Frisco, Colorado - Day 1 and 2

The next part of our trip took us to Frisco, Colorado. Mike picked it out because it was only an hour away from Denver and had lots of great bike trails that he could ride on between places like Breckenridge and Keystone.
What I loved most about Frisco is that it is a much smaller town than Denver, so it gave us a different feel for what Colorado is like.

Plus, I loved the main street! With the mountain backdrop and rustic feel, it was one of my favorite spots to hang out!

When we arrived into town, we drove straight to Main Street to have lunch. I had read about the Butterhorn Cafe online, and it had good reviews. It did not disappoint. I would definitely recommend having a meal there if you are ever in Frisco.

Then we walked down to the Frisco Museum which is FREE.

 Part of the museum is housed in the original schoolhouse which Erin loved.

But what she really loved the most was the area behind the schoolhouse, where they had some of the actual original buildings set up like a town.

And each building had a stamp press where she could get an embossed stamp for her little Passport book that the museum provides.

After our visit to the museum, the boys decided to hike up Mount Royal, which is the mountain on the left there right behind the museum. I knew Erin would not be able to handle that climb, so we decided to explore Main Street.
It was a good decision, because they were gone almost three hours on their hike!

We started at this cute little bookstore...

and made our way towards the mountains. We stopped at several little shops...

checked out this adorable little art studio where we made plans to return to when the boys had their day of fly fishing.

Then we finished off with drinks here.

Loved the street signs!

Then we headed to our condo. Too funny that this is the only photo I have of our condo there. I took tons of pictures of the one in Denver, but somehow didn't get any in Frisco. Oh well, it was cute. Not as big as the one in Denver which was two stories. But it was big enough with a master bedroom and bath, plus one smaller bedroom for Erin. Evan had to use the pullout sofa in the living room. It was only one mile from main street and the lake, and right across the road from the grocery store and other shopping spots.

The next morning, I went for a went for a walk for exercise. I was determined to stay on track with it even while on vacation.

The view was pretty spectacular.

After working out, my husband went for a nice, long bike ride and my son actually wanted to do some more hiking. The previous day they had hiked that first mountain you see in the above picture, which is Mount Royal. Next to it is Mount Victoria, and the one after that with the snowier top is actually called Peak One. His goal was to get to the top of Mount Victoria. A pretty popular hiking trail connects the three mountains, which you can read about it in this article Best hiking trails in Colorado: A Guide to Mountain Royal and Peak One in Frisco Colorado. 
It took him about four hours to get to the top and back.

While we were waiting, Erin and I headed to a nearby playground with another beautiful view!

Playground...

View!
Then we went back to the condo for lunch and to rest while waiting for the boys to finish.

That night we drove to Breckenridge to check it out. Kind of weird that once again I did not take any photos. I guess I was just enjoying the moment and not wanting to keep pulling out my phone.

Mike had biked into Breckenridge earlier that afternoon, so he was familiar with it. We ate dinner at a place he had seen called Blue Stag Saloon which was just ok. Afterwards we enjoyed walking around for a bit. It's more touristy than Frisco, but still a pretty little town.

And that was it for our first two days in Frisco! We still have two more to go, but that will have to wait until after the New Year!

Colorado Trip Part 3 - Mount Evans

This was the big day! It was a long, but exciting one. It's not every day that your husband tries to bike up a mountain with over 14000 feet of elevation! I have over 100 photos from that day, but I promise I won't share them all here. Just a few favorites that help tell the story.

We woke up at around 6am and drove to Idaho Springs which was going to be Mike's starting point.
The kids and I had planned to drive up to the Echo lake area so Evan could fish for a little bit.
And then we would drive from there up the mountain offering Mike support as we went.

Echo Lake! It was so pretty up there.

Mountains, trees and a lake in every direction. Loved it!

One of the best decisions I made, was to turn over our smaller Sony camera to her and I used my phone and the DSLR. She took so many photos while I was driving, and there were some really good ones in there.

He tried a little fishing, but didn't have much luck.

The Echo Lake Lodge was a short walk up the road from the lake.

Our red truck parked down there on the left side of the picture was around the halfway point between the lodge sign and the lake. Erin and I had decided to walk up to check it out at one point and discovered it had a gift shop and restaurant.

Mike arrived and took a short break before we all started the next part of his ride.

The kids drove in the truck and would ride ahead of him for a bit to find a good place to park and wait. You can see how narrow the road is and how there is no guardrail on the side. It made me a little nervous at times.

Of course we had to make a few stops on the way to look around and take photos.

Mike would catch up to us and either stop for a break or keep going depending on how he was feeling. All I can say is that he had some major hills to climb throughout the day!

This was one of our main stops where we took a break and waited for Mike.

Mountains for miles.

The higher we climbed, the rockier and less green it became.

Summit Lake was the next big stop for us. I have to say, pictures just can't do it justice. It was a pretty cool spot, and I wish we could have hung out there a little bit longer. But there was a pretty big hill for Mike to climb just past this lake, and we wanted to give him a little more support.

This sign is no joke! Once we passed Summit Lake, it was a little scary in some parts.

I mean he looks like he's going to ride right off the edge of the mountain. I was driving in the middle of the road at this point to get around him. (Photo courtesy of my son. So glad he snapped this shot!)

 And then he made it! So proud and happy for him!

Afterwards, I drove us back down to Echo Lake lodge where we had lunch to celebrate.
Such an amazing experience! Can't wait to see where his next big ride will take us.

Colorado Trip Part 2 - Red Rocks

On our second day in Denver, we decided to take a trip to see Red Rocks Amphitheatre. But first we had breakfast at The Wooden Spoon. Erin really enjoyed her large chocolate croissant!

Then it was off to Red Rocks.

When I was researching things to do in Denver, Red Rocks was at the top of our list. I love traveling to places I have only heard or read about about from other people or online. Seeing it in person, was pretty cool. My husband and I decided right there that we definitely wanted to come back and see a concert at some point. Little did we know it would only be a few months later for our anniversary! But more to come on that in another post.

I really liked how this map laid it all out. I had no idea the large rocks had names.

Family selfie at Red Rocks - 2018

We went inside and down to the lower level for a little bit to cool off, and of course had to find U2 on the gallery wall. We knew they had performed there in 1983, so it was pretty easy to find them listed there.

When we went back outside, Evan and I decided to walk one of the smaller trails. Mike and Erin stayed behind, because we were pretty sure it would not be her thing. :)

We started off walking downwards on the trail...

and saw lots of great rock formations.

We crossed a little bridge, and on the other side...

We saw more rocks...

and some deer before heading back to the top.

I'm not going to lie. It was hot and going uphill towards the end was a little rough. But thankfully we had brought water with us and it became a little shadier. I would definitely recommend bringing lots of water if you ever head to Red Rocks on a hot day.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We did a little grocery shopping for breakfast and lunch items since the house had a kitchen. Then we walked over to REI...

where we saw Wilson from the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks. 

We finished the day off with a trip back to Little Big Man Ice Cream. We didn't want to stay up too late because the next day was a big one. Mount Evans! Blog post coming soon!