Colorado 2018

Back in 2016, my family made a trip up to Colorado for a vacation. My brother and his wife live there, so it makes it easier for us to be able to do things up there since they know all the ins and outs of that state.

Two years later, we returned to that glorious state for new adventures and excitement. We had a full schedule filled with fun activities and wonderful places to eat, and I was so excited to spend this time with my family. We were all together again and ready for some serious family bonding. The picture below is when we went hiking on a mountain trail, all of us ready to take on the challenge of high altitude and rocky terrain.

The trail, wonderfully named the Turkey Trot, was full of rocks and uphill climbs, with not a lot of flat, slow inclines. Tragically, there were no turkeys on this trail, and my mother said she didn't even think a turkey could walk up there, much less trot. It was pretty funny to picture a turkey trotting up all those unsteady rocks. I could just hear the loud gobbles of the turkey as it fell down.

Besides the lack of turkeys on the trail, everything was perfectly beautiful. We had wonderful conversations, good laughs, and plenty of exercise. Hiking, however, wasn't even the first big adventure we did whenever we got to Colorado.

Arriving Thursday night after visiting the Garden of the Gods and experiencing those beautiful red rock formations, that night we spent recovering from the long, 14 hour drive, we were refreshed and ready to take on Colorado Friday morning. My brother and his wife are members at a rock-climbing gym, and my brother is certified to belay people. So we started out our morning by heading out to the gym and testing our abilities at climbing these extremely tall walls.

It was absolutely amazing! Rock climbing is challenging physically in ways you don't expect, and mentally in some other ways. For me, a person terrified of heights, it was a challenge at first to keep myself looking up and not be afraid of how high off the ground I was. The first time I went up the wall, I made the mistake of looking down when I heard one of the others below say something.

I instantly froze. I freaked myself out so badly I had to come down from the wall, not completing it. My heart was pounding in my chest. I had no idea how high I really was until I looked down, and I psyched myself out of climbing. Fortunately, seeing my other family members complete the wall made my competitive side come out, and I climbed it again, this time reaching the top. Was I still scared? Yeah, for sure. But I wasn't going to let that stop me.

After I completed the first one, we all went on to complete two other full-size rock walls. The last one was the most challenging, and I didn't think I would be able to finish it. The wall curved in and bulged out, making climbing very difficult as my arms could barely reach the holds. Finally, I made it to the top. It was so rewarding to reach the top of that crazy wall, and all though I couldn't look down to celebrate with my family, I mentally cheered as I grabbed the top of the wall.

Bouldering was really fun too. You don't have a harness on these walls, because they aren't too high off the ground. It was fun to free climb different challenging levels, and I made it to the top of a few. But I also fell off a few too. Everyone seemed to enjoy bouldering too, and we have tons and tons of pictures of us climbing, smiling, and laughing while we were there.

The other amazing outdoor activity we did while in Colorado was white water rafting. Yes, that's a mouthful. And after saying it so many times over and over, it becomes a slur on your tongue. We made the two hour drive up to Buena Vista, Colorado, and there we got ready to sail down the Arkansas River.

We had a delay on the rafting trip because the group before us was running late. None of us were upset though, because rafting can be very dangerous, and we figured the safety of them getting out was worth the wait. It was a chilly day in Colorado, and for some reason I decided a tank top and shorts would be perfect for rafting on the river. I got a bit cold while waiting for the bus to arrive, and my mom, dad, and I ended up getting waterproof jackets to wear under out life jackets to keep us warm.

By the time we got to the river, we were all beside ourselves with excitement. All the rules were simple, and the guide we had was absolutely incredible. For the rafting to work, we had to work together as a team and listen to our guide so we knew where on the river to go and what to avoid.

Let me tell you guys, this was so much fun! While we weren't on the most advanced levels and the water wasn't as quick as other spots on the river, we were still hitting currents and rapids. It was so exhilarating to be paddling against the rapids to make sure you didn't slam into any rocks or other people. While sometimes we did hit other rafts for the purpose of getting them unstuck (we had to have the same thing for us a few times) most of the time we tried not to hit anyone.

Hitting the rocks to propel ourselves into the rapids was really fun, and we were all yelling with excitement...well mostly, at least. We worked extremely well as a team and more so, as a family, and it made the rafting so much smoother, and we were even praised for our energy and connectivity by the guide we had, which is something our whole family took pride in.

And after the rafting was over, we got to explore Buena Vista for half an hour before we headed back to Littleton for dinner. Oh it's such a beautiful little town, and built for tourists. There were shops, food trucks, little bakeries and eateries, karaoke, and so much more. We all stopped at a local ice cream place, and it was delicious! The scenery was wonderful and the energy of this small town was amazing. I loved being there, even if it was for a short time.

Our trip to Colorado may have been short - only 2 and a half days - but it was jam-packed with amazing adventures and challenges we all loved and enjoyed. We definitely got our family bonding in that short amount of time. The drive back home to Texas was long and weary, since we were all exhausted, but I don't think we would've traded it for the world.

In fact, we're already making plans to head back! It may be next year, or a year after that, but we know we're heading back to Colorado to explore more of that beautiful state. This is only a very summarized version of our trip, but I would be going on and on about Colorado for pages if I didn't limit myself.

I recommend everyone to go to Colorado during summer! Even if you don't climb a mountain, find a hiking trail, go to the popular tourist spots, and even get out and do some rafting or just floating down the river! Anything outdoors will be so beautiful and amazing. You will never regret it. Colorado is a beautiful state, and I'm glad I got to explore more of the scenery and nature while I was there.