Day 17- National Park Tour: Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

Thursday July 21, 2016

Got a call from TradeWheels by 7:45am that my car was already done! Quick service and a very reasonable price! If I lived in Alamosa, CO, or if I drive through again which may very well happen, I'd take my car to Fred again :)

Drove down the road to Cavallero's for breakfast. Delicious! Pumpkin loved her horchata and huevos rancheros!

Chuck Roast said his chocolate milk and chocolate chip pancakes made his stomach hurt.  After breakfast, we went back to the hotel, packed our car, and headed out of town. Made it to FlorissantFossil Beds National Monument without incident, shortly after a peanut butter sandwich lunch, and just in time for dark clouds to roll in. 

We took a peek at the homestead on the site and then made it in time for the kids to try their hand at finding fossils in pieces of stone with a volunteer.

We took a very short walk to see the petrified Redwoods and made it inside the Visitor Center in time to miss the rain. The kids finished their Jr. Ranger books during the informational video and then took their pledge. 

We left in a drizzle and headed north to get as close to Rocky Mountain National Park as we could before setting up camp. And on the side of the road, we saw a moose!!! He was beautiful! We stayed in the car, as you should, but the kids were especially frustrated because other people were getting out of their cars, yelling, and walking closer and closer to take pictures. No good!

After taking back roads with construction almost all the way up, we found a turn off, and another, and another, all of which were either not great sites or were full (this was the first time we'd seen full dispersed camping!). We tried a National Forest campground, but the sites weren't level and it was $16 a night?!? On the road again...

After a few more failed campsites, including one with a large trampoline (???), we found a road that I thought we would take to the East side of the park in the morning and found the most beautiful campsite, other than all the other most beautiful ones we've found so far this trip. We set up camp in a barely drizzle and asleep we fell!