Colorado

June 21 (Fri) Saint Charles, IL - Fort Collins, CO

Travel Day

Pretty easy travel day flying American Airlines to Denver. Flight was about an hour late due to weather in Denver taking off and then another 15 minutes added, again due to weather when we got to Denver. Rental was changed to a Dodge Challenger which I thought was cool but, Kathryn

Brittany met up with us at our hotel. We had not seen her since Christmas. So Nice!

Kind of tradition, we ordered pizza, had a good catching up and watched a moving in our hotel.

Lodging - Hilton Homewood Suites - FC

All four nights. Same as last year.

June 22 (Sat)

Weather Pretty lousy. Cold and rainy.

Due to the poor weather forecast, we had to change our hiking plans to something indoor. Honestly, there is not a ton of indoor things to do in Fort Collins. We met up with Brittany and had lunch at Jason's Deli (yum). Then called around to see if we could get massages at a spa. ALL were booked for the day. So, we headed to the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery and Digital Dome. This was an OK small museum with some interactive displays. We saw to short movies (one on space travel, one on dark matter) which were pretty good in the dome theater. After that, I took Brittany's car for an oil change (what a nice Dad), and Brittany and Kathryn went to get their nails done. Unfortunately, again, the nail salons were booked. So, they headed back to the hotel.

Dinner at Ridigios Grill - Brazilian Restaurant

Brittany picked out the Brazilian restaurant in Old Town for dinner. Without reservations we ended up waiting over an hour for a table (this booked/crowded Fort Collins theme is growing). The meal was really good and the manager felt pretty bad about our long wait so, he gave us a $50 discount card and free desserts, so that was really nice. And, on the way out I saw him at the door and I thanked him for taking care of us. He reached in his pocket and gave Brittany another two $25 discount coupons!! So, for the extra wait we got $100 off and free desserts, Nice!

June 23 (Sun)

Weather: Originally was predicted rain all day, but forecast changed to some scattered rain and temp around 60. Not terrible.

Brittany had gone out with friends after dinner so, she decided to sleep in and skip the planned trip we had to Boulder.

So, me and Kathryn decided to do a local hike instead.

Poudre River Trail

The trail head we started from was in Windsor, about 10 miles from Fort Collins. It is a 13+ mile trail from Windsor to Greeley along the river.

So we decided to do part of the trail.

It was more like a walk than a hike as it was totally flat and on pavement the whole way.

The first mile is boring without even views of the river. But, after that the trail picked up the river and it was a nice walk along the river with vistas of the Colorado prairies.

We went 3.1 miles down the trail and then back for a nice long hike of 6.2 miles.

So, it was a nice hike and we got the slightest of rain on the trail.

Dinner at Red Robin

Brittany met us back at our hotel and we headed to dinner at Red Robin. Good burgers.

June 24 (Mon)

Weather: Much Better, nice and sunny, warmer but windy

Scenic Drive to Rocky Mountain National Park

The drive from Fort Collins to the Rocky Mountains is a nice drive. Traverses through the mountains mostly following the Little Thompson River on Hwy 36. Same drive we took in 2017.

Lunch in Estes Park at GrubSteak

Ate outside since the weather was nice.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Drove Bear Lake Rd to the Glacier Gulch Trailhead to find the parking lot was full. Looks like all the parking lots get filled up pretty fast at the trail heads. They have a shuttle in the park with a big parking lot and shuttles every 5 minutes. So, they do a nice job at getting people to the trail heads, only bummer is, standing room only on the shuttles so you are packed in.

Alberta Falls Hike

Did an easy hike to Alberta Falls. As advertised, the trail had heavy traffic but the trail was wide to handle the hikers. A nice hike. We had planned to do another hike but, was getting later in the day and Brit's lunch of nachos was not optimal for a full day of hiking! So, we drove back to Fort Collins again enjoying the scenice drive.

Dinner BJ's Restaurant

Kathryn and I went to BJ's very close to our hotel. Nice restaurant, good food, fast service.

June 25 (Tue) Travel Day

Was thinking of going to the US Mint in Denver but, decided against it. Tickets go on sale at 7:00 am and are first come first serve for the 9:00 and 11:00 tours. So, thought it a bit too much of a hassle. Headed back to the airport and after about an hour delay due to storms in Chicago, had an easy flight back.

Home Sweet Home.

Summary

This was a quick trip to visit Brittany.

It was really nice seeing her again, six months since we saw her at Christmas!

Brittany is doing so well in Colorado, doing good in school, being independent (not financially tho!), and has made lots of friends.

Weather did not cooperate very well with us this trip.

The museum was ok: Stars: 2

The Poudre River Trail hike was ok: Stars: 2

Rocky Mountain Nat Park was crowded but the hike was nice and the weather good" Stars: 3

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