ROCKY MT NATIONAL PARK

Greg wanted to take us camping to Rocky Mt. National Park. I like camping so I was for it, but I was a little nervous about taking my girls camping, especially the ones that go potty 50 times at night:)

We are going to Yellowstone the first weekend in September, so this was a trial run, to see if we could do it...WE CAN! Yahoo! There were a few bumps along the way, but it was fun!

So on August...Friday the 13th woooo... we headed out of our house late! We made it to our hotel in Denver at 11:30 pm. I was glad that we were able to stay our first night in a hotel! McKinley was happy to get out of her car seat and in bed! We all slept pretty well, but 7 am came way too fast! Greg took Kinley to breakfast while I slept a little longer! THANK YOU HANDSOME!

We made it out of the hotel and back in the car for some more driving!:) Finally we made it to the park and the parking lots were full!!! WHAT?!?! We had to park down the mountain and ride a shuttle to the top. This was all very well except that I had a hungry baby that kept crying, and I couldn't feed her cause I was standing up in the bus holding on for dear life. (Our bus driver was a little crazy behind the wheel)

Hooray we made it to the base of our hiking trail...Bear Lake! We fed the kids, yes McKinley was hungry too, and started our hike! It was beautiful! It was worth the long drive! It was worth crying babies! It was breathtaking!

Parts of the hike didn't even look real they were so beautiful! So enjoy some pics of our hike...





The animals on our hike/the chipmunks were really friendly...too friendly! They'd come and eat food right out of your hands. When we stopped for lunch they'd come right up to us. It was fun for Kinley to see them close-up, but I still didn't like it too much! What if they decided to attack:) I'm kidding, but a little serious:)

After our hike we needed to head over to the other side of the park to find a campsite. The first one we looked at was so ghetto! The rangers had to take down all the trees cause the beetles killed them. Since there were zero trees...zero fun! Not even a bush in sight! We decided to move on down the road, out of the park and find a different camp site. Are we glad we did!

We almost didn't get a spot. It was the last one! We pulled in and Greg ran to the front of the camp ground to pay for it. While he was gone some guys stopped by in their truck and pulled over by us. I just finished feeding Kasidy when he walked up to the car. Perfect timing right?

This guy (I couldn't stop looking at his shirt...It was a hand flipping the birdie) goes on to tell me that they had just spoken to the camp host, they'd bought the spot, and this was their site.

I didn't want trouble...his shirt was very intimidating, so I kindly told him...
"This is a first come first serve camp site. If you've already bought the spot it's yours, but I'm not moving until my husband gets back."

He didn't like this one bit, and kept insisting that they'd already paid and it was there spot. Finally he said okay he'd be back with the camp host and then he'd have us move.

Okay...See you soon! Please don't eat me!

Greg came back as soon as he left and I told him what happened...Greg is so brave! He pretty much said that wasn't going to fly and headed over to the camp host. Greg you are my hero!

When Greg got there he saw the camp host handing the guy his receipt. LIAR! Mr. Flipping Bird you did not already buy the camp spot! Greg explained the situation, and the camp host told Flipping Bird that he was sorry, but the camp site was ours. Then the camp host gave the man his money back.

This was such a huge blessing! We honestly didn't know where we were going to go if we didn't get this spot!

The guy drove by our site as he was leaving and waved. I feel bad cause it was the last site, but we needed it more. I didn't feel bad an hour later when we saw him on a walk and he'd found another site! Yea, everyone is happy! I like it when everyone can win!

Here are some camping pics...

McKinley was bored while we were setting up the tent, she decided to play with Kasidy! I'm glad Kasidy can't use her hands to pick things up yet...we'd have a problem with rocks in her mouth!


Playing in the tent...She did so well that night! She only got up twice to go potty! It got cold that night too, but she handled it really well!


Dinner Time! Chili, Chips, and Peaches...Go Camping!



We survived the night, packed up, and headed out for one last hike before going home! It was a fun trip!



So the verdict for Yellowstone...It will be a lot more work, but it will be fun!