Estes Park

Last week I spent the fourth of July in Estes Park, Colorado.  My friend's (Brettley Ruggles) parents recently moved there to run a small resort called the Brynwood, so we went and stayed with them for the holiday.  

Airport security is always an experience. 

They now have these cylinder things you have to walk through, but when you step inside it, you have to put your hands above your head in a "I'm about to dive into the pool" form.  After going through it they make you stand on a mat and watch this computer screen.  The screen then shows you areas where you supposedly have metal objects.  So I went into the cylinder, put my hands above my head in "diving" form, walked out and then stood on the mat watching the screen.  The lady then says, "Ok, you have something on the back of your head and something on your back."  Back of my head?  My hair is down and I have no bobby pins.  However, she continues to pat me on the back of the head. 

I then turn around to see a lady clutching my suitcase in her arms.  She brings it over to a little table and sets it down, asking me if there are any "sharp objects" in it.  I simply reply with a no and try hard not to laugh when she opens my bag and this is the first thing she sees. 

Anyway, we start on the drive to Estes park.  I had never really seen or been in mountains like this before, so I was completely amazed on this trip (note the amount of panoramic pictures I am posting-if you don't know what those are, you will by the end of this post).

Estes Park is truly beautiful:  small town feel, little shops, mountains surrounding the town, river running through the city, earthy American Indian shops everywhere, authentic and unique coffee shops.  It seems pretty perfect for someone who has quickly turned into a hippie since entering college.

Above is a river that runs through the city.  We went into town one day to try out a coffee shop called Kind Coffee, which is right by the river.  I had never had a Chai Shake before and let me tell you, it was pretty scrumptious.  While we sat outside and had our breakfast bagels and coffee of choice, a man supposedly walked by (that I did not see but Brettley's brother did) who had on a full hunting suit with a knife strapped to the back of his hamstring.  A couple days later we saw someone kayaking down this little river.  We also saw two bears, deer trotting down the side of the road next to cars, bunnies, and I even hand fed a chipmunk (I was a pretty happy camper).  I guess we were truly in the mountains.

One day we also went on a hike up in the Rocky Mountains (cue panoramic pictures).

  

  

The hike in the Rocky Mountains was absolutely incredible.  However, me and Brettley both got altitude sickness two days later.  I guess most visitors get this, especially after hiking like we did.  Changing altitudes so quickly can do damage to your body.  Everything is also different because of the altitude.  You can sweat and not even know you are, one drink in the mountains can equal two or three normally, and your body can dehydrate a lot faster than normal.  It was even more interesting how we got rid of our sicknesses:  going to the oxygen bar.  We went into The Oxygen Sanctuary where they gave us oxygen made of different herbs (which as you can imagine was intriguing to me).  I took 30 minutes of oxygen and felt fine by the time I went to sleep.

Something I love about Estes is that the shops carry a lot of Indie/Bohemian clothes and objects.  They had a lot of these hoodies that people supposedly call "drug rugs".  I ended up buying two of them.  While I was picking out my second one, two girls came up to look at them and one said, "I feel like I don't smoke enough pot to justify wearing one of these."  I was just silent as I realized that I, a non-pot smoker, was picking out my second one.

"How was the 4th?" you say.  Well, it was interesting.  There were no fireworks because of all the fires going on, so the town was doing a "light show" in a small stadium.  They brought in all the firemen and cops who helped with the fires to honor them and let all the kids meet them.  They scattered balloons everywhere and then after the count of three the light show consisted of all the cop car lights and the popping of balloons (lights plus popping sounds = fireworks).

However, this was probably one of the best places I have been to on vacation.  If you are looking for place to go to for a weekend or for a family vacation, I would definitely consider Estes.  I can't wait to go back.   

Kayla