The Blanch Herd: Colorado Visit

It's been four years (!!) since our last visit to the Vail Valley and we've been wanting to get back there for a couple of years now. We finally made it happen this June (22nd - 25th) and it was a wonderful trip. I was especially wanting to get back and enjoy the fabulous parks in the area (before the kids think parks are beneath them . . . I know that day is coming and I'm already crying thinking about it!). So we did a lot of park hopping, plus hiking, swimming, librarying, and visiting our friends in the Vail Ward. Simply marvelous!

Day 1: Thursday, 22 June 2023

This day was mostly driving . . . we went the vernal way, but instead of turning south at Dinosaur, we stayed on Hwy 40 through Craig and then down through Steamboat and Wolcott. I've never driven that exact route, so that was fun, though the real reason was to make sure Gregg had cell reception in time for a meeting he needed to be on. We stopped in Roosevelt at Constitution Park to get our wiggles out and make lunches (and bonus: they had a disc golf course, which we played, of course!). And then we made one more wiggle/park stop in Craig before arriving at our Comfort Inn in Avon that afternoon. We immediately hopped in the pool (all to ourselves), and then ate dinner in our hotel room and went exploring around Avon (stops at the library and the excellent new playground at Nottingham Park) before bed.

Some very detailed signage at the Constitution Park
in Roosevelt. I couldn't figure out why metal detecting
was not allowed, but my dad guessed they didn't want
people digging holes in the grass, and that makes sense.

I don't know the name of the park in Craig,
but it had fun (hot!) playground equipment.

And it also had tons (!!) of these stump
carvings throughout the park.

Sam's fave was this dragon snake thing.

A lovely evening game of giant checkers in the Avon
Library's children's room.

Paying a little visit to Wilbur.

Hard to see in the pic, so definitely watch the videos
below . . . this is the fun zipline swing at Nottingham Park.

bonus videos!

"zipline swing"

I kept the video rolling on the second one (with Sam swinging) just to show how tricky

it was to get the swing back up to the starting point. Later we learned a snazzy trick:

put the swing on your belly and use both hands to pull yourself and the swing

back up the steep, slippery ramp. Genius!

Day 2: Friday, 23 June 2023

Our plan for Friday was to hike our tippy top favorite East Lake Creek Trail, hopefully making it to our furthest ever point at the bridge. We started out great. The air was crisp and cool and the trees were green and the flowers were magnificent. The hikers were happy. And then we heard a strange sound in the trees off the trail ahead of us. I can only describe it as sort of a huffing. We had never heard this sound before and the kids became quite distraught, nervous about continuing further and coming across some wild creature. We decided to err on the side of caution and turn around, which was a little disappointing, but at least we got to enjoy the aspens for a little while. (Still don't know what it was, but thinking maybe a moose? There was a sign at the trailhead warning of moose in the area.)

Our early turn around left us with more time in our afternoon than we expected. So the the kids and Gregg swam back at the hotel while I took a lovely long shower. After the water time, we did some plan shuffling and ended up going to Vail for the afternoon. Our first stop was Donovan Park in West Vail, where we ate our (still packed from the hike) lunch and the kids ran around. Then we drove into Vail and parked in Lionshead.

We rode the bus from Lionshead Village into the heart of Vail, walked along the river to Ford Park, heard a blip of the symphony practicing at the amphitheater next door, wandered through the alpine gardens and kids' garden, walked across the covered bridge on our way to Pirate Ship Park, stopped to splash in the children's fountain, passed the hospital where Cal was born, and took a nice, cool rest in the library (Sam loved the trains and Cal found some graphic novels to speed through while we rested and looked out the windows). We stopped at one more park, Sunbird, in Lionshead, then headed back down valley to dinner at Fiesta's in Edwards. It was our backup plan since Larkburger doesn't exist anymore - I'm so sad! - but it was delicious, as usual, and the kids were raving about it as the best Mexican food they've ever had after. So it was all okay.

Back at the hotel, we dipped in the pool one more time, and then called it a day. (Whew! That was a 21,283 step day!)

This is why I love East Lake Creek: aspens!!

Lovely lupine, too.

We didn't know what these were, but they were amazing.

Don't know what this is, either, but it's fluffy
and awesome.

Unknown (to me), as well.

I mean, can you even?

All the evergreens had their bright green
new growth that was so rubbery and soft.

And there were some impressive lichens, too.

Cute. No idea what they are.

Last time we hiked this, Cal wanted to pose
on every stump on the trail. I reminded
her of that as we sat here to rest, so she cheesed
it up great for me.

There's that same 4-petaled flower, but bright
purple instead of faded white.

Out of focus larkspur.

And more lupine because I love them.

Sun bathing between splashing.

bonus video!

"synchronized donut jumping"

Here's Sam looking too big on the little rocking
bouncer things.

Just posing in the parking garage.

I mean, wouldn't you?

I thought this was a clever use of space:
a skate park between sections of the parking
garage.

Spotted in a gift shop near the alpine gardens.

And look! There's the flower we saw on our hike!

Just chillin' in the beaver lodge.

These lupines were huge and not quite
all in bloom. I thought they were cool.

Sam found a friend in the kids' garden.

Ahoy, matey!

This girl ain't afraid of no sea serpent.

I was trying to get Sam on the little life boat, but
Cal stole the show as she jumped off the serpent's head
at the exact moment I clicked the shutter.

This fountain sure felt good on a hot day!

He may be almost 8, but he beelined it right to the
train table and stayed there almost the whole time
we were at the Vail Library.

One more dip before bed!

Day 3: Saturday, 24 June 2023

Since we did Vail on Friday afternoon, when we thought originally we'd visit on Saturday morning, we had a Saturday morning to fill, so we decided to hike again. After a few false starts deciding on a trail, we ended up on the Haymeadow Trail in Minturn. It was a glorious bluebird day and we hiked through a meadow to an old log barn (we think it was a barn). And then we hiked back down. Such a beautiful morning!

We drove through Minturn to Little Beach Park for a potty and park break. And then we broke out our game of Skipbo since it was so nice in the shade. We stopped at another park in Eagle Vail and convinced (aka bribed with a bottle of soda of their choice) the kids to climb the big rock wall there. So then we had to make a stop at Walmart to fulfill that promise since they both made it up lickety split after Gregg made the offer. We ate lunch back at the hotel, and had another swim (I opted to shower again, and then read my book poolside). (This is the life, I tell you what!)

Our afternoon into evening outing was to Beaver Creek. We rode the escalators, hiked the Five Senses Trail, wandered down the middle to Creekside Park, and wandered even further to a lift. And then we wandered back through the village, over the skier bridge, ending up at Blue Moose Pizza for dinner. We had an outside table, but it was a bit chilly, so Gregg headed back to the car for hoodies while we waited for our pizza and cheesy garlic bread and roasted broccolini (I insisted on something green to go with our meal, and it was good, but not worth the price - ha!).

After dinner, Gregg and the kids rode the Beaver Creek bus down to Avon and then walked back through Nottingham Park to the hotel, while I visited City Market for some ice cream, deoderant and grub for Sunday's dinner (fried chicken and potato salad). We finished the evening watching the food network and eating our treats. (No swimming, you ask? The pool and surrounding area was crammed with travelling baseball kids and their families having a bbq, so we opted to stay in instead.)

Oh what a beautiful morning!

The kids and I braved the tall grass to get up close to the
log structure.

They did it! And they earned a bottle of pop!

Of course I’m going to love this... a tale about a library in
trouble and the people who work to save it. A delightful poolside read!

Touching and Hearing Beaver Creek on the Five Senses Trail.

Hard to tell, but that's Cal standing in those
giant goggles in the village.

Hi, Sam!

Blue Moose Pizza on the patio. Delightful!

And delicious!

Nottingham Lake with Beaver Creek behind. Yes,
this place is for real, but holy moley is magical.

Day 4: Sunday, 25 June 2023

We packed up and spruced up and headed to church on Sunday morning. It was fun to surprise all the old ward friends who were there (and we were so glad it was Ward Conference so we could see our old Branch President / Bishop Webb since he was visiting with the Stake Presidency now). We stayed for RS/Elders/Primary, and Cal and Sam (and one more visitor) were the primary! It is so small now (there were only two young women and they both spoke!) and that makes me sad. Everyone asked when we were moving back and sometimes I really wish we could! It was completely lovely to hug Soledad, Bertha, Bobbi, Diane, Elena, Mague, Juanita, and Emilia. Oh how I miss those ladies!

After church we changed our clothes in the bathroom and then hit the road for home. We went back through Glenwood Canyon and then up through Rifle and Meeker and Rangley, then back through Vernal, but then we turned and climbed up to Red Canyon, where we ate our dinner at the overlook and walked around to get all the views. After that we just kept driving, and soon we were home again, home again, jiggety jog.