A Mommy/Daughters Trip to Colorado!

It’s no secret that travel plans have been interrupted due to COVID. I personally had several business and personal trips cancelled, but our biggest disappointment was that I had planned a month-long trip out West with my daughters. We had been planning for months. We were going to hit a ton of national landmarks, national parks, see relatives, and experience so much of this country that we had yet to experience. We held out on the trip for as long as possible before realizing it just wasn’t going to be possible.

What can you possibly do to make up for a month long trip? Book several week long trips!

We went on our first of these adventures the last week of August and we fell absolutely in love with the beauty of Colorado… a location so vastly different from our home in Pennsylvania.

Where Did We Stay

When we originally planned our trip, we were supposed to be staying with friends so we had to last minute change our plans while we were out there. The first night, we stayed at a vacation home in Buena Vista, Colorado.

Mount Princeton Hot Springs Resort: We spent one INCREDIBLE night here and absolutely fell in love. Mount Princeton Hot Springs Resort is about 20 minutes from Buena Vista. When you check in at the resort, you have access to the Hot Springs from the day you check in through the day you check out (so if the room is not ready when you arrive, you can enjoy the Hot Springs!). There are many different pools that you can experience here in two different sections. One of the sections has a 400+ foot water slide so we didn’t even make it to the other sections because my kids fell in love with the water slide!

We stayed in the Cliffside Rooms which were large rooms that had a great entry area with medium sized fridge, microwave, and Keurig machines. The BEST part - outside our sliding glass door, we had INCREDIBLE views on the shared patio. My girls and I LOVED eating our meals out there.

The staff here was incredibly friendly, kind and accommodating. The location was incredible. The Hot Springs were breathtaking. We could not have been happier with our stay here!

Quick note for the scaredy cats like me: The drive here from Buena Vista was a bit intimidating! There were some curvy roads with no side rails that I was NOT a fan of. For some reason, when we left and went back to Buena Vista, we must have gone a different way so I can’t tell you HOW to avoid them but just make sure you are aware that they exist!

There are NOT a lot of restaurants near this property without going to Buena Vista or Salida, but there is a restaurant on property that you can eat in or get take out from (nothing special but it did the trick!) and there’s also a convenience shop that has some grab and go stuff!

A few important COVID notes:
1) Due to reduced capacity, sometimes the pools have a waiting list. We were told this was very much the case prior to our stay but when we stayed, kids were back in school so we didn’t have any waits. Locals CAN get day passes to the Hot Springs too so going during the week would most likely give you the most flexibility here.
2) You are required to wear a mask when on the pool decks, though not in the pools themselves.

TownePlace Suites Colorado Springs Garden of the Gods: After staying at Mount Princeton Hot Springs, I am not sure that anything could compare (plus we were looking to save some money on this part of our trip!). We wanted a hotel that was pretty centrally located and frankly, available! We found TownePlace Suites and it suited our needs just fine! It was pretty centrally located to everywhere we wanted to go when we were staying in Colorado Springs and the best part for us, it had a great desk area and a full kitchen! We definitely took advantage of the full kitchen! It was nice to be able to keep food in the fridge to make sandwiches during the day and also heat up any leftovers!

A few COVID notes:
1) The pool is currently by reservation only. They are allowing you to decide if you wanted it all to yourself or were willing to share with one other party. We did not try to get a reservation so cannot speak to that but it didn’t seem like there were always people in there (except like 6-8 at night always seemed like there were people!).
2) The free breakfast right now is currently grab and go. They have prepackaged plates with items a bagel, banana, yogurt, and sometimes a muffin. You could also ask for a hot place which would be plated and handed to you with eggs and sausage. At times the lines to GET breakfast were very long but for the most part, we didn’t have an issue with this.
3) You must wear your mask in all areas of the hotel. Staff also has masks on.

What Did We Do

If you have traveled with me before, you know that when I travel, I like to do it all and see it all and we really got the chance to do SO much when we were in Colorado! A lot was tailored to what my girls wanted to do and what would bring the best experiences for them.

Red Rocks Amphitheater

Red Rocks Amphitheater is a convenient stop when heading out from Denver. We were on our way to Buena Vista and took a quick detour. It’s an incredible concert venue among amazing red rocks but you can also go and check it out when there’s no concert taking place. Definitely worth a stop to see this, but even better (I’ve heard!) if you can take in a show here!

Flying W Ranch

When we were driving to Colorado Springs, I saw a sign for Flying W Ranch. I had no idea what it was but the kids wanted to go horseback riding so made a mental note to look it up. I found out it was NOT horseback riding but instead a dinner show with activities. Thinking it would be similar to Hoop Dee Doo Revue at Disney (which we love), I booked it!

We arrived, again, not knowing too much what to expect and ended up having such a great, memorable evening. While there you could explore the entire ranch which had some animals, some older buildings, a walk up a ton of stairs to an incredible view, and more. There was a local Native American group that did some traditional dancing. There was a delicious BBQ dinner. And the night culminated in a fantastic performance by the phenomenally talented Flying W Wranglers.

We really quite enjoyed Flying W Ranch. In particular, I was impressed by the love and commitment that the owners put into the property, which had previously burnt down. A quick note that there ARE some religious overtones here so if you are entirely against that, it may not be the environment for you. It was not off putting for us and certainly didn’t feel shoved down our throats, but some definite overtones.

Royal Gorge

Royal Gorge is another venue that I was going to explore on our own originally but we ended up taking a tour because I didn’t know exactly what to expect. We did the 1/2 Day Royal Gorge Jeep Tour with Colorado Jeep Tours. While the tour was great and there was nothing I didn’t like about it and we learned a lot of information about Royal Gorge and the surrounding areas, I think that if I had to do it again, we would just visit Royal Gorge on our own. We wanted to spend more time exploring Royal Gorge but we were so tired after the long day (We did rafting in the morning and then the tour) that we didn’t end up going back to the Gorge (you get come-back tickets for Royal Gorge included in your Jeep Tour).

Manitou Springs

Manitou Springs is an adorable town outside of Colorado Springs. We really enjoyed walking around the cute little stores here. There were several stores that had local handmade items that we loved (I forgot to note the names of these stores) but we also loved Whickerbill for its unique gifts and my girls FAVORITE store was Flying Eagle where you can choose your own t-shirt and choose your own transfer and get a truly unique souvenir! They spent a LONG time choosing their perfect t-shirt here!

One of the neat features of Manitou Springs is the different springs located throughout town that you can drink from. It was definitely a unique experience.

AND if you want to unwind - there is a cute little park in Manitou Springs with swings that my girls absolutely loved. There’s also an arcade that my girls were dying to go to but we didn’t get to make it there.

We also got the chance to eat here and LOVED Border Burger Bar and Pike’s Peak Chocolate & Ice Cream.

High Prairie Park (E 59th Place & N Orleans St. in Aurora)

Someone on a facebook page had recommended this park to us as it’s very close to the Denver airport and they suggested it as a good way to let the kids blow off some steam before the flight. This park is super cute and different and definitely a bit of a hidden gem! It’s only about 15 minutes from the airport so a great stop if you have time before your flight!

Glen Eyrie Castle

When on the 1909 Trolley at Garden of the Gods, our guide was telling us about the Glen Eyrie castle and suggested we drive to see it as it was only a few minutes from Garden of the Gods.

The story behind the castle, as told by our guide, is that the guy who had it built was trying to convince his wife to love Colorado Springs so he built her this 90 room castle. I sure wish someone wanted ME to stay somewhere that badly!

They have events at the castle including tours, weddings, and teas; however, these must be pre-arranged. If you don’t have something pre-arranged, you can get a “drive-through” pass where you can literally drive through the property and then are expected to leave.

My girls definitely enjoyed seeing a “real-life castle” and it didn’t take up a lot of time to take a quick peek after our trip to Garden of the Gods.

Mount Princeton Hot Springs

I talked about the Hot Springs above in the places we stayed but it’s worth re-mentioning here because you don’t have to STAY at the Hot Springs to visit the Hot Springs and it’s absolutely, positively worth a visit. Make sure you read above for more about the Hot Springs. Plus… I mean… How gorgeous is that water slide background!?!

Old Colorado Springs

We really enjoyed just walking around Old Colorado Springs. We spent about 2.5 hours walking around, checking out the different stores, taking photos of some of the murals around town, and grabbing some sweets to take home.

Our favorite stores in Old Colorado Springs were Sanctuary Inspired Goods and Heartshake Studios.

Sanctuary Inspired Goods totally stole my heart. This shop is a co-op of local artists with gorgeous handmade items. We knew from the second we walked down the steps to this gorgeous wings mural, we would love it.

The best part for my girls? The incredible artist working that day was doing henna and my girls got their choice of lots of designs to choose from.

The best part for me? As I was walking around the store, I came upon a piece of art that Sarah (also the henna artist) was working on that was a quote that has been high in my mind lately (in fact I just had a sign made saying the same thing from local artist Long Lane Studio). I asked Sarah what she was going to be doing with it and she said that she would be making cards and possibly prints with it. I told her when she was done, I needed it and she sold me her original art right on the spot.

This little shop is tucked in and a walk down stairs and I could have easily missed it but it felt like kismet and became one of our favorite parts of the day. I highly recommend putting this stop on your list and if you come across Sarah, say hi for me!

Pike’s Peak

We did the Pike’s Peak Tour with Gray Line Tours. We were initially planning on driving it on our own but I was a bit nervous about the high, winding roads and so we booked the Gray Line Tour. I was SO glad we did this because after driving it on the tour, there’s NO way my anxiety could have handled it.

Pike’s Peak is incredible. It’s over 14,000 feet and there are stops along the way that you can also take in incredible scenery (this was our favorite at Bottomless Pit!). When you get to the top, there is a gift shop with delicious donuts and hot chocolate (MUCH appreciated because it was about 35 degrees at the top!). There are several hiking trails throughout of course, too.

NOTE: right now there is a lot of construction going on at the top of Pike’s Peak. There are still plenty of INCREDIBLE views to take in but all the construction is definitely noticeable!

Make sure you dress WARM! We went early in the morning and it was SO COLD the entire way up. The tour bus was open because of COVID and they did (thankfully) provide blankets but we were definitely chilly! When we originally arrived for the tour, we had shorts and t-shirts on and they warned us to change and we thankfully had long sleeve stuff in the car!

Garden of the Gods

Breathtaking. Just absolutely breathtaking. And 100% worth a stop. We were incredibly lucky to visit Garden of the Gods on a clearer, gorgeous day (there was a lot of smoke at times from the forest fires). I had hurt my foot prior to coming here so while we planned on doing a bit more hiking here, we ended up scrapping that idea.

Our day here started by going to the Visitor’s Center. There are some displays here to visit as well as some tours to book. We ended up booking the 1909 Trolley Tour because it was inexpensive. Sketch, our tour guide, took us on a tour all around the Garden of the Gods, providing lots of information both about Garden of the Gods and other nearby sites. This was the PERFECT way to get acquainted with Garden of the Gods, especially if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed with the thought of exploring completely on your own. It also gave us some ideas of where we wanted to get back to to explore on our own.

After the trolley tour, we drove into the park and stopped at a couple of different places that we were particularly interested in exploring including High Point Overlook and Balanced Rock. The girls and I really enjoyed exploring these areas, taking lots of photos, and my older one really enjoyed giving me heart palpitations as she climbed huge rock formations.

We also stopped at the Trading Post where we picked out some great souvenirs, ate some delicious ice cream, and bought some fudge to enjoy later! The Trading Post also serves food and has a great outdoor area to eat if you want to relax with some grub during your trip!

Whitewater Rafting

The one thing that my girls both tried new on this trip and completely fell in love with was whitewater rafting. They loved it so much that we went on TWO whitewater rafting trips.

Our first trip was with American Adventure Expeditions. This one was located in Buena Vista. From the second I called to make my reservations, through some reservation changes we had to make last minute, and all the way through our incredible trip, we had nothing but an amazing experience. I cannot recommend this company enough. Our guide, Aaron, was incredibly knowledgeable, kind, patient, and fun. This is his 7th year doing this and despite the fact that it was my girls first time doing this and my first time since I was a teenager, I never felt uncomfortable or nervous.

What are they doing to help prevent the spread of covid? As well as the typical social distancing and sanitizing and wearing masks while on the bus, Every single party gets their own guide and raft. How amazing is that?

Our rafting trip was the Lower Browns Canyon out of Buena Vista, Colorado which was a more family-friendly half day option; however they also have an Upper Browns Canyon which is a bit more intense and full day for braver adventurers (my girls are begging me to go back and do this!).

Our second rafting trip was also in the Royal Gorge area and was with Raft Masters. Suffice it to say, we were not very impressed with this trip. It left a lot to be desired, especially after such an incredible experience with the first company. Our major complaint with Raft Masters was that the guide didn’t have us paddle at ALL which is half the fun. My girls were very disappointed. All of the other rafts were instructed to paddle so your experience may definitely vary here but ours was not good.

Ziplining

My girls love to zipline so we were really excited when we were in Colorado Springs to find the Family Night Zipling with Adventures out West. We were able to do 5 fantastic zip lines, play some huge jenga, and have some some smores! This was a really fun night and definitely family-friendly! You can make reservations ahead of time via their website and it’s only select nights so make sure you check this ahead of time!

Trail Ride

While we were there, the girls added horseback riding to their Colorado Bucket List. Funny enough, we actually had a really hard time finding it! When we were staying in Colorado Springs, there was only two stables that we could find. I really wanted to do the trip through the Garden of the Gods, but they have an 8 year old age minimum so we could not do that (they said no expectations even if your child is a rider because of insurance reasons). The other stable was up long, winding roads with no guard rail and I was a bit too nervous to drive that.

On the night before we were going home, someone recommended 12 Mile Stables to me, which is located in Cherry Creek State Park (note that you have to pay $11 to enter the state park), near to the Denver airport so we booked it online and headed there bright and early for our trail ride. We enjoyed our trail ride, though my little one was disappointed because her horse was very slow. My girls like a bit more adventure so would have preferred to do some trotting rather than a slower paced trail ride but to cross off horseback riding on our Colorado bucket list, it worked.

Next time we go horseback riding in Colorado, though, I will try to find something that goes through Rocky Mountain National Park (or do the Garden of the Gods horseback riding!).

Museum of Contemporary Art

I really love art so I was excited to check out the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver. A few things to note (COVID times)…. You have to make a reservation (we did not have any issue getting a reservation). Also, on weekends, it is currently FREE! We were able to park about a block away in a parking garage so we did pay for parking but that’s the only thing we paid for.

The Museum was exhibiting “We the People” by Nari Ward when we were there (it’s actually ending right now so if you go, you’d have a different exhibit). While we found some of the exhibits to be fantastic, I would have preferred seeing different artists interpretations rather than all work from one artist.

One of the exhibits that I really loved was up in their teen space. They had small exhibits done by different teens with relaxation spaces. It was heartbreaking though because it was supposed to open right as covid hit, so it was not displayed the way intended.

I don’t know that I would go out of my way to go back to MCA (depending on what they were exhibiting in the future), but especially with it being free, it was worth it. We were only there for about an hour and so it didn’t take up much time to visit. I will note that my 7 year old was definitely very bored but my 11 year old seemed slightly interested.

Buena Vista

Another super cute little town that is great to walk around. My girls and I spent about two hours here going in and out of the cute little shops. All of the shops we checked out were fantastic! While you’re in town, you also must stop at Louie’s Ice Cream (more on that in the what we ate section!)

What Did We Eat

** I need to preface this by saying that we are NOT foodies with distinctive palettes. In fact, the only thing that I would say I am a connoisseur with is ice cream. I do know my ice cream. If you have the palette of a 5-year old, my suggestions are GREAT. If you have a sophisticated palette, you may want to find someone who is more of a foodie for food suggestions **

Louie’s Ice Cream Shoppe: Located in Buena Vista and for sure the CUTEST ice cream shop that I have ever vistied (and I have visited a LOT of ice cream shops). We had to visit Louie’s both days we were in Buena Vista because it was just that amazing. Not only does Louie’s have delicious ice cream (not a TON of varieties like some of the bigger shops but definitely enough to choose from), but they have an incredible outdoor space to explore filled with a natural play area for the kids (and kids at heart), comfortable adirondack grouped seating, and even a guitar hanging on the wall that you can borrow and play. They also had a chalkboard where you could add your bucket list wants along with many others! I have a feeling that if we lived locally, this would be our home away from home.

Sasquatch Cookies: located in Colorado Springs, these enormous cookies will definitely satisfy your sweet tooth craving! Our favorite cookie here was the regular favorite - their Chocolate Chip Cookie!

Border Burger Bar: located in Manitou Springs, they had one of the best burgers that I’ve ever had in my life! We highly recommend!

Little Man Ice Cream: When people talk about ice cream in Denver, Little Man Ice Cream is a staple! While the ice cream was good, most of their flavors were a bit too “fancy” for us but their just plain chocolate ice cream was delicious! If you want to be super indulgent, get their enormous ice cream cookie sandwich!

Snooze AM Eatery: Located in Denver, this breakfast joint is in Union Station and VERY popular. We waited probably close to an hour to get a table! However, with that being said… the breakfast was SO good! I had a breakfast sandwich on a pretzel bun and it was delicious! My girls both loved their food!

Chop Shop: located in Denver, we hit up the Chop Shop on our last day. I found it by searching Yelp for braised short rib (my favorite)! My girls got chicken fingers and mac and cheese! My daughter absolutely LOVED their chicken fingers so a definite win in the kid book! They do have a small outdoor patio here that you can take your food and eat at!

Raising Cane’s: This fast food chain had REALLY long lines to get through the drive through but we learned why when we tasted their delicious chicken fingers! It’s a GREAT quick stop for food and not located where we are so was fun to try something different!

The Cup and Cone (also goes by You Scream Treat Emporium): located near Royal Gorge, this ice creamery serves Blue Bell ice cream and has phenomenal pricing! The ice cream is good, though we typically love to try made-in-house ice cream when we try out new ice cream places, but since we don’t have Blue Bell ice cream here in PA, it was still new to us!

La Baguette French Bakery : Located in Old Colorado Springs, they have a great display case of delicious desserts (and other less sweet treats). We sampled their eclairs, chocolate croissants, and Chocolate Cork and all definitely satisfied the sweet tooth!

Colorado Crust Pizza Company: Located in Colorado Springs, they have great thin-crust pizza and really great garlic bread!

Eddyline Brewery: Solid takeout when in Buena Vista (you can also eat in but after a long day of travels, take out was enough!). We got burgers and pizza and everyone was happy with their meals!

Pike’s Peak Chocolate & Ice Cream: Located in Manitou Springs, they serve Josh and John’s Ice Cream, which was definitely some of the best ice cream we had while we were out in Colorado! They had plenty of chocolates to choose from, too, but their ice cream is definitely worth a stop!

Louie’s Ice Cream

Sasquatch Cookies

Border Burger Bar

Little Man Ice Cream

Snooze AM Eatery

Chop Shop

To sum it all up, we LOVED Colorado. We would absolutely go back and visit and when I asked my girls their favorite part, they couldn’t name just one and they answered “all of it.” I felt completely safe and comfortable traveling alone with two kids (except for the few winding roads without guard rails!). We found the people to be friendly, the sites to be breathtaking, and had an incredible time bonding with each other in the last weeks before a crazy virtual school year started.

Looking to visit Colorado or another destination, our incredible agents at World of Wonder Travel would LOVE to help you!

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