Dora the Explorer

Day 2: Raton, NM to Rocky Mountain National Park, CO. Trip Total: 1,032 miles.

Hit the road early, got straight on the Interstate heading north, winding through the valleys and entered Colorado in less than an hour. We continued north with the Rockies on our left, up through Pueblo, Colorado Springs, past the Air Force Academy where Katie saw a skydiver and several small planes in the air (not always the best of combinations). Then on through Denver, past the stadiums where we departed Interstate 25 and headed for one of my favorite cities: Boulder.

Katie takes a self portrait with the Nikon S7c I lend her for the trip

We found somewhere to park on Pearl Street as a thunderstorm rolled in, and set out to look for somewhere for an early lunch. Katie chose the Cheesecake Factory, where she offered to pay (have money, must spend). So we set the ground rules - she'd brought several months of pocket money with her, she can spend on whatever she wants, providing (a) she doesn't buy stuff that she could get back home, and (b) she buys things that will remind her of the trip when she gets older. After lunch spent an hour or so walking up and down Pearl Street, Katie running through the fountain getting soaked (it was raining anyway), looking in the occasional shop (Katie buys a purple rock for a couple of dollars, her favorite color), and playing on the rocks & sculptures – she’s easily amused.

From there we drove north, towards Rocky Mountain National Park, planning to drive through the park and get as close to Wyoming as we could before dark. Katie is now very exited, this is the first time she has seen snow and mountains, and at every stop she wants to get out and explore. Something else starts to become apparent – everything new she sees she references back to a cartoon – mountains and snow she’s seen on Dora the Explorer. Someone fishing she’s seen on Little Bear. Some animal she’s seen on Franklin. The list goes on… Guess they are more educational than I thought. Guess I should take her, and her younger brother/sister on more trips: there is an amazing country here to explore.

We stop off at a lake, get out and walk around it. Katie instantly finds a bank of snow shaded by some tree’s, and within about 2 seconds she learns snow is both slippery and very cold, but that doesn’t stop her or dampen the level of excitement.

The walk around the lake is only just over a mile, but the altitude hits me harder than anyone else, and that stays true for the rest of the trip. My Nikon D300 feels a lot heavier than usual.

Katie’s excitement only increases half way round, when she comes across her first chipmunk sitting on a rock (I forget which cartoon she knows about chipmunks from), and of course this starts off another round of animal noises from her, mainly the wolf.

At one of the higher altitude stops in the park, above the tree line, she sees her first Marmot (a new animal for her apparently, she’d never seen it in a cartoon before), which fascinates for about 15 minutes.

It becomes obvious we aren’t going to make it to Wyoming, and with the sun low in the sky, the temperature dropping, and a 5-year-old wolf howling in the back, we decide to head towards the west exit of the park and look for somewhere to camp. That is until we came across our first big animals of the trip – several Elk, followed by a Moose with two babies in the long grass next to a river just off the road. Yep, she’s seen moose in a cartoon.

After about 20 minutes, back to the car to look for a campsite. Within about a mile we find one, fairly secluded, less than half full, complete with store and restrooms/showers, and a generous sized campsite, right next to a paddock of horses. And big signs warning about bears.

The tent goes up easy enough without too much comedy value, inflate the queen size mattress, unroll the sleeping bags, start a fire and eat – first night ever of camping for me and Katie, first night ever of camping with bears for my brother, who seems somewhat nervous about the wildlife with sharp teeth and claws. The sleeping bag/mattress combination proves amazingly comfortable, everyone is tired and goes straight to sleep. That is until in the early hours when Katie needs to go to the bathroom. The view of the night sky was absolutely spectacular, like I’ve never seen before – perfectly clear, no light pollution, for a full 3 seconds until my glasses steamed up in the extreme cold - we are at 7,500 ft and not in Texas anymore.