Estes Park, Colorado
I went with my family to Estes Park, Colorado on the base of the Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a beautiful area to visit. If you like outdoors, this is the place to be. We were able to horseback ride (2 hours), whitewater raft on the Poudre River (low water, got stuck on a lot of rocks), and fly-fish.
I had never fly-fished before and we went on a half-day trip with a guide on the Big Thompson River. It was wonderful. I caught two rainbow trout and one brown trout. Unfortunately, my parents weren’t so lucky. I had no idea how much skill that fly-fishing takes. We wore waders and got right into the river, and used our flies to emulate the bugs in the river. And it worked!
Estes Park is very touristy, but once we got up into the Rockies, the crowd disappeared. It was pure nature. When we got up 13,000 feet near Rock Cut in the Tundra, we saw a family of elk. We also saw elk crossing the street lower in Estes Park. They were huge!! Completely unbelievable. With all of the great food and adventure, it turned out to be one excellent family vacation.