Fourth Stop: Keystone, CO

Our next adventure took us on the road again, but this time north instead of south. We took off on a ridiculously long trek from Lubbock, Texas to Keystone, CO just three days after returning from Dallas. My aunt and uncle live nearby in Denver and own a condo in Keystone. They graciously offered to open up their place to not just us, but my brothers and their families as well. So it was sort of a mini-family reunion, minus the parents and the youngest sibling. I’ll warn you in advance; this is very picture heavy post! But like I always say, this is our family’s photo journal…the thing we’ll look back on in years to come. So I just couldn’t resist!

I'll admit it: the car ride there was excruciating. We stopped in Dalhart for a bit to visit Mark's grandparents. By the time we arrived in Keystone, we had been travelling for 12 hours. I have to hand it to the boys though...they did great in the car!

The first full day the weather was not so great. I think the high was around 67 and it misted most of the day. I guess it didn't help that we decided to attempt our first hike up at Loveland Pass where the continental divide is. The thermostat on our car was reading in the 30s. In August!

And that's how Mark and I celebrated our fourth anniversary...shivering!

We only had one back carrier and it was freezing so Mark, the boys and I decided to abandon the hike in favor of an awesome park we happened upon back in Keystone. The boys had a blast!

The park was even fully equipped with a really cool skate park that Mark and Kolbe had fun watching. That little boy better not be getting any ideas!!!

That afternoon we met back up with everyone else and headed to a resort area that had some sort of tributary pond that had lots of rainbow trout we could feed. Of course, the ducks loved to swoop in and steal the food. The boys loved it either way.

So did this guy! (our little nephew, Jackson)

The next morning all of the guys went fly fishing (unfortunately, no pictures....Mark said it was gorgeous!) while the girls and kiddies went to an outlet mall. The shopping didn't last long for the boys and we ended up back at the park....playing on the playground and learning how to roll down the hill.

That evening, they were giving free gondola rides up the ski lifts so we all decided to head to the top to check out the views. The boys loved the gondolas! And they loved having our dear friend, Lisa, along with us too. She lives in Ft. Collins, CO and came down to join our vacation.

The view at the top was spectacular. Perfect for photos!

And back down at the base of the mountain we had a good time horsing around too.

On our last full day there, we took off on our second hike. This time the weather was beautiful! We hiked for about two hours on some trails around Lake Dillon and had a great time just catching up as a family. Our cousin, Reed, also joined us...he's a cadet at the Air Force Academy. Kolbe crashed and spent the majority of the hike sleeping. Probably a good thing!

Overall, this was fantastic vacation. We are so glad we did it! And lucky us...we get to do it all over again next summer for a big Gaschen Family Reunion in Winter Park, CO. Can't wait!