4th of July in Lake City

Our 4th of July in Colorado was fantastic. It might have been one of my favorite days. We woke up, had breakfast, and then drove about an hour and a half in to Lake City. Okay, here's my one complaint. I want to stay really close to a town, then get up and move to the next town. We sort of stayed in between towns, so the drives were long and it was hard to get up and go do what that town had to offer, but since we went with family, who prefers staying in more outdoorsy- off the grid campgrounds- this is what we had to do. And it was fine. I'd just maybe do it different next time. 

Okay, so we got up and drove to Lake City and our first stop was this gorgeous waterfall just off the highway. Literally you're in the mountains on semi-flat ground, and it's like a canyon just opens up and there's a beautiful waterfall. 

We saw it from the look out, and then we walked right over to the top of it. 

Then we walked further down and looked at the river flowing on the other side. 

Gretchen found some wildflowers and put them in her braid for the day. 

We walked and explored and it was beautiful. A nice quick stop off the road. 

Then we drove in to Lake City, which is the most quintessential Colorado town ever. Part of me says I could live in a town like this, and the other part says only if there's a Target nearby. 

The roads were dirt, the buildings were beautiful colors and I love walking in and out of the shops.

There was also a huge festival going on in their town square/park. We're talking 3 legged races, egg tosses, and so many other fun games that anyone could participate in! Adalyn and Megan tossed an egg, but got out in the 2nd round. 

We also brougth some of our 4th of July bracelets and gifted them to people! That was so much fun! 

We stopped for lunch at an internet cafe, and nothing says the 4th of July like a pulled pork sandwich smothered with cheese, and topped with butery toast.

After lunch, we had ice cream of course! 

And more shopping. You can't tell in the pictures, but there was cottonwood blowing everywhere! Which made all of our allergies go crazy, and it looked like snow! 

The Welte girls on the 4th of July. 

These little flower pots lined the wooden sidewalks, and it just screamed old west, right out of a movie. 

There was also a lake in Lake City, which again, if we were closer to the town and had more days, would have been awesome to explore, and there's a lot of trails and 4x4 rides you can take. 

We made it back to the campground and celebrated the evening with a hot dog roast! 

Since we were in a national forest, fireworks weren't allowed.... we could have gone in to a town to watch them, but we didn't really want to drive that far and stay out that late. But I'd say everyone had a great time roasting their hot dogs. 

I think we also played a big game of Family Feud that night and things got heated! Gee was always on the winning team. 

Then, we took Adalyn's "last night as a 9 year old" picture because the next day was her birthday!!!

Colorado Camping: Side by Side Ride

Yes, it is taken me a sweet forever to recap our Colorado camping trip. I'm blaming an error with my google photos as well as football camp and back to school busyness. There's a lot of catching up to do y'all! 

On the 3rd of July, after our trip to Alamosa, the Sand Dunes, and Creede Co, we woke up super early in the morning through on some horribly mismatched junkie clothes and set out for a side by side ride in the mountains. 

Megan and I were in lots of layers. It was cool in the morning and we figured that as we got higher in the mountains that it would be cool too, but we wanted to be prepared just in case. Also, we were prepared to get really dirty or muddy. 

I have to be honest, this was the day I was looking forward to the least! But, it was also a day that was so much fun and one that ended up being our favorites! 

I also didn't know this either, but the roads were super dusty. When we saw other people on side by side rides the day before, they all had bandanas. And they all looked stupid. But, I ended up buying them last minute and I'm so glad I did because they kept the dust out of our faces. 

We were not even 5 minutes down the road and the views were already stunning. 

Eventually we crossed over a little creek. 

And had more amazing views. 

We stopped here to all catch up in our group together. My cousin had driven up with his girlfriend and his two boys. My brother & sister in law, and neice were with us as well. 

It was also at this point that Megan thought eating a dandelion would be a great idea! She ended up eating 6 while we were out on our drive, and I know dandelions are edible and I just assumed that these would be fine to eat since we were in the mountains and they wouldn't have been sprayed with round up........

More driving and more gorgeous views. There were chipmunks all over up here! 

We eventually found "snow"!

We made it to the continental divide, and look at all of the dandelions!!! 

Eventually the pass we were taking was blocked with snow. We had driven over the range all the way over to Silverton, Co- where we had been on our last Colorado trip. We were maybe 10 minutes away just couldn't get through. So, almost everyone walked across the snow to the other side. 

So the road on this trip was one lane, and once we got to the top we had to back down and turn around, which was terrifying! I was just praying we didn't roll off the road and somehow flip. The guys were all like "we've got this" and later admitted they were kind of scared too! And as we passed people, only one vehicle could actually get through. At one point we had to scoot over so far, we were nudged between aspen trees and once their side by sides got through (about 3 of them) we took the tree down with us as we were getting back on to the road. 

There were also parts that were super steep. At one point, our side by side got stuck, and DJ had to put it in reverse, and my brother was afraid we would back in to him! 

But still the views were just gorgeous. 

And eventually Megan convinced all of the girls to eat a dandelion. Adalyn and Gretchen immediately spit it out. Megan continued to munch away. 

We made it back to camp and spent the rest of the day relaxing. The boys took the side by sides back. We layed in hammocks and read. The girls played in the creek, and eventually Megan said she didn't feel good. At first, we all thought she had altitude sickness... until she threw up. Turns out the dandelions she ate didn't settle well with her at all! Tough mistake to learn when you're boondocking in the woods. 

Later that evening, Gretchen was all excited because she got to use Papaw's torch to light our campfire. 

 

Colorado Camping Trip: Headwaters of the Rio Grande & Creede

After we stopped for the night in Alamosa, and visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park, we were up the next morning to drive aabout 2 hours further in to the mountains to Creede, Colorado. 

Our campground was about 45 minutes off the main road, and it was our first "dry camping" stay for this trip. Essentially, we had the water that our camper could carry along with some extra water in a portable tank. We also operated off our battery and then had a generator for more power. Showers were limited and if our black tank got full then it would be bad news. The campground toilet was a toilet with a deep hole and no flushing power. It was fairly primitive and I won't say I loved it, but it wasn't as bad as it sounds. 

Our campground was at the headwaters of the Rio Grande. 

We had seen the Rio Grande on our camping trip in February out to Big Bend, so it was cool to be at it's headwaters. 

But, the water was cold!  I had envisioned some relaxing days in the water, and maybe breaking out the paddleboard in one of the lakes nearby, but once I realized how cold it was, actually getting in the water sounded like zero fun to me. 

The girls would wade in, and then they took turns seeing who could go the deepest or last the longest before running out because it was freezing! The also took turns dunking their heads under the water, but it was frigid! 

The adults opted to siit and watch! 

Gretchen was probably the bravest and stayed in the water the longest and waded the deepest. 

Eventually DJ got in and sat for a while! 

We grilled out for dinner and had s'mores for dessert. 

The campfire helped to keep the bugs away because they were bad. 

I feel a little ridiculous complaining about bugs, but in my head, it woudl be colder and in Colorado, and the mosquitos were way worse than I had imagined. 

The next day, we had breakfast, got dressed, and drove in to Creede, which was about an hour away since we were so far off the main road. Creede is small, but it's cute! There were a few little shops, and music in the town square, which was fun. 

We stopped to take a picture near the national forest sign. 

And then we stopped for ice cream! 

We walked in and out of shops and explored the town. And then we met up with the rest of the family for lunch. 

Creede was so cute! 

They even have a fire station built in to the side of a mountain. Since my brother is a fireman, we had to go and see the station and the trucks. 

Across from the fire station is a little creek that runs down the mountain and in to the town. 

In the winter, there's a spot for an outdoor ice skating rink! 

Afterwards, we drove up past the fire station, and on to very narrow, very steep dirt roads past old mines. It kept saying that 4x4 trucks were recommended, and ours is not. I kept looking at DJ thinking we should turn around and what on Earth did my brother get us in to. Thankfully, at one point they decided not to go any further and I was so relieved that we made it back down safely in our truck! 

Once we made it down, we went to pick up side by side vehicles because we were doing some mountain exploring the following day, and that's where it got fun.............

 

Our Colorado Camping Trip: Part 1

Hey, hey! School is about to start and I'm just now recapping our Summer camping trip. Once we got back from vacation, I've had some errors on my blog and couldn't get any pictures to upload. I've since figured out a way around it, but it's definitely more time consuming. 

We'd been planning this camping trip for at least 6 months, but talking about it since we had our last big family camping trip. Two years ago, we visited Colorado, The Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone, and this yearr we opted for more time in Colorado. It was the perfect way to escape the 100 degree weather we had been having in Texas. 

We loaded up on June 29th, and left bright and early in the morning. Like I think we left around 5:30. Thankfully the girls didn't complain too much about the early wake up call. 

The first day, we drove to Amarillo to meet my parents, brother, sister in law, and neice. We drove & drove, until it was time for lunch. 

When we're driving on long trips, it's easiest to just pull off in to a big gas station and fix a sandwich in the camper. 

After lunch, we were back on the road. Gabby made her a comfy seat right in the center console... or she was on my lap. 

We pulled in to Palo Duro Canyon state park late in the afternoon. 

The girls were so excited to see Ya-ya! 

We had really hoped to do some hiking or exploring in Palo Duro, but it was HOT! Like over 100 degrees and several trails were closed because it was just too dangerous. The girls played together inside a camper, and the adults hung out in my parents camper and chatted. 

Our campsite was gorgeous despite the heat and the flies. 

We opted to have dinner at a Mexican restaurant in town rather than dragging out all of the cooking supplies in the heat and battling the flies. 

I had an amazing margarita and the chips and queso were perfection! 

Back at the camper, and this girl and I hung out outside and went for a walk. 

Friday morning we were up early again! Megan and Adalyn rode with my brother, so Gretchen and Gabby were content in the backseat by themselves! We stopped for lunch at a rest stop in Colorado, and then drove to our campground in Alamosa. 

Once we got checked in and settled, the girls got to work on their travel journals. 

We had burgers for dinner- yum! 

And Gretchen played guitar for us. She's been teaching herself this summer. 

After dinner, we loaded back up and drove about an hour to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. 

We bought a a national park scratch off map a while back, and now we get to scratch off another park! Unfortunatley, we went late and we didn't get to put a stamp in our passport book. 

There was a stream of snow melt run off across the sand dunes, that we waded through. It was so cold! 

We hiked to the first sand dune that we could reach. It was not easy hiking up through the sand!

You can bring sleds and sled down the dunes or just play in the water. You can walk all over, but because it was getting late, and because hiking through the sand is a lot harder than it sounds, we were happy to just walk to the first one!

The wind was also blowing like crazy, and the mosquitos were awful once we got back to the parking lot. 

We drove through the campground, and there was a waterfall nearby that we had thought about stopping at, but didn't because of time. 

We only had the one afternoon in Alamos, so I'm glad we were able to squeeze in the sand dunes for a bit but there's definitely more that we could have done!