Not too long after Erika left Mom and Dad came out to Alexandra’s. Their plan was to stay in Colorado for a little over a month. Not the whole time in Denver though. They had a few excursions planned too.
That first week we played a lot of golf. Anyone who knows my Dad knows that the man is obsessed. I mean it is a good thing. It gets him out of the house and it’s fairly good exercise. Especially at his age.
We played this course called Arrowhead and it was super unique. It’s basically Red Rocks or Garden of the Gods turned into a golf course. It’s really challenging. You have to hit around these gigantic red boulders at times. And the terrain change can be extreme, depending on the hole. I didn’t shoot all that well but it was a really cool experience.
Mom is a little more active and is happy to go on a hike with me. We went out towards Red Rocks and did the Trading Post Trail. It’s not super long. Maybe two miles at the most. It’s pretty flat too. Just a trail that meanders through the heart of the park.
I think Mom enjoyed it. She is a bit of a science nerd and there was a ton of information about the geological history of the area. It’s a unique place.
The only problem was that we went on a very sunny day. When you’re out there it feels like you’re out in the desert. The sun can be downright irresistible at times out here.
Mom and Dad spent a few more days around Denver and then they took a trip out into the mountains. They spent a few days alone out there and then I met up with them near Keystone. We played another round of golf at another beautiful course. This time at a higher elevation so it was fun to see the ball fly off the club.
We didn’t stay in Keystone for more than the day. Mom and Dad had a timeshare out in Granby and that was actually a nice little unit. The town isn’t all too big. There is a small mountain that you can ski during the winter. But I would imagine most people stay around during the summer because of how close it is to Rocky Mountain National Park.
We did get into the national park while we were staying there. A different part than what I did with Erika. We came into the park from the opposite direction and we did the Alpine Road up and over the mountains. This particular road doesn’t open until Memorial Day and it was closed when Erika was visiting.
The views from the top were fantastic but we didn’t really do all too much except drive the road. We stopped off at a few overlooks and took some pictures. Dad is not too keen to do any type of hiking. Especially at this altitude.
We did run into some wildlife while at the park. We saw a few marmots while at the Forest Canyon overlook. And we ran into some elk and some moose on our way out of the park. It was fun to be out there with them and share a different kind of experience than is usual for us.