Today we set alarms and headed north to Granby, Colorado to drive the Trail Ridge Road through the Rocky Mountain National Park. Normally there is a $30/day fee to visit the park as well as a requirement to get a timed entry ticket between 9am and 2pm. We made the park gate by 8:30, but with the government shutdown, they were waving everyone through the gate without requiring a park fee. It was a long day in the car. We made the drive through the park and exited at Estes Park, Colorado in time for lunch. We then took the nearly 3-hour drive back around the park along a very scenic state roads through Allenspark and Nederland, bypassing Boulder.

We saw a moose family on the road as we entered the park. However, my pictures of the moose didn’t turn out very clear.

We really enjoyed the views from above treeline, and Aster and I hiked the Alpine Ridge Trail, a short trail leading up from the Alpine Visitor’s Center. The trail topped the ridge at just over 12,000 feet above sea level. Izzy wasn’t up for the walk, so stayed in the car and waited.

It has been nice to not be on the move for a few days. Not that we have been sitting around all day. Yesterday we got up and headed to the St. Louis Zoo as soon as it opened. It was a lot of walking for the three of us, and Izzy was getting really tired by early afternoon. It is fun to see everyone getting Halloween decorations set up.

This morning Izzy and I headed to Grant’s Farm for a few hours. When we got home, I dropped my oldest, Aster, off at the St. Louis Pride festival downtown. Izzy and I also walked down to Deer Creek Park and across to the Deer Creek Shopping Plaza before heading home. It was sunny and warm; not hot for St. Louis, but a bit warmer than us from New England are used to.

We finally made it out of the east coast. It took a few days longer than I had expected, and we gained an unexpected member on our trip. But here we are. Our first real stop.

We checked out of our hotel on Tuesday and were able to get on the road by early afternoon. We made western Pennsylvania by the end of the day and spent the night in a terrible hotel. I’m going to make sure we get nicer places going forward.

Our plans are to stay here for a few day and early next week head to Colorado for a few days in the mountains before returning east. This morning the three of us went to the Missouri Botanical Garden and then to The Hill to get lunch before returning to Bill’s house to rest for a few hours. Tomorrow we hope to get to the zoo. Not sure plans for the weekend yet, though the kids will probably go to the Reconnaissance Festival on Sunday and I’ll paint Bill’s porch trim while they are gone..

I’m pretty sure that the road trip Izzy and I were sketching out wasn’t the best planned evolution. However, things are changing even before we depart. We had originally planned to spend two months camping out of the minivan. It took a few weeks longer to sell the house than we expected, and Izzy was starting to get eager to start school in Sweden and our trip plan was shortened to a month and we were going to start out by heading to DC and then Florida on Sunday.

Well, it is Monday morning, and we are still in Connecticut. It has been a pretty hectic few days with all the things going on here, but that story is neither for the blog nor is mine to tell. The big change is that our journey gained a new traveler as well. Instead of just the two of us, my firstborn will most likely be joining us for the journey. Instead of heading south, we will face north and make a left turn and head west. Hopefully tomorrow night we will be in Pennsylvania near Cherry Springs State Park. From there we will head to St. Louis and stay with my brother in Webster Groves. Our tentative plans from there will be to head west to Colorado and we haven’t planned past then.

We switched hotels on Saturday. Our original hotel didn’t have rooms available for Saturday night, so we moved up to a Comfort Inn near Lisbon Landing in Griswold. The room is a bit smaller, but the hotel and pool are much newer. There is even a hot tub! And, for Izzy, they also have a waffle maker for breakfast. We’ve been trying to get out and keep active. Yesterday was a trip to Gillette Castle and a ride on the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry. Today will, hopefully, be wrapping things up here and Izzy is going to hang out with her friend after her friend gets home from school this afternoon. We’ll just have to find something to do this morning. But first, I’ll let Izzy sleep in as long as she wants. She was pretty tired by the end of the day yesterday.