on the higgins homestead: Camping in Colorado

We packed up the Expedition with all the camping gear, clothes, and food that would fit and headed to Colorado for a family vacation! David and I both grew up camping (in a tent) with our families and we were very excited about taking the kids for their first camping trip. Avery and Zach love playing outside and Zach has slept in a tent before, so we were pretty optimistic that the kids would enjoy camping :) It was a long drive out there, but thanks to the little laptop computer and DVD's we made it!!! We left the house at 5:15 am and arrived at the other side of the Continental Divide mid-afternoon. We drove around for a while looking for a campsite... it was Saturday, so there weren't very many sites to choose from :( We settled on a campsite we weren't thrilled with... with the expectation that we would find something better the next day(after those who were just there for the weekend left.) AND we found the perfect campsite!!! (#7 at the Lottis Creek Campground) We drove up to Tincup and Mirror Lake, hiked a couple of different trails, visited Gunnison and just hung out around the campground. While in Gunnison we did a little shopping and visited a "bike shop". Avery was really disappointed that she didn't get a pink bike, but we told her we would look for one when we got home! We saw a lot of cyclists up there and David got to ride a few days while we were there. We also stopped at Walmart to replace an aluminum pot that David lost in the creek :) Avery loved the the chipmunks that visited us at our campsite. She told me she wanted to take one home!!! When we stopped at the top of Monarch Pass the gift shop had a bunch of stuffed chipmunks, so we just HAD to get her one :) AND M&Ms for Zach :) We had a great time camping, but were also very relieved to get back to Colorado Springs! We went to the zoo and spent the night in a hotel... with a shower and beds... and an indoor pool :)