I love Ft Collins, but my heart belongs in Estes Park!

Every time I think about, or go to, Estes Park I get really excited and happy. The other day I was trying to figure out why that is. As the wheels were turning, I realized Estes reminds me of the Jackson I grew up in. I love it so much because it's a cute mountain town that has maintained it's charm and beauty. Don't get me wrong, I loved Jackson as well, but it's changed so much since I left it's not the same town anymore (which makes me sad). To move to Estes Park would be awesome. I do love Ft Collins, and feel fortunate to live in such a great place, but Estes will always be a possible place to move if we had to. People may think I'm crazy to want move to such a place where the summer tourists out number the actual residents, but I will remind them that's what I grew up with. You learn what streets to avoid, where to park and when to walk. Not a big deal in my mind.

With all that being said, we headed up there yesterday to beat the 100 degree heat of Ft. Collins. We rode the local tram to the top of Prospect Mountain and did a little hiking. I wore Brennan in the backpack, and I think that will be the last time. He's getting too big, and carrying 30+ pounds on my back was difficult. He loved it, though. After we were done with our short hike, we headed to Lake Estes and rented this crazy side by side bike and took a ride around the lake. The kids sat in the front and had a great time. We had a couple of hills to pedal up, which was hard considering the type of bike we were riding, so we immediately ate lunch at Shores. It's a great restaurant at the marina with windows overlooking the lake. We all had a great day and I can't wait to go back.

Estes Park Aerial Tramway
Our view looking down the mountain.

Our tram is going up, the other one is going down.

View of Lake Estes.

Pat and Kami on our hike.

Big man Brennan and me.

This is our crazy bike. The kids loved it.

Estes Park doesn't have sand trap on the golf course, they have elk traps.

View of the lake from the restaurant. Can you find Pat and the kids on the path?