Why Colorado For Summer Trip 2011

THIS WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ON MAY 7, 2011 AND POSTED IN MY TRIP JOURNAL

The candidates for Summer Trip 2011 were:

*Hiking in Acadia National Park with several state capitals visited along the way.

*Tour of Minnesota

*Yellowstone National Park with lots of stops between here and there

*Finish exploring the state of Colorado

The first two were eliminated because of the dreaded black fly season which occurs between Mother's Day and Father's Day. We innocently encountered this in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan several years ago and I can assure you, it is not something we wish to repeat. Locals expect it and prepare for it - we thought we'd encountered a plague of Biblical proportions!

Yellowstone is something we talk about every year, but May/June can be very "iffy" with weather conditions. Depending on the severity of the winter, Yellowstone entrances, roads and trails may or may not be open. As it turns out, this winter has been a particularly snowy one and Yellowstone probably wouldn't have been a good choice.

We love the state of Colorado and have really only scratched the surface of all there is to see and do in that state. It will be my fourth visit and Bill's third. We spent three weeks in Estes Park in 2009 and fell in love with Rocky Mountain National Park. We will be returning to the same cabin along the Big Thompson River in Estes Park for the final two weeks of this trip. Prior to that, we'll be in Colorado Springs for one week followed by two weeks in the southwest corner of Colorado at a condo in Durango.

Those who have tagged along with us before know that we don't let any grass grow under our feet and this trip will be no different. We've got lots planned in Missouri and Kansas before we even arrive in Colorado Springs.

Much progress was made today. Oil change and tires rotated, haircuts, lawn mowed, lists made, laundry done, packing started. Tomorrow we take a break from trip preparations and celebrate Mother's Day with our moms!

Thanks for reading!