Somewhat Annual Fall Trip to Estes

Yesterday, we finally headed up to Estes Park. We try to do so each fall...to take in the beautiful colors and eat at our favorite places...maybe grab a game of mini golf or go on a hike. Things didn't go quite as planned this year. But, we managed and had a lovely time altogether. Here's what I mean:

- The detour we tried to take (because they closed down our usual route for more permanent repairs after the flooding a few years ago) ended up being a dead end that cost us about an hour. But, that just caused us to rearrange our plans and hit another out of town favorite for lunch at Proto's Pizza down in Longmont. 

- After finally making it up to Estes and browsing at the shops (which the boys humored me with), we stopped at Hayley's for ice cream, as is tradition. :) Then we tried to get in a game of mini golf, only to discover that our favorite little course has closed permanently. The owner retired...which is sad for us but we wish him well.

- Since mini golf was out, we headed into Rocky Mountain National Park. We left it too late this year for any of the colors; we knew that in advance but hadn't been able to find time any sooner. Instead, we revisited Bear Lake just to say hi:

But it had started raining at that point and was overcast and chilly. With Asher not feeling great and Noah asleep in the van, we didn't stay long.

- Then we headed back to town for an early dinner at our favorite restaurant in Estes:

Hooray!!

- So we left Estes about 6:00, feeling pretty good about the day. And then we got stuck in traffic for almost an hour. We *think* the little town of Lyons may have had a Halloween parade and closed down the main street...which happens to be the only way out of Estes (on this side of the Rockies) now that the Loveland route is closed. We were not thrilled. But, we survived and made a quick stop at my brother's in Longmont to drop something off with him, use the bathroom and meet his new kitten (that he proclaimed the cutest kitten ever).

- And then we finally made it home a bit after 9...much later than originally anticipated and having used up pretty much the entire day. But. It was a day spent altogether and we enjoyed each other's company and got to eat yummy food...so all was good. :)  

(Note...yes, we ended up spending way more time in the van than we'd planned on. But, actually, I rather appreciated that. For all that I complain occasionally about time spent driving boys everywhere, I really do enjoy the captive time with them. While they were captive yesterday, we had some nice discussions and played many rounds of "I'm Thinking Of"...which is like 20 Questions but without a limit on the number of questions. At various points, my turns were spent thinking of historical figures or geographical locations...which Noah declared cheating as I was just trying to sneak schoolwork in, lol.)