anywhere!

The rest of the drive to Denver was...something.  We drove through the interesting town of Leadville, CO. It is the highest incorporated city in the US at 10,152 feet.  It has quite a colorful history, which is worth googling, including being the home of the "Unsinkable Molly Brown".  They have burro races the first weekend in August each year.  We spent a few minutes trying to locate t-shirts with the slogan "Get your Ass over the Pass" to no avail.  Apparently, they only sell them the day of the race.  They are missing out on a golden opportunity to capitalize on that race all year long.

The remainder of the drive to Denver was not quite as fun.  We soon made it back to the Interstate only to sit in traffic for several hours.  A drive that should have taken just over an hour took about 2.5 hours.  Apparently, the two lanes of the Interstate (and the mile long tunnel through the mountains) just doesn't have the capacity to handle the high volume of traffic heading back into Denver on Sunday afternoons in the Summer.  I read that this was typical traffic multiple places AFTER we were already sitting in traffic.  Oh, well.  Now we know. Once we arrived in Denver, Dan dropped us at the hotel, and he and Lyndon returned the trusty rental car to the Airport.  We will be hoofing it around Denver for the next several days.

On the Lookout for Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner (Day 5 -- July 30, 2016)

We started the day earlier than usual, because Dan and I had both read that you should begin a visit to Arches National Park in the Summer months by 8 AM.  Otherwise, you ran the risk of huge lines to enter the park.  We actually met our goal and were in the park by 8:00.  It was such a surreal experience.  As you drove over the top of the mountains shielding the park from view, we felt like we had been dropped onto the planet Mars...or in a Road Runner cartoon.  Look out for anvils or packages from the Acme company!  Our first stop was Balanced Rock.


We took the short hike to the base of the formation.


Then, we drove to the Windows Section of the park.  There were half-mile hikes to see several "windows".  Here is North Window.


And...South Window


This one is called the Turret Arch.


We were able to find someone to take a family pic at one of the Windows.


The views were phenomenal as you climbed inside the opening of each arch.




We were really lucky with the cloud cover this morning.  The temperatures stayed in the mid-to-high 80s while we hiked around.  It would have been miserable in the 103 degree temperatures that Moab had been experiencing.

We capped off our visit to Arches National Park with a hike to see Delicate Arch.  This is the most famous of their arches and is the arch featured on the Utah license plate.  We had two options in order to see the arch.  We could hike 1/2 mile uphill to an overlook point, or we could take a 3-mile, very strenuous hike that was mainly uphill over slick rock and not recommended for young children.  Since we didn't bring hiking boots and wanted to get to Aspen before midnight, we decided on the first option.  As we hiked, Jack was on the lookout for wildlife with his new binoculars.
                                           

The hike was beautiful, and we were rewarded with a great view when we reached the top.

Delicate Arch is on the top right of the picture.  The tiny dots around and under it are people who opted for the long hike to the base.  I was glad we didn't attempt that one after I saw that the arch is precariously perched on the edge of a sheer cliff wall.  That would have made me very nervous with the kids.  Someone offered to take a family picture.  Delicate Arch is on top of Dan's head in the picture.


We loaded back up in the car to head to Aspen.  Dan was really excited to see this speed limit sign!


On the drive to Aspen, we passed through Fruita, Colorado, which was the home to Mike the Headless Chicken.  He was a chicken who managed to live 18 months after attempting to be decapitated for dinner one night because the farmer accidentally left the brain stem intact.  It is a fascinating story that is worth googling.  We had a bit of a lunch debacle in Grand Junction due to poor planning on my part, but we persevered with a snack lunch and made it to Aspen.  The kids took a much needed respite from the car with a swim in the St. Regis pool.



We ate dinner at Ajax Tavern, which overlooks the gondola up to the ski slopes.  It was a bit chilly on the patio of the restaurant.  Once again, I earned my mother-of-the-year status by leaving everyone's jackets in Lexington.  I meant for us to grab them on the way out of the door, but I forgot amidst the packing chaos.  I remembered them when we were halfway to the Charlotte airport.  In all fairness, this was the only time we have needed them on the trip.

The gondola was closed to the public for a private event, but the gondola operator let us have a "pony ride" for free around the loading and unloading zone at the bottom of the hill, because she was impressed that the kids brought books to read at dinner.  I think she also wanted to give us incentive to come back the next day for a $9 per person ride up the mountain.  She clearly didn't know us very well.
                                          

After dinner, we walked around Aspen a bit.  It is a very lovely town.

Tomorrow, we enjoy the morning in Aspen and take the mountainous drive to Denver.