On June 25, 2022, Kyle and I got married. Promising to love one another forever in the presence of so many loved ones was truly the most meaningful day of our lives.
But this post is about our honeymoon trip! The day after the wedding, we slept in a little and got Bob Evan’s for brunch (this was Kyle’s willing compromise to me and my love for breakfast food) on the way to the airport. That afternoon we were on our way to Denver, from which we rented a car and drove to Estes Park to spend a week together in a mountain cabin (the best mountain cabin ever, too).
In the car rental parking lot Kyle was like a kid in a candy shop when they told us that we could pick out any sedan on the lot we wanted. We did, but on the highway the steering wheel started jiggling, so we turned back around to trade it in. For the trouble, they upgraded us to the SUV range of vehicles, which made Kyle even more happy. We ended up with a nice Toyota RAV4 (Kyle’s influence is already showing here in my writing about the type of car we drove). During the drive we saw our first beautiful mountain sunset of the trip.
That first night we enjoyed getting settled in at the cabin. An older couple had been running the cabins for over forty years. In the wife’s words, they had gone out together for a Coke, and the rest was history! They shared great advice on sightseeing for us and were very accommodating the whole trip.
It was dark by the time we brought our things in to the cabin. We rounded the corner and found our unit was at the end, much to our delight. As soon as we made our way down the steps to the cabin door it was like being transported into a new world. The air smelled of fresh pine, owing to the number of coniferous trees surrounding the place. The air was a crisp cool but not cold. We could hear the rush of the river that was directly behind the cabin and the chirping of insects. The road was not too far off beyond the water, but there was a significant lack of traffic noise.
Inside we were giddy to find that the cabin had everything we wanted. A crackling fireplace, a jacuzzi hot tub, and a back porch with a view of the rushing river for which the cabins were named. And featuring a backdrop of the starry sky at night and mountains during the day. I think we must have spend at least twenty minutes just soaking it all in that we got to stay here together in this special place for a week, just enjoying being a married couple. We etched our initials into the tree next to the cabin like many others before us had done.
On Monday I remember spending some time acclimating to the elevation and getting lunch at a local restaurant. We went out to Top Golf in the next town over and then hit the store to stock up on a few groceries. On our way back we found the famous Estes Park rock and took our touristy photos.
Tuesday was our biggest hiking day. We went into Rocky Mountain National Park and did the Bear Lake Loop, which was highly promoted by everyone there. It was one of my favorite scenes, seeing different mountain backdrops from all different sides of the lake. It was a short loop, so we descended back down to our car on foot. It was a big hike, but there were plenty of times when the trail peeked out to give us a look at the scenery surrounding us. And plenty of times that our lungs were reminded that our natural habitat was at sea level rather than the extra couple thousand miles up that we were. That afternoon we got the best Mexican food and then stopped off for ice cream before heading back to the cabin with no leftovers at all.
Wednesday was a bit of a rainy day, so we scheduled our couples’ massage. If you ever get the chance to start your day with a massage at the spa, it’s worth trying. We also managed to sneak in a trip up the Aerial Tramway. It took us up a steep climb in a little gondola and gave us a great view of the mountains. Thankfully the cloud cover was not too thick and we could still see them as we hiked around at the top before coming back down. That night we ate out and Kyle tried some elk. We did a bit of driving to see the sunset and spotted some of our first live elk of the trip.
The next day was the real treat when it came to seeing an elk. As we rounded the corner to our cabin, there was a large male elk sitting right outside our cabin door, only about fifteen feet away from it. It had attracted some people on the other side of it who were stopping to take photos. We did the same, and hesitantly made our way to the cabin door. He didn’t move a bit, so we sat with the door open and watched while he stood up and ate some grass as if no one was around. We did another hike around a lake in Rocky Mountain National Park that day.
Friday morning brought our most favorite activity of the trip. We did a two-hour morning horseback trail ride. Kyle had never ridden a horse, and he thought it was a great experience. It was a thrill for me to ride again and just take in more of the mountain views. The guy in front of us couldn’t get his horse to cooperate for the life of him, which provided us with a little extra entertainment at his expense. Later on that day we went souvenir shopping to get some corny matching t-shirts and also a wooden bear that looked like the one our hotel room had.
Saturday was our last real day to spend there, and we enjoyed some good Italian food, played a round at a local mini golf course, and ended with a walk on the local Estes Park Trail. We reflected that every activity seems much cooler when there are so many awesome mountains rising up in the background.
We were sad to leave behind Estes Park, but at the same time thankful that we had another week of “honeymooning” to do at home when we returned. We got to start our everyday life together, settling in with our dogs at home.
Written by Hannah 