Day 15 & 16: Estes Park

Day 15

In the past, when people would ask, mountains or the beach?, I would immediately answer beach. After spending a few days here I think my answer will now be “both.” Why choose?

The snow was still around on day 15 and it was gorgeous! Every time I looked outside I thought it looks like a winter wonderland in September. Our plan today was to go in to the town of Estes Park once the kids were done with school and Jordan and Dad were done with work. We had an exciting moment during a school break when Lucy said, “what is that?” and we saw a huge elk outside the kitchen window. This elk doesn’t even look real, does it? This picture looks like a stock photo when you search “elk in snow.”

We all loaded up and headed down the mountain to town. The town is really cute and has an abnormally high number of candy and ice cream shops. After making the kids walk past the first three or four, we stopped in one. There was also a darling book store. I love book stores. Hudson found the new Dog Man book and immediately started reading it. I could have spent hours in town “piddling,” as my mom and Grama call it, but we didn’t have too much time. I plan to go to the town center next time we are there. I’m serious about planning a summer 2021 vacation in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Fingers crossed it can happen.

The sky was clear tonight and the owners of the house have a huge telescope. I went downstairs to read some chapters of my book, while the kids, Jordan and my parents found Saturn and Jupiter. How lucky are my kids (and us!) that they hiked in beauty, played in the most gorgeous snow, and were able to star gaze and see planets? I’m telling you, these kids live the life.

Day 16

The kids slept in this morning because Hudson did not have an early Zoom call. Remember, we are on MT, so while they have to be on Zoom calls in Sugar Land at 7:45, here it is 6:45. I let Lucy sleep in as well and she didn’t wake up until 8 am! This was our last full day in Estes Park. We did the usual school/work routine and in the afternoon I began gathering and packing our stuff. I found it interesting that Hudson had a math worksheet over place values that talked about the population of Waco, TX, which was our first stop. In case you are wondering, the population of Waco is 138,183.

We went to dinner at a local restaurant, Bird and Jim. The kids were so well behaved and we enjoyed dinner. A lot of our conversation was about my parent’s time in Waco, TX. Maybe that math worksheet got me thinking about Waco. Most of the stories I had heard before, but it’s different hearing them as an almost 40 year old mother of two. One highlight: my parents rented a house for the first seven months my dad was in law school and when they bought a house their monthly payment was $88! This sounds incredible until you also know my mom was making $7,000/year while teaching in Waco.

We went home, watched some of the Houston Texans football game and put the kids to bed knowing we had a long day tomorrow.

Our time in Estes Park has been, for the most part, relaxing. Virtual schooling has been easy this week, for which I am eternally grateful. We had extra hands with the kids and my mom made dinner every night. I was able to both workout and take a shower. Previously, I had to choose one each day with the free time I had, so I could either be healthy or clean.

Tomorrow we have a long drive to start making our way to Yellowstone.

Until next time…

Sarah