We started our last full day in Estes Park Colorado by going to a fun park riding on Go Karts and bumper boats. The first race, Jake was in the lead and Mark was on a mission to pass. He is so competitive, he shows no mercy! He was creeping in on Jake lap after lap, then he made his move, bumped Jake and spun his car. Jake was not to happy about that. To lighten the mood, the got in the bumper boats and did some bumping and splashing. We had an early lunch at The "Egg and I" restaurant. At 1:00 we met at the stables on the YMCA property for our trail ride. The YMCA is on 860 acres of beautiful land nestled in the mountains. It is a busy happening community complete with, campgrounds, cabins, Inn, auditorium, amphitheater, museum, conference center, indoor pool, chapel, baseball, soccer, tennis courts,and mini golf. They have just about everything and were blown away by it. And of course they had the horse stable with 113 horses. We booked a 2 hour trail ride and were excited to see the sights on horseback. Our group of 15 riders had 3 kids under 8 that had never been on a horse. Mark and I were in awe that the ride we took would even allow a beginner let alone kids. The ride was steep, rocky and rugged. It was a great ride, beautiful breathtaking scenery, all kinds of terrain and decent horses. Mark was at the back with the rear trail guide and talked with her most of the ride. I find it comical how Mark can socialize and have long conversations with total strangers, but back home he rarely talks with people he knows. We went through trees, across bridges, up steep hills, over many rocks and rough terrain, down steep winding mountain edges. It was great! We were on the Morriane Park trail. Each one of us had a good experience and Luke gets to say his first trail ride was in the Rocky Mountains. He took it like a pro and had a nice horse. After our ride, we went to eat at a restaurant that served soups and salad. It was very unusual to just have an all you can eat salad bar with bread and a bowl of soup. The restaurant is also a functioning old Inn with the worlds largest key collection. The Inn is raised off the ground on beams and blocks. The ground is so sloped and creeky, it doesn't even feel safe. Later Mark took the boys out for appetizers. We ate so much on the trip, it seemed that was a main focus. We sat in the hot tub awhile before packing and calling it a night.
On Friday morning, we packed the suburban and said our goodbyes to the Ram's Horn Village, our awesome view, the fresh crisp air, and the mountains. As we started to head out, we saw two elk right by the road in a parking lot eating tree leaves. We stopped and watched them awhile. They were so close and took their time snacking and slowly wandering off. They are huge and the antlers even bigger. A little farther down the mountain we saw a ram along the highway. I told the kids the wildlife were coming out to say goodbye.Our drive home was an 11 hour route, however with construction, meals, and stops, it took us 15. That was the longest trip home. We got home at 10:20 and were happy to crawl in our own beds.
Another fabulous Colorado road trip of memories for our family. Praise God for his beauty and our safety! Un til next time!!
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