Christmas in Estes Park, CO

This year we decided to do something a little different and get away to the mountains for the holiday.  We decided that Estes Park would be the best bet as it is only an hour drive, has lots of pretty scenery and no main highways to drive with ski traffic.  Our requirements were for it to be a cabin (obviously!), have a hot tub, allow dogs and fit 3 adults.  We were able to find a great property called Sunny Side Knoll.  It was a great location only about 2 miles from Rocky Mountain National Park and set back from the road were it was very quite.  They were running a great special of buy two nights get one free, it was quite the deal.

Started to snow right when we got into Town

We left after work on Christmas Eve and arrived right before in got dark.  My mom and I had pre-planned all of the meals as the cabin had a large kitchen fully stocked with all the kitchen needs.  After getting all of us settled in including the dogs we made the best Christmas Eve dinner of Crab Claws and listened to Christmas music.

Brad did not go hungry

We brought up our miniature Christmas tree and ornaments so we would have some sort of a tree to put presents under.  It defiantly set the Christmas mood at the Cabin.  

'Twas the Night before Christmas

Christmas Day we slept in, made a fabulous breakfast and started to open gifts. We took it easy enjoying our gifts and spending time with the dogs.  We usually keep it very casual for Christmas and open gifts in our PJ's!!

Frankie relaxing with his "bear"

After eating way too much food, lounging around and watching movies we thought we would go take a drive and walk with the dogs at Lake Estes.  The weather was cold and windy but no snow.  We walked about 1 mile on the trail and were lucky enough to run into a heard of Elk.  The elk in Estes are out of control they just graze around town and really don't care about people being near.  There was about 50 in the heard and they were just grazing away.  The dogs didn't seem to mind the elk and the elk didn't mind the dogs.  To be safe we did hold them just in case the elk thought they looked like an "elk treat".  The lake was gourgous frozen over with ice and beautiful scenery.

Dog's look thrilled!

Grazing Elk

The day after Christmas Brad and I decided to be adventurous and snowshoe up in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Driving in RMNP

We started at Bear Lake, headed up to Nymph Lake and continued on to Dream Lake.  Bear Lake is where beginners go, the trail is flat and you can get your bearings of walking in snowshoes.  We continued the hike to Nymph Lake which was moderate and continued on to Dream Lake with the trail being pretty difficult.  The trail was pretty steep and there were some areas with extreme drop offs on each side, you had to single file on the edges.  While some parts of the hike were strenuous the views were gorgeous.  I may have had a big mini breakdown due to too many layers and being hot but Brad talked me through it and we kept trekking on.  The end result of Dream Lake was absolutely beautiful.  I am excited to snowshoe more often this year as I really enjoyed it as a winter activity.

Just Starting to get the hang of it in all my layers

Brad was a Pro

Bear Lake

Dream Lake, sun was setting

Accomplishment

Sun setting

We did it!!

Snapped by a follow snowshoer on our decent

We were so sore when we got back to the cabin and soaked in the hot tub for a long time.  It was beautiful out with so many stars against the brisk mountain air.  While very cold it felt amazing in the hot tub and so relaxing.  That night we watched more movies, had a big pot of Chili and just hung out.  (Bummed I didn't get any pictures of us in the hot tub)

The last day we packed up and decided to do one last hike and some shopping in town.  My mom decided she would hang out and shop to get some Christmas gifts and Brad and I thought it would be nice to take the dogs for a L-O-N-G walk.  We ended up walking around Lake Estes, 4.5 miles in all.  The dogs (and humans) were quite tired on the way home.

Selfie with the dogs, Lucy didn't quit get the concept!

I would HIGHLY recommend to everyone to at least spend one Christmas away from all the hustle and bustle and just enjoy time with loved ones.  We have decided this will be a new Sill Family tradition and we will continue to do Christmas at the cabin for years to come!!