Geek who loves 2 bike

First a note on the new trip name. I really enjoy the way my wonderful daughter has of looking at the world. This has been really enlightening. A very enjoyable part of the trip has been sharing eating apples as we travel. Sophia started picking up a couple of apples at our morning breakfast for snacks as we did our driving during the day. Sophie and I share lots of food, most notably my favored Chipotle burrito. For a father, sharing an apple with his daughter is a simple, satisfying pleasure. We shared many apples during our trip.

Our final day of the trip (day 6) started with us waking up in the tent. We packed up the tent and camping supplies. Then we used the camp bathrooms to finish our morning clean up. Finally we sat down to work on the "Junior Ranger log book"

Upon checking into the camp site the previous day, the park ranger gave Sophie the Rocky Mountain National Park Junior Ranger log book. This 16 page (I think) workbook contained many exercises for prospective "Junior Rangers" to work on. Some exercises were reading and writing, while others were nature and environmental activities. The idea is to complete the exercises then review them with a RMNP Park Ranger.. Upon completion of the work, the Ranger will award the young person with a Junior Ranger badge. I am very proud that Sophie takes academic exercises seriously. In addition I, like the RMNP, want Sophie to be and grow into a good steward of the environment. While we did not get any written work on the log book done the previous day, Sophie was insistent that we complete the book before we left the park. Our first task was to pick up 10 pieces of trash from the park. It was somewhat a challenge, as the park is very litter free, but we accomplished this task. I then helped Sophie with the other exercises. As everyone I meet knows, Sophie is a phenomenal reader, so the reading pars where easily done. Sophie then completed the writing parts with some help. Finally we were able to review our previous day hikes for the observations exercises. The only item we were not able to complete was the "attend a park presentation" exercise (due to our limited time). We presented the log book to a Park Ranger. The park ranger made Sophie repeat the Junior Ranger pledge, asked a few questions, then awarded Sophie her RMNP Junior Ranger badger. Sophie was very proud (as was her dad!).

After getting the Park Ranger badge, we left for Estes Park to get breakfast. We ate a good meal at the Egg and I restaurant. This restaurant was previously recommended by a Este Park shopkeeper the day before.

Then started the drive home. We drove on highway 36 from the park to Boulder. Along this route I counted cyclist (both directions). I had just counted 97 mostly independent cyclist when a group of approximately 25 riders passed by. This just reconfirmed my belief that Boulder is the cycling mecca of the US. Note this was just a Sunday and no special ride.

Boulder and Denver traffic was relatively heavy. We headed west on 70 for the long trip home. Sophie was generally bored, but continued to behave in an exemplary behavior. We stopped approximately 250 miles later for gas and lunch at McDonalds. About two hours away from KC, Sophie told me she was hungry. I gave her choice of where to stop to eat. She chose the Chipotle in Lawrence (one hour away from Kansas City). We enjoyed our expected good Chipotle dinner and then headed the one additional hour for home.

We completed our 620 mile, 10 hour drive tired but happy to be home. We were fortunate to have no mishaps the entire trip. Driving around Colorado, while very enjoyable, really put a light on how wonderful a city Kansas City is (more later).

Per Sophie's instructions, day 5 was to start more relaxed. The previous two days we had an early schedule to keep to make appointments for the train and rafting. Initially she also specified a laid back day of shopping and using the hotel swimming pool. When I contrasted this with plans to visit and camp in Rocky Mountain National Park, she changed her mind.

We woke up leisurely (compared to previous days) and enjoyed the continental breakfast at the hotel. We than gassed up the car and headed north from Colorado Springs through Denver, Boulder, and Estes Park to Rocky Mountain National Park.

As we drove through Denver I asked Sophia if she wanted to stop at the original Chipotle on Evans street. While initially she declined, she quickly changed her mind. While I am a huge Chipotle fan (aka "chipo-head"), Sophia is not far behind. Evans street is off the Hwy 36 which we were traveling on. A quick lookup in my Garmin Quest GPS and we had voice-routing to the restaurant. (P.S. When the Garmin is working, it works great. More later). We arrived at Chipotle just before the 11:00 am opening. We took many pictures in front. After the store opened, we ordered a cheese quesadilla. We had a large breakfast and initially thought we would just have a snack for sentimental sake. The manager, Dave, noticed us and came over to talk. When he found out what regulars and huge fans we were, he insisted we eat lunch at his treat. He even brought out and gave us two "I been to Evans Street" Chipotle shirts. This great experience is something I have found at all Chipotles. Chipotle just hires the best, most friendly people. It is great to be part of the Chipotle community. I have to mention that the whole interaction was spontaneously initiated by Dave (the manager) and took no communication or request from us. This was another highlight of the trip. (P.S. Later my sister-in-law, jokingly asked if I had a religious experience in visiting the original Chipotle. Not quite, but it was wonderful to visit the mecca!).

After leaving, we drove through the traffic of Denver and Boulder and arrived at Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) between 1:30-2:00 pm. We inquired about camping at the visitors center only to be told all the campsites were taken. I knew this was a possibility but had a hard time communicating earlier to Sophie so that she could understand. She was disappointed (and dare I say mad at dad). What is a father to do? We did drive to the Moraine camp grounds to see if their was any last minute cancellations. Poor luck, the one and only cancellation was taken just as we drove up by a young couple. We were instructed to try another camp ground, Aspenglen. We drove to Aspenglen and were lucky to get the very last campsite. FYI, I also found that Aspenglen is first-come, first-served versus allowing reservations like the other RMNP camp grounds. Good to know for next time.

After setting up our tent to reserve the spot we drove up the mountain. I really wanted Sophie to experience being at the top of the mountain. The drive and views up are phenomenal. We passed many stop-offs with my quiet encouragement that the visitor center at the very top was worth it. Lo and behold, we finally arrived only to find the visitors center closed. We turned back and stopped at the first parking location (still at the top of the mountain). We got out and took a few pictures of the splendid alpine view. We met an unfortunate group of college aged kids whose car had run out of gas at the top of the mountain. Fortunately a couple driving towards the visitor center (closed but manned by traffic-directing park rangers) said they would notify the rangers.

We got back in the car and headed to the next stop off which has a small hike to a high point on the mountain. At this stop, both of us decided that warmer clothes were called for. I was already in a t-shirt, fleece jacket, and jeans. I added a Gore-tex jacket on top. Sophie who had been wearing a shorts like skirt, sleeveless shirt, and fleece jacket quickly agreed to change into jeans and add her parka on top of her fleece jacket. Good thing. Shortly up the hike, Sophie insisted her "legs were tired" and requested I carry her. Now a good thing is that I generally take these travel moments to remember that I am not getting my regular workout in. So I dutifully lifted Sophie up and carried the majority of the way up the hike. This is not as easy as Sophie is getting older and taller. By this time some dark clouds that I estimated were at least 30 minutes of way closed in fast. It became very windy and everyone was heading back down the hill. We took a couple of quick photos and headed down ourselves. Near the bottom of the hike it began to sprinkle. By the time we started our car, the precipitation was full on snow. Quite a sight on June 24 for Kansas residents. The drive down the mountain was careful but uneventful. The slight rain was no problem for the Yukon. The temperature at the top of the mountain was in low 40's while at the bottom it was in the high 50's.

By agreement we drove into Estes Park to purchase dinner (Starbuck tea and Subway sandwiches). We brought these back to our campsite for more of a picnic than camp meal. After enjoying the meal we headed out for a short hike in the woods. We hiked into the woods and then back to a small mountain river that the road to camp passes through. We peacefully enjoyed the river for a short time and then headed back to camp. After a quick wash up, we dressed, and got in our sleeping bags for bed. Sophie and I had previously discussed bears and human predators, so I was not surprised that she showed no fear and easily went to sleep. It is great being "Dad" when your children still look up to you as almost a super-hero. Sophie slept great through the night and even woke up pretty late for camping.

Mileage for the day was 210 miles.

We woke up early to get ready for our planned river rafting trip on this day. The trip we chose was a two hour trip with the Mild to Wild outfitters. The trip was scheduled to leave at 8:30.

This was going to be Sophie's first white-water raft trip. Given her age and inexperience I felt that a two hour trip would be a good initiation. The Animas river is flowing somewhat slow because of the low snowfall in Colorado this year. Our trip ended up being much more a float trip than river rafting. But fortunately there was enough rapids to make it enjoyable. We were also fortunate to have an friendly guide. For those who do not know, on the river trips two hours means about an hour an fifteen minutes on the river. The rest is logistics. It ended up being the perfect length to keep Sophie's interest. Sophia was pretty quiet on the first part of trip. By the middle she was paddling and enthusiastically keeping count of paddle strokes. Chris, our guide, besides doing the majority of the work was helpful in keeping Sophie excited (as the 6 others in the raft were adults).

After rafting, we returned to the hotel to clean up and check out. I took the opportunity to query the hotel clerk on a better place to eat lunch. By discussing the restaurants in Durango we had already eaten at and my thoughts, the clerk was able to point us to a more local place good for breakfast and lunch.

Oscar's lived up to it's billing as a good place for lunch. This diner (cash only) very close to the main street served up a tasty lunch.

After lunch we took off for our drive away from Durango. The plan was to drive north on the "million dollar highway" through Silverton and end up somewhere east. We drove through Silverton, Montrose, Gunneson, and several more towns. Eventually we ended up back in Colorado Springs. The first part of the drive was very scenic on high mountain passes. This eventually became monotonous. But, the scenery driving east from Gunneson is different and the mountain driving is less taxing. By the time we ended up in Colorado Springs, both of us were tired of the drive.

We ended up the day with dinner at Black-Eyed Pea (a chain). We drove aproximately 320 miles in 7 hours. Along the way we came upon one accident. This slowed us somewhat as the mountain road was one way for awhile.

Day 3 was spent in Durango, Colorado.

First, some extra comments about yesterday (day 2). Sophie was a trouper on the ride up and around the mountains. I remember when I was young and traveling by automobile in the Colorado mountains. I recall it being a little bit scary. Not so for my daughter. Mountain driving, of which I did a large amount, tends to get a little tiresome after awhile. The Yukon XL is a e-ticket ride in terms of comfort and quiet, but does not when any awards for being nimble of particularly fun to drive. It does provide first-class seating for passengers though.

Second, after checking out Durango, I was a little disappointed. I had hoped it would be like Boulder, Colorado from over 20 years ago. This was when Boulder was a small, funky, college town. Now, Boulder is a sprawling, almost suburb of Denver. Well, I felt that Durango is mostly a tourist trap. Additionally with the multitude of recreational activities the "townies" don't seem that thrilled to have the tourist. So in other words, the town would not really exist without the tourist, but the locals are sort of snobbish about it rather than embracing out of towners. This was just a feeling I got. Everyone was nice. They just seemed to be nice in a tolerant way rather than an inviting one.

Okay, so now the day report. The day was devoted to the re-known Durango-Silverton train trip. There are many travel options, but mainly it comes down to train up (Durango to Silverton) and train back or train up with bus back. The train trip is approximately 3.5 hours long. We chose train both ways. We woke up early, had breakfast, and made it to the train depot (downtown Durango) in the correct time to board. The train experience is the real deal. The steam engine is coal fired and all the rail employees perform much the same duties as hundred years ago. This was a neat experience to have real conductors, brakemen, and engineers. Really puts a different light on Thomas the train and the Polar Express.

The train ride to Silverton was enjoyable and very scenic. You have mountain view. The rail mostly follows the Animas River. The trip is peaceful and takes you back to a different era before cell phones, TV, and other electronic gadgets. As usual, Sophie was very well behaved. I wish I could say the same of other children (and their parents). Sophie enjoyed the trip and took a small nap along the way.

Silverton was nothing to write home (or blog) about. Basically, this small town, appears to exist to be the rail destination. Main street is several shops and eateries catering to the rail passengers. We did have a good lunch at the the Bellvue Smokehouse.

The return train trip was unexciting but peaceful. You pass the same scenery. The ride is a little bumpier going downhill. On returning to the train depot we visited the adjoining rail museum. Here we got to get on some engines and different cars. While not particularly a railway enthusiast, the train and museum is interesting to anyone with any interest in trains and our former method of transportation.

I will note that a coal-fired train is a very dirty affair. Ash and soot is spit out copiously. Having been forewarned, we booked an enclosed car (with windows). Another option is the observation car which has no windows. Those people in the observation car and those in the enclosed cars who kept their windows open were pretty grimy afterwards. So, I get though the whole trip relatively clean. Being the good samaritan, I helped another persons child up to ring the bell in a train when visiting the rail museum. Low and behold on existing the museum, I noticed I too had grimy prints where the child had brushed up by me.

Dinner was at Old Tymer. Okay, but unexciting fare.

Total mileage for the day approximately 10 miles. A good break from driving.

Day 2. First, it is only an adventure if you do not have set plans. Accordingly, our vacation does not have a set schedule/destination/etc. On our second day, we woke up and had the continental breakfast as the hotel. This was another illustration of the wonderful view that children bring. While I usually do not eat the continental breakfast at the hotel, this was especially exciting to Sophia. As usual she made a delight. I am also proud that Sophie is a healthy eater (better than her dad). She had various fruits and insisted we take a couple of apples for a snack later.

From Colorado Springs we drove to Royal Gorge. The Royal Gorge bridge is one of those must see attractions. And we were not disappointed. As many tourist things, the attraction took financial advantage of us. But the one price admission at least allows you to partake of all attractions except soaring. First we walked across the bridge. Or at least halfway. At this point, Sophie got scared and made us turn back. Next we took the "incline train" down the mountain to the river. This is very cool and both of us enjoyed the round trip. At this point, Sophie was hungry. At the Royal Gorge you are a captive audience. The food was not good and expensive. Ce la vie. We then rode the arial tram (cable) across the gorge. This was also a good time. On the other side we walked down the trail, visiting the the very small wildlife zoo and the petting zoo. We then walked (fully) across the bridge. While Sophie was okay with this, the wind picked up towards the end. She then decided that she did not want to take our planned drive in the Yukon across the bridge.

From the Royal Gorge, we drove to Durango, Colorado. This follows the necessary, not straight route. The drive, while long, took us through various mountain passed. We got to experience much of the different Colorado scenery. Sophie did get her opportunity to drive on mountains, over mountains, and even around mountains.

Upon arriving in Durango just after five o'clock, we first visited the visitor center. We gathered a little information. Most notably was addtional information about the Durango - Silverton train. This was a major reason for visiting Durango. A second reason was Durango's reputation as a cycling mecca. As an avid cyclist, i have long wanted to visit. Because of the location (and distance from KC) I have not previously made the trip.

We first went downtown and made reservations for the train trip. More on this in a day 3 report. We then found a hotel. The hotels here as many tourist traps are overpriced. We ended up choosing a Ramada Limited on one end of the main drag. The town is not that big. After getting unloaded and cleaned up we headed back downtown for dinner. Downtown is maybe two miles away.

There are many restaurants and we had a restaurant guide. But like many small, tourist trap, towns, nothing looked that exceptional. The hotel staff had recommended one bar/restaurant, Olde Tymer. But Sophie decided she wanted pizza.

So now we hit the first (second) not great thing. The first was probably food at the Royal Gorge. Farquarts was the second. Sophie immediately decided she wanted chicken fingers (not pizza). I, on reviewing the menu, choose a pizza. The menu promoted that the pizza was listed as the best in Colorado by a publication titled "Colorado's Best". I am not sure what the author was thinking. But the pizza was not good and even Sophie panned the chicken fingers.

Durango's downtown was very crowded. I was surprised as it was Wednesday evening. After walking up and down the main strip, window shopping, we returned to the hotel for the evening.

Total mileage was approximately 320 miles.

This is a recap of my daughter, Sophia, and my first day of our summer vacation. This trip is tentatively dubbed the "Colorado Mountain Adventure".

The genesis of this trip was discussion we have had about camping and mountains. Sophie has never seen real mountains. Additionally, when discussing camping she was very excited.

Day 1 consisted of driving across Kansas to Colorado Springs. This is approximately 600 miles. Those who know me or have talked to me know that I am blessed with a wonderful 5 year old daughter. Instead of whining and "when will we get there", I was fortunate to travel with a world-class traveller. No complaints or whining. It was interesting that Sophia did comment "when are we going to turn". True to the Kansas to Colorado drive, turns where few and came late in the trip. Another gem was Sophia pointing at "hills" in Kansas and asking if those where mountains. No, the real thing was to come.

Kansas did nothing to dissuade it's reputation as a tourist unfriendly state. I saw at least twenty highway patrol cars on the trip across. Interestingly enough, I saw no Colorado Highway patrol cars. My Valentine ! radar detector helped detect patrol units. Also while the speed limit in Kansas is 70 mph, it is 75 mph on the interstate in Colorado.

After making the trip across Kansas we stopped at the Colorado visitor center for additional information. I noted one plaque outside that described how the early settlers got depressed crossing the "sea of plains" from Kansas City to Denver (600 miles) which could take as long as six weeks. It now takes less than a day, but the unrelenting plains can be monotonous.

Upon reaching Colorado Springs (approximately 10 hours later) we first checked into our hotel. This was my regular chain of La Quinta and did not disappoint us. While one of their motel properties, the staff was very friendly and the room was clean.

After checking in we travelled the short distance to the the Garden of the Gods park. This park was Sophie's first opportunity to get near real mountains. We where not disappointed as we saw mountain climbers and got in a short hike along paved trails.

After a simple, delightful dinner which with my excellent company, we returned to the hotel.

We ended the day after traveling 612 miles.