Teddy had a rough night last night. He woke up screaming at 12:30. I’m beginning to wonder if he is cutting a new tooth. We ended up sleeping until 8 because of it.
Once we got up we realized that the Bengtsons had left and the Schneebergers were walking out the door. After saying goodbye we began packing our things and headed out.
Steamboat Springs is only about an hour and half from Rocky Mountain National Park. We decided to try to get another sticker for Teddy’s passport book and head to the park. I had been to Rocky Mountain National Park before, but Thom and Teddy had not. The main road throughout the park is the Trail Ridge Road. We started on the west side of the park and headed east. Within minutes of being in the park we saw a group of people stopped and realized they were looking at a moose.
The journey in the park was incredible. We stopped multiple times to take in the scenery and get photos. Our big stop was at the Alpine Visitor Center which is in the tundra. The elevation is over 12,000 feet! Once we saw the view I remembered that I had been in that exact spot before! After asking Mom and Dad we think I was 9-10 years old. We grabbed some lunch (burger and bison brat) in the cafe and checked out the visitor’s center gift shop. It was very busy!
Shortly after we got back on the road I saw a huge herd of elk in the grass by the road. Because the road was windy and next to a cliff Thom couldn’t see them! We were able to pull off the road and get a closer look. There had to be between 50-100 elk! We were not the only ones hiking to get closer. There was a park ranger available for questions. Clearly the elk must have been there awhile or were regulars. Teddy liked looking at the elk.
Rocky Mountain National Park was gorgeous. I remembered it being beautiful, but it was really breathtaking. I could stare at the scenery for a long time. Thom said it was his favorite National Park. I think Acadia and Rocky Mountain are too different to compare. Both are amazing. I’m excited for the adventure of seeing all the National Parks.
Once we got back in the car we pushed toward the exit of the park to begin our journey home. After waking Teddy to get a picture with the official sign, hence the angry look on his face, we were on our way home.
We made it to North Platte before calling it a night. We had traveled almost half way home despite traffic jams, stop and go traffic, mountains, plains, no vacancy hotels and more. We stayed at a Tru by Hilton (a brand new type of hotel-very eco friendly) and really liked it. We would definitely stay there again.
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