Every outdoor enthusiast has been there—seduced by the promise of a gadget that claims to make camping a breeze, only to find it gathering dust in the garage. It's a tale as old as time in the outdoor gear world. Today, we delve into some of the most talked-about, yet underwhelming, pieces of camping gear that you might be better off skipping. 1. The Overly Complicated Tent Systems While they promise a quick setup, these intricate shelters often require an engineering degree to assemble. Many ca...
Estes Park, The Rockies, and Touring the Stanley Hotel
Estes Park, The Rockies, and Touring the Stanley Hotel
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On the afternoon of December 17th we made our way through the mountains to the next major milestone of our Colorado trip: Estes Park. Earlier in the day, we had finished hiking the Royal Arch hiking trail at Chautauqua Park in Boulder, so we were all pretty zapped and hungry from the beautiful but rugged hike. We checked into our hotel that night and got cleaned up, and decided to go downtown to find something to eat. We decided on a local burger shop called "Penelope's Old Time Burgers", and it certainly did not disappoint! The portion sizes for the burgers were very satisfying, and if I hadn't hiked a hard trail earlier in the day I probably would have needed a bigger to-go box! Everyone enjoyed their food, and we left the restaurant satisfied and ready to hit the bed for tomorrow's adventures downtown.
The next morning we rode up the mountains in Rocky Mountain National Park to take some pictures and sightsee. The view on top of the mountains was incredible, and although we had already been in Colorado for a few days, you could definitely tell that the air was much thinner than somewhere else like Alabama! After taking a few pictures, we spent the rest of the morning and afternoon exploring downtown Estes Park, seeing all the small tourist shops and Mom-and-Pop stores dotting the streets. If you could think of it, there was a store that sold it: Clothing, food, hats, hiking gear, Native American clothing, and even a shop to buy a full set of chainlink armor! Overall the experience was very good, and would definitely recommend stopping by Estes Park if you are in the area.
That night, we had also planned to tour the famous Stanley Hotel situated above the city. The Stanley Hotel is very well known for being an incredibly haunted hotel, and is most famous for being the inspiration behind Stephen King's "The Shining". At 6pm, we checked in for our hour-long tour of the hotel, and saw many different rooms and areas that felt quite unnerving! We did not, fortunately, experience any paranormal events during our tour, but I definitely felt a creepy vibe from the hotel! After our tour, we made our way to the hotel's restaurant called "The Post" for some fabulous drinks and Chicken and Waffles, and finally made our way back to the hotel to prepare for our camping excursion to the Rockies the next day.
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Looks like fun!