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Mass in the Mountains

One of our favorite afternoon activities in Estes Park, Colorado is to take relaxing drives to spot wildlife and enjoy views of the surrounding mountains. In December, we grabbed a couple of steaming lattes at the new Ziggi’s Coffee drive-thru and headed down Highway 7, which is part of the Peak to Peak National Scenic Byway.

peak to peak — Picture of signage posted near Allenspark, Colorado.

Along the way we stopped at Saint Malo Center which is located in Allenspark, Colorado between two of our favorite destinations in Rocky Mountain National Park, Lily Lake and the Wild Basin.

Much of Saint Malo Center is undergoing needed restoration work caused by damage from fire, flooding and landslides. The scenery remains heavenly with views of Mount Meeker.

“Upon arriving in Denver I lifted my eyes toward the splendor of the Rocky Mountains, whose majesty and power recall that all our help comes from the Lord, who has made heaven and earth (cf. Ps. 121:1). He alone is the rock of our salvation. (cf. Ps. 89:26).”
Pope John Paul II

The Chapel on the Rock was built in the 1930s

Pope St. John Paul II hiked the trails around the center and he blessed St. Catherine of Siena Chapel, also known as Chapel on the Rock, while visiting Denver for World Youth Day in 1993.

You don’t have to be a saint to visit the chapel, it’s open to the public year round from 10 am to 4 pm (except for Thanksgiving and Christmas). Mass is held each Wednesday at Noon.

More information about the history and future renovations at St. Malo Center can be found at campstmalo.org.

This picture of inside the Chapel was taken during a prior visit in May 2015

I am Catholic, so you would think after years of visiting this beautiful spot I would have made it to Mass there once, but unfortunately I have not.

We typically attend service at Our Lady of the Mountains in Estes Park, Colorado. Worship times are on their website. Perhaps this picture of the girls and me in our Easter dresses helps explain why I have failed to take a picture of Our Lady of the Mountains. When we make it to church these days, my hands are pretty full.

I often feel a special spiritual connection while I’m hiking in the mountains, but we are happy that there are several options to experience Catholic churches in Estes Park as well – whether it’s a quiet moment to say a prayer at the Chapel on the Rock or a full Mass at Our Lady of the Mountains.

If you make it through a special hike or an hour-long Sunday service, you can’t go wrong with Donut Haus in Estes Park to reward everyone’s good behavior. When we’ve been there, the Sunday special has been blueberry donuts. You have to get there early before they sell out, especially in the summer.

Winter Refresh

I updated this post about one of our first hikes in the Wild Basin Area of Rocky Mountain National Park. I also added a pair of fingerless gloves to Shop Our Favorite Things. I think they would help with winter picture taking. Has anyone tried wearing fingerless gloves? Do they still keep you warm?

A Winter Walk in Moraine Park That’s Worth Freezing For

Earlier this month we took a winter trip to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Little did we know, a few weeks later the national parks would be affected by the current government shutdown. Unfortunately, that means visitors can’t drive into the park. Based on articles I’ve read, this hasn’t had a big impact on the local economy yet because winter is typically a slower season. With that said, I hope that the situation is resolved soon!

Moraine Park

During our December trip, we enjoyed a brief but beautiful hike in Moraine Park beginning at the Cub Lake trail head. We chose this area because at 8,080 ft of elevation there is substantially less snow compared to areas of the park with higher altitude.

The first stretch of the hike is in a valley where there is little protection from blasts of freezing wind, but the scenery is worth bundling up and getting out of your cozy cabin for. The Big Thompson River was mostly frozen and seem to glimmer against the blue sky and snow covered mountain backdrop.

Luckily, you don’t have to walk far before tall trees and surrounding rock formations block the wind. Our four-year-old daughter veered off the path to scramble up boulders to join her sister and dad taking in the peaceful views.

view of moraine valley rocky mountain national park

Beautiful views are not the only reason to visit Moraine Park, it is also a great place to encounter wildlife. Last fall we wrote, Cub Lake Trail – a Wildlife Hotspot in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Toddler Friendly Hiking

Our nearly two-year-old insisted on hiking in her pajamas, wearing socks as gloves, and borrowing my hat. She held on to my husband’s hand in icy patches, but wanted to show off her independence by walking at her own pace. This led to our decision to cut the hike short. The trail to Cub Lake is 2.5 miles each way. We wrote about this hike in more detail in a previous post, Rocky Mountain Tot Goes to Cub Lake.

log bridge in moraine valley near big thompson river

New Year Goals

As we look forward to a New Year and new outdoor adventures, our goal is to have the girls walking rather than riding in kid-carriers during many of our hikes. We are excited to discover new hikes in the Rocky Mountains and the Ozark Mountains which are located near our new home in Fayetteville, Arkansas. We will write about all of them in our family hiking journal and also look forward to sharing with y’all too!

Best Places to ‘Have a Cup of Cheer’ in Estes Park, Colorado

From a steaming mug of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream to a glass of robust red wine, the holiday season is a great time to sip and savor. Estes Park has opportunities for you to pair fun winter adventures with your favorite cup of cheer.

Best Kid’s Drink

Trailhead Restaurant on Fall River Road serves hot chocolate the way toddlers and their parents like it, with loads of whipped cream! If you are feeling extra festive you can order peppermint hot chocolate or opt for the hot cider that smells just as good as it tastes.

Another favorite is the milk flight found at Mama Rose’s restaurant. Our kids enjoy small cups of strawberry, chocolate, vanilla and white milk. This is a fun replacement for dessert.

Best Coffee

Kind Coffee is located on the edge of downtown Estes Park. Grab a cup of quality organic coffee and warm up in the cozy cafe before shopping, or take it with you on a stroll along the Estes Park Riverwalk. For many Christmas is the season for giving, but Kind Coffee gives back year-round by donating a percentage of their revenue to international charities as well as participating in the Estes Park Give Back community partnership.

Estes Park Coffee Shops — Warm up in local coffee shops before shopping in downtown Estes Park

Best Local Beer

If you appreciate good beer and a laid-back, friendly environment, Rock Cut Brewing Company is your place. It’s a tough choice to decide which beer on their menu to try, so why not go with a flight of 5 tasters? Rockcut also contributes to the local community. When you order a pint of their German-style amber aptly named Altruism, $1 goes to charity.

In this category we also have to mention Lumpy Ridge Brewery which is located in an old gas station building that feels both hip and compact. What they are lacking in space, they make up for in taste. Their menu currently includes a Winter Breeze Coconut Brown Lager – yum.

Best Local Wine

We have written about our love of Snowy Peaks winery before and we probably will again because of their awesome play area for kids to enjoy why parents taste local wine. For $6 you can taste 5 wines that are made by Snowy Peaks and other local Colorado wineries.

Snowy Peaks Winery in Estes Park Colorado — Kids entertained at Snowy Peaks Winery

Best Margarita

Merry Margarita to all! It’s not the first drink you think of on a trip to a winter wonderland like Estes Park, but there are several good Mexican restaurants in town and there is always room in our life for chips and salsa. If that comes with a refreshing margarita, no complaints here. For Mexican cuisine with a Colorado twist, we think Ed’s Cantina and Grille is the place to go.

There are plenty of ways to fill your cup this season in Estes Park, Colorado. We are excited to learn more about a Booze Cruise offered by the Ridgeline Hotel. We have kids traveling with us this season, so we can’t participate, but we want to share for those looking for a safe and fun way to experience local breweries and distilleries.

The Ridgeline Hotel’s website also highlights Trendz boutique, which is one of our favorite local shops. They now offer a Sip & Shop experience along with a full calendar of great shopping events in December.

Winter Refresh

We have been doing a winter refresh project on our blog and want to share a couple articles that have updated content.

The Most Underrated Hike in Rocky Mountain National Park: Following the Historic Ute Trail

Gingerbread Cabin Cookie recipe

How to Survive a Long Family Road Trip

Tis the season for family road trips. If you are like many Midwestern families, you will be bundling up the kiddos and driving at least a couple of hours to visit loved ones this holiday season. How do you make this part of the holidays a little less stressful so you can focus on the festivities?

We’ve learned a lot from our frequent treks from our home town near Kansas City, MO to Estes Park, CO. This trip takes about 10.5 hours each way. One of the things we hear the most from friends with young kids is that they are intimidated to make long drives. We get it, driving all day is tough on us and really tough on the kiddos, but they usually do great.

Prepare for Traveling Day in Advance

The day before we go on our trip we make sure all of our electronics are charged, filled with downloaded content, and ready to go with car adapters. We recently bought the girls new Kid’s Kindle Fire tablets, but limit their use to road trips, so it feels like a special treat.

We also stock up on snacks and drinks for the road. While we often still end up buying odds and ends at gas stations (we try to buy something when we pop in for restroom breaks), its great to have a cooler full of milk for the girls and water/Gatorade for us. While it’s a tough balance to avoid too many extra bathroom breaks, we’ve found it to be important to stay fully hydrated on the trip out to fend off altitude sickness at our final destination. For us, it helps driving in to Colorado rather than flying in because our bodies can acclimate a little more gradually to the change. Altitude impacts everyone differently, even those in great physical condition, so we often advise family and friends who know that they struggle with the adjustment to stay near the Denver area for a night before going further up in the mountains.

Road Trip Backpacks with Activities

Each girl gets their own backpack filled with coloring, activity books and art supplies. We often listen to toddler radio stations to sing along to before switching to relaxing tunes around nap time.

Our Toddler Travel Bags Include:

Amazon Fire with a kid-proof (pink!) case – we are able to download their favorite videos, the girls can play games, and they love to take pictures with their tablets. We only let them use them on long road trips, so playing with the tablets feel like a big treat.
Our kids favorite books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?
Tracing books to practice our preschooler’s emerging writing skills
Snacks, snacks and more snacks. You can’t have too many snacks
Water Wow! this is a mess free art activity that the girls can do again and again
Co lor Wonder Mess Free Coloring our girls love to draw and we love when we don’t have to worry about what they are coloring on because these markers only mark on the special color wonder paper.

Timing

We’ve tried several theories on the best way to time the long trip including leaving late and driving through the night or stopping half way and staying at a hotel. Surprisingly, we’ve found leaving mid-morning works best for our family. Here is our basic time-line:

7:00AM girls wake up, eat breakfast, play to burn off energy and we pack the car
9:00AM leave after making sure everyone has used the restroom and/or has fresh diaper
10:00AM we typically try to make it out-of-town before we start any electronics
12:00PM stop for lunch, bathroom and gas fill-up break
12:30PM get back in the car and hope for nap time
3:00PM stop for snack, bathroom and gas fill-up break
5:00PM we make a game time decision to stop for dinner or keep going
6:00-7:00PM estimated arrival. We gain an hour of sunlight when clocks change to Mountain Standard Time.

Route

Without traffic it’s just about as fast going through Denver and Boulder to get to Estes Park, but we typically take E-470 up by the airport to bypass most of the city. E-470 is a toll road and they will mail you a bill if you plan on going once, but if you plan on going to Colorado frequently, it might make sense to get an express toll pass.

Restroom Breaks

We bring along our own potty training toilet for the girls to use when we are in need of breaks between towns (which is common in the middle of Kansas and Eastern Colorado) or when we decide the toilets that are available are not clean enough to use.

Weather

We pay close attention to weather and road conditions using COtrip.org, KanDrive.org and our weather apps. In the spring and early summer we are concerned about pop up storms that can produce tornadoes. In the late fall through early spring we pay attention to icy roads and snow.

Whether you are going on a 1 hour trip or 10 hour trip, planning ahead, having lots of distractions including loads of snacks, and thinking through potential hiccups will help reduce the stress of traveling with young kids. We hope you enjoy happy and safe travels this holiday season.

We’d love to hear your opinion too. Do you have any road trip survival tips we missed?

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