Estes Park Day 3

If you want to catch up on my previous vacation recaps, go here (day 1) and here (day 2). Thanks for reading!

Sorry for being so slow on these vacay recaps! I’ve just been pretty busy and it honestly has slipped my mind. I love all the comments I’ve been getting recently and all the new readers/commenters are great. I promise to be back with the last recap very soon. I can’t believe it’s already been exactly two weeks since this all happened. Summer sure flies by 😦

Monday was the Fourth of July (of course) so I knew it would be amazing. I even had a patriotic outfit all planned out! And I started the day out right by hitting up the pool first thing. I loved that we got it pretty much to ourselves (unlike Sunday) so there was a little swimming, a lot of splashing and some tanning involved. But, almost as soon as we got there, my sister and I realized that we completely forgot to paint our toenails (red, silver and blue for the holiday, obvs) so we sprinted walked back to the condo and painted them quick. You can’t go without patriotic toenails 😀

Pool time+me=the best

 

Patriotic toenails oh yeah!

After some swim and sun, we went back inside for lunch. I was originally going to have a red white and blue wrap (Ezekiel tortilla with organic strawberry jam, bloobs and banana slices) but I opted for a snack plate instead. Definitely a good lunch option for an indecisive girl like me.

Banana, carrots, Kashi crackers, multigrain chips, guac, salsa, dried berries and Whole Foods sandwich cookie

 

Insert a quick shower here, and then my mom, sis and I went for a little hike on the trail behind the condo. It was great…except that I was totally wearing the wrong shoes. Don’t blame me for only packing sandals on my trip 😛 Of course, the trail was slippery and steep. On the way back, we decided to go up an even steeper incline. Big mistake. Luckily, I made it up alive and without too many scrapes from close plant encounters! Definitely enough adventure for one day 😉

My shorts are red, white & blue!

 

Sis and mom hit the trail

We went into town to check out the make-your-own cereal bar that I mentioned in the last post. This time (luckily) it was open! I ended up getting some Kashi Go Lean mixed with Silk Dark Chocolate almond milk. I’d never had it before, and it was really good. A little too sweet, but if there’s an unsweetened version out there, I’ll def get it!

A restaurant with cereal? My kinda place 🙂

Surprisingly, the cereal really filled me up–so much that even after a quick walk around some stores and a detour at another winery, I still wasn’t in the mood for dinner. We ended up at a Tex-Mex place by the river and despite how busy it was, we got an outside table pretty quickly. None of us were really hungry (but we had to eat then because we were going to the fireworks later) so we tried to stall our waiter in taking our order 🙂 I got corn tortillas with mango salsa, and the salsa was actually muy bueno (notice my lame-o Spanish skills there). I would have normally not ordered that, but I wasn’t hungry and nothing else on the menu was really appealing at the time. But it was yummy, so I didn’t mind ordering something weird.

Afterwards, we went to this cool boutique place that we’ve walked by millions of times but never actually went in. The store had some blingy purses I liked (but didn’t buy, unfortch) and a lot of other random stuff. My personal favorite was the legit purses made from real license plates!

I. Want.

We hit up the condo briefly. I was finally starving, so I had another bowl of cereal (no dark chocolate almond milk this time, sadly) and then we headed back to town for the fireworks show. We staked out a place on a hill overlooking the lake (where the fireworks were set off) and even though we were surrounded by tons of people and a bright gas station below us, we were able to enjoy the show. It was funny because a smaller show nearby was trying to compete with the main event, but obvs they couldn’t. But we got twice the fireworks!

Just one of the many fireworks

The show ended around 10:30 and almost as soon as we got back, we all fell asleep. Guess being out and about all day really took it out of us!

What did you do for the 4th (if you’re from the U.S.)? Favorite cereal/milk combo?

Look for the last vacay recap post soon!

 

Estes Park Day 2

Hey everyone! If you missed my last post on the first day of my vacation, click here to catch up!

Sunday I woke up bright and early around 9, ready to start the day with some breakfast. I don’t think I’ve ever missed eating breakfast since I first started eating–it’s definitely my favorite meal ever and an amazing way to welcome a new day. Unfortch, I wasn’t able to have my beloved overnighters (my new nickname for overnight oats…cute, huh 😉 ) but don’t worry, they made a reappearance once I got back home. However, I was able to try a new-to-me cereal, Puffins Multigrain puffs. I loved that these were lightly sweet, full of fiber and were tri-colored! Puffins are one of my favorite cereal brands, but I’ve yet to try the Peanut Butter & Chocolate variety. Tori, I’m jealous of you right now 😀 I also had some mini pancakes (yay for little kid food!) and my usual sausage.

After the fun times that is breakfast, we headed straight over to the Lake Estes marina. Nope, no boating/fishing was involved (though it has been in past years. I haven’t gone kayaking since my mom and I got stranded two years ago near the barriers that separate the lake from the dam. Scary stuff, I tell ya!) but we did rent some pedal carts and biked pedaled around the lake. It was a nice little ride, but not really that strenuous. If you asked me sister, though, she would have said it “was the hardest thing she’s ever done”. Not quite sure if that was sarcasm, but it does run in the family…

 

Me and the sister pedal-carting it

 

Lake Estes

 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch condo, we hit up the pool! Probably the main reason we go to Estes (haha, JK!), but really, I love me some pool time. The place we used to stay at had a great outdoor pool…however, it was always crowded and FREEZING. No joke, it was probably 70 degrees, which sounds warm, but isn’t if you’re talking about pool water. This new place has an even better outdoor pool, namely because there are fewer people and it feels like bath water, but also because it’s more scenic. You can look up while swimming laps to see towering mountains and blue skies. Amazing. Well, unfortch, Sunday wasn’t the best day to go to the pool, because it was inhabited by little kids (nothing against them, but boy can they splash!) and also the storm clouds rolled in early. Basically, I spent 10 minutes in the pool before we had to go inside. No bueno, but at least I got some tanning time in!

 

The pool!

 

By the pool with my sis (yes, I do have hair!)

 

Later that afternoon, my parents dragged me and my sis to one of the wineries in town. They’re not actual wineries with grapes and stuff growing outside, but small buildings where you can sample local wines and where they steep (?) the wine. Trust me, I know nada about wines and such. Basically, the sister and I sat outside in the blazing sun and had some fun with the ‘Fail’ app on her iPod. We’re mature, I know 😉

Then it was off to dinner, at one of my favorite EP restaurants–Grubsteak. They have a lot of vegetarian options and even exotic stuff, like yak and elk meat. I stayed away from the weirder things and ordered the Jalapeno and Jack burger, minus the Jack because I don’t do cheese and I got it with an original Sunshine burger. I’ve never tried a Sunshine burger before, and the verdict is: delicious! I never realized they were so thick and hearty, which is so different from other veggie burgers I’ve had. The jalapenos on my burger seemed fresh, which was great because I hate pickled jalapenos. If we go there again, I will definitely be ordering the same thing, it’s just too good to pass up.

 

Yummy vegan burger

 

We returned to the condo briefly, and then headed back into town to get dessert. I’d heard of this place that had baked goods as well as a cereal buffet, and I couldn’t pass that up! But…it was closed since it was late so we wandered further down the street into a place that served ice cream and cupcakes. I didn’t end up getting anything, because they had no gelato/froyo/sorbet but my fam seemed to enjoy their flavors. My sister got peppermint s’mores, which sounds like an awesome combo. I’ve gotta come up with an overnighters recipe for that…

What do you eat for breakfast when you’re on vacation? Ever had a Sunshine burger (if so, what flavor do you recommend)?

More to come!