Estes Park, Colorado
I am back after a very relaxed and socially distant Thanksgiving in Colorado with Mike and my trio! We hiked, ate delicious food, did a puzzle, played games, drank hot chocolate by the fire, and watched movies. It was lovely and the views were gorgeous!
We rented a house just outside of Estes Park (Pineapple Escapes has recently partnered with some new vendors that vet homes – so I finally feel a lot more comfortable booking them!) and it had 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a full kitchen, lovely wood fireplace, and amazing views. My photos don’t even begin to do it justice. I’m sure for those that live there, they get used to it, but waking up to gorgeous mountain views was pretty spectacular!
Due to COVID, we made choices we wouldn’t have in normal times. We cooked nearly all of our meals at the house — eating out only once and getting take-out once — and mostly just enjoyed being together. We did walk through a few of the shops in town early on Monday morning (before anyone was out!) and found a few souvenirs – including a Colorado sweatshirt that Clara hasn’t taken off since she found it and my new pineapple stocking hat! I manifest pineapples these days! 😉 But otherwise, we just enjoyed our time together.
Mike and I went for walks around the neighborhood each day too. Our first day, the weather was gorgeous and it was lovely out.
And then the next morning, we woke up in a winter wonderland!
This pano is from the same spot, one day later!
We were a bit scared to drive down the mountain after the snow – there was probably about 6 inches – but once the plows came, it wasn’t as bad as I had feared.
Hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park was beautiful. It’s true what they say about the air feeling different and I was definitely huffing and puffing at times. It was just so gorgeous though!
I think Anna’s favorite part was hot chocolate every afternoon!
And Clara enjoyed time to work on the puzzle!
In the evenings, we watched movies together. We watched all of the vacation movies – Wally World, European, Vegas, and Christmas — plus Elf and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. The beauty of a DVR and access to AMC. Since we don’t have cable at home, this was intriguing to all of us!
We also did our own Thanksgiving dinner, definitely not as homemade or as bountiful as it would be at home, but we still hit all of the highlights!
Overall, it was different from any other trip we’ve taken. Much more relaxed and laid back – with more of a focus on time together. It was nice to have a change of scenery and the beautiful mountains and snow really helped to kick start our holiday season!
