Mile High Hamiltons: Colorado Vacation

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Now that the main event of our vacation had come and gone, we were left with a week of wine country, Colorado National Monument, Glenwood Springs Hot Springs, cave tours and more. It all seemed so dull in comparison, but on we marched. Someone had to finish this vacation, so it might as well had been us. Twist our arm.

Sunday morning we enjoyed a nice breakfast on the patio of our hotel. The boys thought that this was great fun as they could play and explore as we sipped our coffee. Ahhh... Bliss!

This didn't stop them from stopping by every 4.3 seconds to check in and say "CHEESE Mama"!

With smiles like these, they can stop by as often as they like.

Look at that Coffee Bliss smile.

That morning we trucked down to the Palisade farmers market. Being that Palisade is advertised for their produce we expected BIG things!!

We found two blocks of market.

Hmm....

We still purchased a bag of kettle corn, two peaches and two pears. Yum!

The boys were admired from local vendors and shoppers as they chugged down the train tracks, also known as the center line.

At one point, Kellan and Oliver both stopped and waited... and waited... there was a man on their track. Once that man's wife figured out what was going on she laughed and had him move to the side. Off the train chugged. Chugga Chugga CHOO CHOO!

Kellan, checking on his caboose to make sure that it is still there.

I often forget to capture the little things about the boys while I'm telling stories about our adventures.

Kellan can often be heard saying "Chugga Chugga CHOO CHOO!" as well as "CHOO CHOO, All Aboard!".

He LOVES trains!! I expect this will pass as it did with his brother, but time will tell. We enjoy watching him explore life as a new adventure, as what we take for granted is all very new to him.

Once we had walked both sides of the track through the farmers market, we strolled through town a bit only to find this great white picket fence.

These boys amaze me. The love and care they have for each other busts at the seems. It warms our hearts as we watch them grow as brothers and best friends. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it was no accident that Kellan's first word was "Oliver" (ober).

We stopped by the bike shop to inquire about renting bikes the next day for a wine country / orchard tour. The guy told us that his shop was closed on Monday, as were many other businesses because they stay open on Sundays for tourism. Quickly, we decided to bike tour on Sunday. Yes, Kellan was about due for a nap, but he (almost) powered through on Saturday and we thought that he could just lay his head to the side and close his pretty little eyes if he so desired. (he never did. he powered through!)

The boys didn't hesitate for a moment before they jumped in their ride.

With a map in my basket and the boys loaded up we saddled up our cruisers and headed West.

The bike trip was mapped out at about 10 miles.

It was fabulous!

It was grand to be out in the wide open space with the wind in our hair and the sunshine on our cheeks.

Everyone was happy.

After I took this photo, while pedaling, I noticed the boys had their mouths covered. As we watched, we realized they were pretending to play horns as they were singing together. Current tunes Oliver sing is: The National Anthem, Grand 'ol Flag and Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Current tunes Kellan sings is: Baa Baa Black Sheep, Row Row Row Your Boat, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Happy Birthday, Take Me Out to the Ball Game.. and the National Anthem.

Make a right and head on to wine tasting.

After some quick wine tasting, we stepped outside to take in the vineyard. We learned very quickly that wine tasting is risky business with two small boys because the tasting room is full of intriguing and fragile items that little boys fingers are attracted too. Plus, people are trying to be very serious about this stuff and giggling boys seem to interrupt that ambiance. Keith and I go with the theory that you either like it or you don't. If you do, you buy, if you don't, you don't buy. Easy Peezy!

Here are our two munchkin's pausing for a photo. Don't let that pouty face fool you.

He's got a mischievous grin behind those pouty lips.

Good thing we have Oliver to keep him in line. We may need to cash in a few favors with the big brother as Kellan grows into those pouty/mischievous lips.

The grape vines seemed endless... and empty.

Most of the harvest has already occurred.

There was this lone flower peeking out, begging for a photo op.

You may also notice the photo quality changes now and then through this vacation. I opted to bust out the Big Dog for this trip. I had been missing my professional Canon as it's been tucked away since lugging it around with two kids isn't an easy task. It is always easier to have a pocket camera handy, but for this trip, the Big Dog came along. Hence, the photo quality changed along with it.

Since Mom and Dad had a tasting of wine, the boys had a tasting of their own unfermented juice. Keith hooked them up with juice boxes and took the top off of Kellan in order to avoid box squeezing spills.

Maybe in the coming years we will enjoy some Cabernet Sauvignon from this row of grapes.

Loaded up and ready to ride!

I can't say there was any complaining from this backseat chariot. Maybe we need one at home?

Kellan quite liked his chariot with a view.

Then, we were off in search of fruit orchards.

We drove by several orchards, all of whom were closed. URGH!

So we decided to slightly alter our goals and make the most of the bike ride. Our path took us through a park and right along the Colorado River.

We pedaled on and on.

Until we stopped at a park to explore the river bank.

Kellan was in constant search of a good rock or maybe an ant or two.

In no time, Oliver was tossing rocks and working to raise the river level.

Kellan was excited to see some dogs playing nearby in the river. Neither of the boys are ever happy to see dogs when they are close, but from a distance they are exciting creatures.

Daddy was happy to be off of the bike for a bit.

Notice Keith's shirt, Colorado Native beer. We bikes by hops that were specially grown for this 100% Colorado beer.

Once the dogs were gone, Kellan was fired up with "Mamma, This?" "Mamma, This?"

It was a nice, overcast day to be out and about.

The rock throwing continued over and over.

It is most critical to throw with a tongue in your cheek for ultimate performance.

Luckily, there were plenty of rocks to be found.

The rock tossing went on and on until finally Oliver felt that he had exhausted the rock supply.

The pedaling continued and we found ourselves at a great little vineyard on the east side of town. Oh... we tried to stop at an orchard for the boys but all we found was CLOSED, CLOSED and CLOSED.

This next vineyard informed us that harvest was three weeks early this year so most of the produce was gone. Timing is everything.

We walked into what looked like a garage and found rows of wooden aging barrels.

Upstairs was a tasting room, complete with a few gadgets for the boys fingers to explore.

Keith and I really liked a variety that we tried so we purchased a bottle and moved on before the boys fingers explored one of the fragile objects that were tempting them.

Once again, the vineyard was just outside of the tasting area. There was a great farm feel to this vineyard.

We also found two small bushels of grapes that were waving at us for a photo op.

After running across numerous orchards and wineries that were closed as well as watching the boys' patience deteriorate, we pedaled toward town to end on a high note. At that point Keith got his hands on the camera.

Look Ma, One hand!

At any moment now I could break out in song and exclaim that The Hills are Alive with Music!

That night, we were beat. It had been a fun filled day at the farmers market and biking through the country side. We headed back to the Wine Country Inn for their evening wine tasting reception and dinner on the patio. It was perfect.

Of course, this was not before we were stopped at a railway crossing with an added bonus. Oh yes... this vacation is turning out to be one of added bonuses. Kellan was jaw-dropped shocked about the train moving at lighting speed just steps from our car. Then, over the horizon we saw the Sunday Blue Angels demonstration. The difference, besides the obvious distance factor was that this time we could see them on the edges of the show as they moved into formation. It was quite the bonus.

Back at the Wine Country Inn, I was thankful to MAC, for helping me to not look so tired but WOW, we look beat.

Happy, but beat.