We set out Wednesday morning and stopped in Kearney, NE on the way. We bought a GPS (gave me a little peace of mind) and ate at Valentino's. I LOVE Val's and since it's a Nebraska thing, I never get to eat there.
The Gateway to the West (or something like that) in Kearney
That was just the beginning of a fantastic day! When we were nearly to Sidney I realized that a good friend (AnnMarie) lived in Fort Collins, or at least I thought she did, and before we bought the GPS I was looking at the map and Ft. Collins was very near Estes Park. SO ~ I texted her and as it turns out, she does live there! We stopped by her house (thank you GPS!) and went to dinner with her, and stayed at her place Wednesday night.
We woke up "bright and early" and went to breakfast, then white water rafting. AnnMarie went with us and, wow, we had fun!! After rafting we made the drive to Estes Park, and what a drive it was! Very windy, hilly roads and I was really glad Jordan was driving! We stayed at the historic Stanley Hotel that night in the Manor House. Our room was beautiful and the view was amazing. The Stanley Hotel has great history, in case you don't recognize it, it's the hotel that Stephen King based the Shining off of. It was used for the mini series, but not the movie and it's said to be one of the most haunted hotels in the US.
~~ Side story about how we came to stay at the Stanley... We called Thursday morning and the reservations desk told Jordan they were booked. So, we decided to "settle" on a Bed and Breakfast in Estes Park, instead. While we were rafting the reservations desk called my cell phone and said they had an opening. After rafting I called the Stanley back and they told me they had a King room available for $269, but they would reduce the rate to $249, or the Presidential suite, at just $949, or a couple of condos, at $450. I told the lady I would need to call and see about cancelling our other room. Jordan called the B&B and was told that there would be a $50 charge, and if they couldn't re-book the room they would charge us the entire cost of the room ($190). Jordan asked them to call us by 7 and let us know if they could re-book it, and told them our story (that he's deploying, etc). (in case you don't realize this, there is no cell phone reception in the middle of the mountains) At dinner the B&B called us back and said that we didn't need to worry about the room. Jordan isn't sure if they really re-booked it, or if they just felt bad for us. SO now we call the Stanley back and, of course, their reservations desk is closed and the man who answers the phone tells us that they are completely booked. lovely! We had been told that we need to walk through the hotel, no matter what, so we headed up there. (did I mention this is a long story?) Jordan stands in line at the reservations desk and tells them he has a "reservation for Jordan Clark". Well, apparently they lost our reservation (surprised? hehe) "let me see what I can do". After some checking (we had a King room) they gave us a condo for "the same price as the room we had reserved". It was beautiful! Hot tub outside (for just our condo!) a jetted tub and a steam shower, not to mention a washer and dryer. My shoes were soaked from our rafting trip, so I threw them in the dryer and we headed out to Rocky Mt. Natl. Park. It was beautiful and we enjoyed driving around a little bit (it was getting dark). We then parked down town and walked around. The downtown area is so pretty and there is a "babbling brook" (as my mom put it), which is really a raging brook, that runs through and all kinds of cute little shops. Okay, a lot of them were t-shirt or candy shops. We got ice cream and long sleeved T's, it gets cold in the mountains at night! Anyways, we headed back to our room about 11 and decided to call the front desk. We really wanted to stay in the main hotel, it has history and a story! and, we were really staying there because of what it was, the history and story, not just because it was beautiful and 100 years old! Well, they had a Manor Queen available. The Manor House was built the year the main "house" opened and is a miniature version of the main house. So, we moved rooms. When all was said and done we spent a lot less than we would have on the B&B and got a great experience out of it! (Okay, that was a long story, sorry!)
At the rafting place ~ I made one of the paddles move (oops!) 
AnnMarie and I after :)
Our drive to Estes Park
Taking a picture of myself
Us in Estes Park ~ BEAUTIFUL
The Stanley
Jordan and I in Rocky Mt. Natl. PkThis is my favorite picture from our trip!
Beautiful waterfall
The view from our hotel roomFriday morning we woke up and headed out to Rocky Mountain National Park again. We drove trail ridge road, which leads you UP! It was beautiful at the top and we took a hike to the highest point (I think anyways). It was so pretty. On our way to the top we saw three elk on the road. Some older ladies were trying to feed them bananas. Crazy, if you ask me, but whatever. We had a great drive and saw a ton of elk on the way down. After our drive we headed back to Nebraska. We stopped at Ole's Big Game Bar on our way home. It wasn't quite like I remembered it, but the food was pretty good and it was a fun experience. We got home late Friday night and by this time I was missing my baby bad!! We went into "her room" and held her, laid her back down and she was out again in seconds.
All in all we had a fantastic trip and I'm so grateful we were able to take this trip.
A pretty mountain flower
Us at the top!
BEAUTIFUL!!
1 comment:
Looks like fun! Maybe Jared and I will have to go there sometime.
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