We stopped in Estes Park before heading back to Illinois. We have been here many times and it is one of our favorite places to stop. With the Rocky Mountains in the background and the free ranging Elk, it is an awesome place. The downtown has some great shops and restaurants and this stop is extra special because we are here for the 4th of July and will be staying at the Stanley Hotel.
The Stanley Hotel
This is a famous hotel in the area and was built by Freelan Oscar Stanley, the inventor of the Stanley Steamer. The Stanley Steamer is a car that was built in 1902 and ran on steam. Freelan became rich and went to Estes Park to build a residence for himself and his visitors. This became the Stanley Hotel!
We stayed in the main hotel in one of the historic rooms and had a great time. We also joined a tour of the hotel where we were shown different areas and the stories surrounding the different rooms. The tour was amazing and we highly recommend it if you visit.
Fourth of July!
We got tickets to the 4th of July concert and fireworks. They do this every year in their rodeo arena. The concert had a local band called “The Long Run” (Eagles tribute band) and a couple of the band members came from the rock group called “Firefall”. They were very good and performed a lot of 70’s hits along with great Eagles songs. We had a great time!
And after the band, fireworks!
Estes Park is one of our favorite places to visit and we always have a great time!
Our western trek is over for the year, time to head back to Illinois to visit Chris and Tori, our great friends and see our Doctors! I know I am excited….