We said our goodbyes to Eric and Ethan, left the Airbnb on July 7th, and started our Eastward journey. We spent one night in Green River, WY at Green River RV Park and spent another overnight stay in Cheyenne, WY at AB RV Park. We checked out downtown Cheyenne on July 8th and headed to Golden, CO the next day to begin our next adventure!
Pat checking out a big boot in downtown Cheyenne!
We checked into Dakota Ridge RV Resort on July 9th for a 7 night stay. The resort is conveniently located being only 12 miles from Downtown Denver.
Our grandson lives in Denver during the school year with his mom (Apryl) and spends the summers with Eric. We had planned to visit with Apryl and her daughter, Lauren, while we were there. Apryl invited us to her house for dinner the day after we arrived, but what I didn't expect was that Alyssa had flown in from L.A. to surprise me. She and Pat had planned this without my knowledge. I was so excited to spend more time with Alyssa!
Apryl, Alyssa, and I spent one day exploring downtown Denver. We started our day with a delicious brunch at a restaurant called City O' City.
Brunch at a great restaurant.
Denver is a fun city to explore, and what better way to get around than on an electric scooter. The scooters are available to rent on the sidewalks in several areas around the city. It's an efficient way to cover the most ground in a short period of time. We had a blast cruising around on our scooters as Apryl gave us a personalized tour of a few of the Denver landmarks!
We ended our day with a visit through the quaint town of Golden. We enjoyed a nice dinner before heading back to the RV.
Downtown Golden
Another perk to RV life is you can sometimes visit with family who live near where you are staying. The next day, July 11th, we drove to LaFayette, CO, a 40 drive from the RV resort, to visit with my cousin, Chris, and his family. We had a wonderful time catching up with Chris, his wife, Kelly, their 2 boys, Brady and Dylan, and Golden Retriever, Jack.
It's always nice visiting with family.
On July 13th, we ate dinner at an eclectic Downtown vegan Restaurant called Bang Up to the Elephant and celebrated Alyssa's birthday, which is at the end of the month.
Happy "almost" birthday, Alyssa!
Later that evening, we were relaxing in the RV, when we heard someone at the the door. I can't even explain how shocked we were to see Eric and Ethan enter the RV! Apparently, Eric, with the help of Apryl, had been secretly planning this visit for months. This truly has been the summer of surprises!
The next day we drove to Mount Evans, about 50 miles from the RV park. The views on the the winding road to the 14,130 foot summit were absolutely breathtaking. According to colorado.com, the highway to Mount Evans is the highest paved road in North America. We drove by alpine lakes and caught a glimpse of a marmot and a few mountain goats before reaching the summit where a short hike took us to the top. We were rewarded with stunning mountain views and took a bunch of photos. On the way down, we had to stop at a patch of snow so Myah could cool off.
And just like that, our week in the Denver area had come to an end. July 16th was another day of goodbyes. Alyssa flew back to L.A. the day before. We met for breakfast before saying our goodbyes to Eric and Ethan as they started their drive back to Salt Lake City. And we said our goodbyes to Apryl and Lauren before hitting the road to our next destination.
We had a wonderful time in the "Mile High City" and appreciated the extra time visiting with family. A week is definitely not enough time to see all the sights. We look forward to exploring more of what the beautiful state of Colorado has to offer when we pass through again in the future. Next stop Nebraska!