Estes Park (Feb 2021)

COVID kept the brakes on any substantial travel during the first few months of 2021, but Carol was able to do a week-long getaway in nearby Estes Park with sister Janice in February. Unseasonably cold temperatures kept us inside more than we expected and provided a good excuse to indulge in popcorn and hot chocolate.

No blog post, just these photos.

New Adventures in New Mexico (May 2021)

Our first out-of-state excursion after sticking close to home for 14 months was a delightful 16-day driving vacation in New Mexico. Although it’s a neighbor state to Colorado, we haven’t spent much time there, so there was plenty to see. A night in Taos, a week near Santa Fe, a week in Carlsbad and our last night in Las Vegas (New Mexico, not Nevada).

Two blog posts: Taos/Santa Fe and Carlsbad/Las Vegas

A couple of shots from the Santa Fe area:

And from Carlsbad Caverns:

A number of attractions on our sight-seeing itinerary were still closed due to COVID restrictions. So you know what that means – we must go back!

A Taste of Montana and a Feast in Alaska (Jun-Jul 2021)

After driving to Missoula and spending a few days getting reacquainted with our grandson Owen, we flew to Alaska for a fabulous five week adventure. While there, we explored five national parks and did a little sight-seeing in Sitka, Juneau, Anchorage, Talkeetna and Fairbanks.

The orange markers on the map below show our Alaska destinations for this trip (with the exception of Lake Clark National Park – daytrip cancelled due to adverse weather conditions 😥). Blue and purple markers represent places we visited during previous Alaska vacations.

Click here to peruse our seven new Alaska blog posts, featuring photos of some pretty fantastic scenery!

Post-Alaska, we flew back to Montana and celebrated Owen’s third birthday before driving home to Colorado. Here’s a photo of all five of us:

And a few more pics of Owen wearing some of his many hats.

No blog post from our time in Missoula – just these few pics.

An Immersive Experience on the Colorado Plateau and More (Oct-Dec 2021)

Road trip!

The first six weeks were all about experiencing the splendor of the Colorado Plateau, an immense geographic region that stretches outward from the four corners area of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

Here’s a quick summary:

• 49 days
• 3,593 road miles from our house to Las Vegas (808 if simply driving direct)
• FIVE national parks (SIX if you count the 20 minutes we were technically within the boundaries of Grand Canyon NP 😎)
• SEVEN national monuments
• SIX Utah state parks
• TWO Navajo Nation tribal parks
• ONE national conservation area
• ONE national recreation area
• Multiple national and state-designated scenic byways

Plus many more photos of incredibly beautiful places. Click here to see thumbnails of blog posts from this super fun and memorable excursion, or click on the individual links below:

• Colorful Grand Junction – Red Rocks, Red Wine and Autumn Splendor
• Breathtaking Scenery & Too Many Visitors – Welcome to Moab!
• On the Way from Here to There
• A Visit to the Navajo Nation – Monument Valley & Antelope Canyon
• Remarkable Landscapes & Water Woes in Page, Arizona
• Kanab – “The Greatest Earth on Show”
• A Grand Visit to the Grand Staircase – Boulder, Utah
• Wrapping Up Utah on a High Note in Bryce Canyon

Heading further west, we spent a few days visiting our friend Carolyn in Las Vegas . . .

. . . and five weeks relaxing in Huntington Beach with Andrew (son) and Gail (daughter-in-law).

No blog posts from Las Vegas or Huntington Beach yet, but we had a wonderful time.