Monteverde zip lining – a previous summer adventure

One of the best things about both of us being educators is that we have summer off together to explore, and we usually take full advantage of it! I was telling a friend the other day about our plans for this summer, and she said, “it’s the summer of alliteration,” and so it shall be! We’ll mix business with pleasure in Colorado, spend some time with family in Cabo, and celebrate our Kauai-five-oh birthdays on the beaches. It’s going to be a fantabulous summer!

Jeff has a conference in Denver at the end of June, so we’ll spend a few days before the meeting starts in Rocky Mountain National Park. Erin’s hoping to get into a photography workshop shooting the night sky in RMNP, but right now someone has to cancel for that to happen. Of course we don’t wish anyone ill, but we’re hoping one spot opens up! Luckily, there’s lots to do at RMNP even if that workshop doesn’t work out. You just can’t go wrong in those gorgeous mountains.

Our last visit to RMNP in 1993

While Jeff’s conferring, Erin will get to explore Denver. The Denver Botanic Gardens are on the to-do list, and maybe trying out the Denver bike share system. We might also need to do the Denver Urban Adventure Quest, since we had so much fun doing Portland’s version.

From Denver we’ll fly to Cabo to join Jeff’s family at an all-inclusive resort, the Villa del Palmar. We’re excited to just hang out and relax on that trip. We may also try to do a birding expedition one day, or we might just be full-on lazy and do nothing more strenuous than lift a drink with an umbrella in it to our lips. We were able to book this vacation through the Costco Travel website for a reasonable price. If you’re a Costco member, check out their travel site. They often have the best deal on car rentals, and they have many vacation packages which are also a good value.

When we return to Denver, tan, rested, and ready, we’ll head out to explore three national parks which will be new to us: Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Great Sand Dunes, and Mesa Verde. This will bring our parks visited total to 45 out of 59! We’re excited to explore these three diverse parks and all they have to offer.

Our final summer trip will be our Hawaii 5-0 birthday bash on Kauai. We’ve never been to this island, but we hear rave reviews, and we can’t wait to soak in the sunshine (and even the occasional rain shower) as we snorkel and hike. We chose a resort on the north shore because we read that the waters on the south shore get a little rougher in summer, but we will definitely be checking out the entire island during our stay and we’ll let you know about our adventures!

It’s going to be a fun-filled summer with a great mix of relaxing and exploring. Just right to recharge our batteries before the next school year starts! We hope you, too, have a chance to recharge your batteries this summer, whether it’s for a week or a weekend!