Mountain Time

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity...”
― John Muir

This past week, the boys and I headed to the mountains for our family vacation.  Mr. G works extremely hard to provide for our family and when he has a break in his travel  I want him to get away from it all.  One of our favorite places in Colorado is Grand Lake.  It is a small mountain town bordering Rocky Mountain National park.  It is set against the largest and deepest natural Colorado mountain lake.  It pretty much has everything my family loves.  Boating, hiking, fishing, and tons of amazing wildlife. 
The simpler the better for my family.  I find that if we go to some crazy, exotic place we end up spending most of our time running around instead of just enjoying each other.  My favorite time was our nightly drives through Rocky Mountain National. Here we would view the wildlife emerging for their evening feed and enjoy the competition of who was the best animal spotter.  After a long day of hiking or boating this was a great family activity.  Here are some pictures from our recent trip:






I believe that out National Parks are under utilized when it comes to Americans planning their family vacations.  Don’t get me wrong, Disney and Hawaii are fun but sometimes a trip into our national parks can satisfy the adventure in any child.  Animal viewing, nature treasure hunts, fishing, and hiking can help child disconnect from the world of TV and reconnect them with their natural instincts.  Getting in touch with nature helps to slow everyone down and recharge even the busiest person.  For more information on reconnecting your children to nature I found Richard Louvs’ book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder to be extremely interesting.
Back to the grindstone for me.  I have hours of weeding ahead of me, as well as birthday party planning, canning preparation, and of course laundry.  Someday I will wake up and be caught up on my laundry…at least I keep telling myself that!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Do you have a favorite national park?