Day 3 Today we got up semi-late and decided to take it easy since the drive to Estes Park is not really that long. We made a pancake breakfast and then made the short drive to Garden of the Gods Park for a short morning hike. Last night some sort of wind storm blew through and there were all sorts of downed tree limbs and such. This wind also seemed to blow out a lot of the dust and smog. The views were amazing and the temperature just right for

a hike. We hiked for about an hour and a half. Even Harris insisted on walking a good portion of the way. We went back to the trailer and my Dad and I tore down the trailer for departure while Amy my Mom and the kids went to the springs to fill up our water bottles with spring water. We set out North towards Estes Park and at the last minute decided to swing by the burger joint called Hamburger Mary’s. It is kind of crazy driving through downtown Denver with that trailer rig, but the burgers are delicious so we decided to hazard it again. If you will remember last year we got stuck in some side Alley and had to reverse that thing the whole way out of there. This year I was much more careful in selecting a route. Amy parked the trailer in a lot a couple blocks away while my Mom and I ran over to pick up a to-go order. We then took the food to a city park and parked the trailer in a city pay lot. This was no big deal since it was Sunday and there was no traffic. We ate in the park and the kids kicked the soccer ball around for a bit. There were many sleeping vagrants in the park and I had to watch the kids closely to make sure they did not nail one of them with a ball. We left the park, bellies full and made the drive to Estes Park. We drove through Boulder and ran into heavy traffic as there is some sort of marathon or something called the Bolder Boulder going on that seems to have caused traffic jams. We arrived at our campsite at a good time, got set up and had some time to burn. We decided to take the kids fishing again at the local trout pond to try and catch some fish. They had so much fun doing that last year we decided to do it again. This time however luck was not with us. The winds were still high and despite our best efforts not a single fish was caught. Grant was crushed. He is fiercely competitive and seeing a few other folks catch fish upset him. We returned to the campsite with a very disappointed Grant. We told him we would try again. By this time I think the fatigue of the past few days began to catch up with the kids and they all fell asleep early. Harris even fell asleep in mid crawl on the floor of the trailer. Tomorrow is our first full day of hiking and it is better the kids get some rest. My Dad seems to have a touch of altitude sickness and spent much of the evening resting. Hopefully that resolves by tomorrow.