Back from a 9-day trip to Denver area, I could not help but to put down something, which is a very rare thing for me to do even though my family travels quite a lot every year.
Arches and Mesa Verde served their names as two unique landscapes adjacent to Colorado as Utah national parks. Moeb is a little town that has everything for someone to survive a-week's stay if decides to. There was even a full-fledged supermarket next door to the Quality Suits we stayed for 3-nights. As one of the few options available in this town, this suits served pretty decently even though it is only a "3-star" Inn.
Goal was to visit the Rocky Mountain National Park northern part of Colorado state. We actually detoured to Aspen city before heading to Mt Princeton Hot Springs Resort, sitting in the midst of Mt Princeton, one of the many mountains forming the Rocky Mountain group. It turns out to be a nice break after spending first 2-days hiking Arches Double-O Arches, and a day visiting the farming Indian's Cliff Palace, one of many hidden "castle" hidden underneath giant rocks, which location, according to my son, is selected in order to hide away from the more violent hunting-Indian from the north.
As expected, Aspen was expensive, though Molly Gibson Inn was pretty decent with its price tag and the friendliness of the staff at front desk and breakfast room. The Opera house has nothing to show until later this month. But a dip in Elania restaurant cost a huge bill of $168. I was a little regret that is not a good idea compared to the Meatball place right off the playground. Heck, my son picked it and both kids enjoyed their Mushroom Ravioli with each cost $24. At least, they will learn money is a good thing to have.
We arrived Mt Princeton resort late. After dinner, we were able to play a little tennis, then dip ourselves into the historic Bath House. Playing Tennis at this high lands was much harder than back at home. The lack of oxygen level caught all of us in heavy breath only after couple matches between daughter-mom and son-father. The bath house was also open to public with a mere $18 per visit, which was complimentary for resort guests. the 106 Fahrenheit temperature was amazingly soothing. According to the counter boy, the water is all natural, coming straight out of the ground. Though I was a little bit doubtful after spotting quite many plastic containers similar to those for liquid detergent. I didn't dare to question further after the boy told me they were for other purposes.
On the second day, we switched from a 3-queen bed lodge room into a condo sitting alone by itself. Part of the reason for switching is my be-loved daughter insisted to stay at the cabin, even only 1-night was available at the time of booking. The cabin turned out to be a great choice after we returned from the Level III White Water Rafting in the river, according to the guide, that flows into Mississippi River which joins Atlantic Ocean thousand miles away. The little patio was perfect for drying the soaked clothes from the 2-hour river rafting.
Finally, we were set to head to Rocky Mountain national park on the 7th day. Even that, we detoured Boulder, which surprised us with its very nice setting partly due to the presence of University of Colorado Boulder. Out of curiosity, we did a little study on the local real estate. Wow, Boulder is actually a very expensive town with a lot of single family homes having a price tag above 1 million dollars. Who say Silicon Valley is expensive? Check out Boulder, Longmont, and Denver.
One night stay at the Rocky Mountain Park Inn in the historic Estes Park town, we finally headed to the mountain on Saturday, 06/14/2014. Hiking Bear Lake, followed by Emerald Lake was surprisingly "fun" to me. We almost reached the peak (no, not Longs Peak, but pretty close to its altitude), where no more tress can grow, except the melting ice-chunks floating in the lake, where my daughter got her shoes completely wet trying to kick the ice cube in the lake.
Too tired to do any more hiking, all of us drove by the peak of Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park. It was the most spectacular view along the drive. Nothing in other national parks is comparable to this. Mountain peaks, Snow, Valley, and the standing trees, all work together to wow us with their ever fighting harmony.
9-day in the rockies was merely enough to experience them all. But the feeling is strong --- rich natural resources is the fundamental characteristics of Colorado Rocky Mountain area. Coupled with the ever-growing high-tech opportunities, this is one of those areas worth paying a very close attention next couple years.
Last couple notes worth mentioning is the surprisingly good Pizza at Mario Pizza located on highway 133 just off of the black canyon road. The burgers in Mt Princeton resort was good but reasonably priced. I especially liked their Sweet Potato fries!
Arches and Mesa Verde served their names as two unique landscapes adjacent to Colorado as Utah national parks. Moeb is a little town that has everything for someone to survive a-week's stay if decides to. There was even a full-fledged supermarket next door to the Quality Suits we stayed for 3-nights. As one of the few options available in this town, this suits served pretty decently even though it is only a "3-star" Inn.
Goal was to visit the Rocky Mountain National Park northern part of Colorado state. We actually detoured to Aspen city before heading to Mt Princeton Hot Springs Resort, sitting in the midst of Mt Princeton, one of the many mountains forming the Rocky Mountain group. It turns out to be a nice break after spending first 2-days hiking Arches Double-O Arches, and a day visiting the farming Indian's Cliff Palace, one of many hidden "castle" hidden underneath giant rocks, which location, according to my son, is selected in order to hide away from the more violent hunting-Indian from the north.
As expected, Aspen was expensive, though Molly Gibson Inn was pretty decent with its price tag and the friendliness of the staff at front desk and breakfast room. The Opera house has nothing to show until later this month. But a dip in Elania restaurant cost a huge bill of $168. I was a little regret that is not a good idea compared to the Meatball place right off the playground. Heck, my son picked it and both kids enjoyed their Mushroom Ravioli with each cost $24. At least, they will learn money is a good thing to have.
We arrived Mt Princeton resort late. After dinner, we were able to play a little tennis, then dip ourselves into the historic Bath House. Playing Tennis at this high lands was much harder than back at home. The lack of oxygen level caught all of us in heavy breath only after couple matches between daughter-mom and son-father. The bath house was also open to public with a mere $18 per visit, which was complimentary for resort guests. the 106 Fahrenheit temperature was amazingly soothing. According to the counter boy, the water is all natural, coming straight out of the ground. Though I was a little bit doubtful after spotting quite many plastic containers similar to those for liquid detergent. I didn't dare to question further after the boy told me they were for other purposes.
On the second day, we switched from a 3-queen bed lodge room into a condo sitting alone by itself. Part of the reason for switching is my be-loved daughter insisted to stay at the cabin, even only 1-night was available at the time of booking. The cabin turned out to be a great choice after we returned from the Level III White Water Rafting in the river, according to the guide, that flows into Mississippi River which joins Atlantic Ocean thousand miles away. The little patio was perfect for drying the soaked clothes from the 2-hour river rafting.
Finally, we were set to head to Rocky Mountain national park on the 7th day. Even that, we detoured Boulder, which surprised us with its very nice setting partly due to the presence of University of Colorado Boulder. Out of curiosity, we did a little study on the local real estate. Wow, Boulder is actually a very expensive town with a lot of single family homes having a price tag above 1 million dollars. Who say Silicon Valley is expensive? Check out Boulder, Longmont, and Denver.
One night stay at the Rocky Mountain Park Inn in the historic Estes Park town, we finally headed to the mountain on Saturday, 06/14/2014. Hiking Bear Lake, followed by Emerald Lake was surprisingly "fun" to me. We almost reached the peak (no, not Longs Peak, but pretty close to its altitude), where no more tress can grow, except the melting ice-chunks floating in the lake, where my daughter got her shoes completely wet trying to kick the ice cube in the lake.
Too tired to do any more hiking, all of us drove by the peak of Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park. It was the most spectacular view along the drive. Nothing in other national parks is comparable to this. Mountain peaks, Snow, Valley, and the standing trees, all work together to wow us with their ever fighting harmony.
9-day in the rockies was merely enough to experience them all. But the feeling is strong --- rich natural resources is the fundamental characteristics of Colorado Rocky Mountain area. Coupled with the ever-growing high-tech opportunities, this is one of those areas worth paying a very close attention next couple years.
Last couple notes worth mentioning is the surprisingly good Pizza at Mario Pizza located on highway 133 just off of the black canyon road. The burgers in Mt Princeton resort was good but reasonably priced. I especially liked their Sweet Potato fries!
