11 replies to this topic

[Aaron]

Since it's been so rainy there lately, what are some fun/interesting things to do on rainy days?

(Erik, looks like a nice day there today on the Longs Peak webcam. Did you make it out this morning?)

--Aaron

P.S. Maybe lovethemtns could give us some advice on what there is to do on rainy days? :(

[Malok]

It looked like an amazing morning outside. I really, really wanted to go out, but my wife wasn't doing very well and so I stayed home with her.

As far as I am concerned, rainy days are ideal for homework. You could also go rock climbing at one of the two climbing centers in Estes, put on a rain jacket and hike anyway, enjoy reading a good book at one of the coffee shops, of find an internet cafe and catch-up on rmnpforums.com. :D

[Aaron]

I like the idea of hiking with a rain jacket. I don't mind being rained on. I think it would be interesting to post to the forums from the library too if it's a rainy day. Heck I may do that if it's not rainy. I'm definitely going to check out that Estes Park Mountain Shop with the indoor climbing. I've never done it and I don't mind making a fool out of myself.

Plus it may be a good time to tour the Stanley Hotel on a rainy day too. I've always thought that would be interesting.

Any other suggestion?

--Aaron

[Aaron]

another idea....

The Enos Mills Cabin and Museum...Located on Colorado Highway 7, nine miles south of Estes Park, this wonderful museum is open to the public. Call (970) 586-4706 for hours.


--Aaron

[ProfHall]

Blurb for another site...today of all days I noticed on the Trailhead at around-colorado.com on either the general information or day hiking thread there was a list of three or four ideas for rainy days that I'm going to print out and add to my RMNP notebook. One of them was the climbing wall at *? some place ! that almost always seemed to have coupons around, and 3 climbs for $5. Sounded great for any afternoon after morning hikes, rainy or not. There were some other ideas, too.

EDIT: Not particularly rainy day, after all. The post is on the "Things to Do" thread, and is called "Hidden Gems for kids" (or something very close to that)...and it is not explicitly rainy day. Sorry...but the climbing wall does sound good!

Don't want to sound tooooo "professory," but we always take books with us, and usually have one going just for vacation that is the read-out-loud together as a family book, so that is a good way to pass some rainy downtime, too. Last year we were lucky, the new Harry Potter book was out...I HAD to do my "parental guidance" duty and read it as soon as it came out to be sure it was OK for the kiddos, so we were ready to start it while on vacation. We took it out to lunch at Coyote Valley for a picnic and reading time, but it got cloudy, windy, and COLD so we brought into Grand Lake and sat in the gazebo in the park and read it...then got ICE CREAM (SURPRISE!). :D

I'm always interested to hear what folks suggest for some not-in-the-park ideas for kids.

[Aaron]

Oh yeah, we'll definitely bring books too. Fortunately our kids enjoy books!

I love that gazebo in Grand Lake. I feel so relaxed just sitting in there watching everything. It's almost better to sit in there when it's raining. Kind of adds to the "feel" of it.

That place is called the Estes Park Mountain Shop and it's in the building that Michael Rickter pewter used to be in. If you can picture that place. I've been wanting to go there ever since I found out they would be moving in there.

I'll hope someone has ideas that are more geared toward the kidlets!

--Aaron

[lovethemtns]

What to do on rainy day. Hmmmmmmm? We had already hiked the Odessa Loop in the rain. No, won't do that again, did that the day before. Maybe it will clear up. "Do you think it will clear up???" That became a catch phrase the day after the big storm.

When the alarm went off and we made our usual stumble to the window to do a weather check and saw it was cloudy and drizzling, we thought we would maybe sleep in a little and check out the hotel's continental breakfast. We usually left before they even started serving it.

What do we do now??? Well, we drove past Sheeps Lake, maybe see some bighorn, but the RMNP Bighorn Sheep Brigade (read their arm patches, I swear it says that) told us that it was too overcast for them to come down. They depend on their site to see the coyotes. Yes, it was even too rainy for them.

How about driving by the alluvial fan? Yes, that is another thing to do. Put on your rain poncho, after all everyone is wearing them, and walk by the fan. It's a short walk. Very interesting. Now what?????????

How about checking out the Moraine Park Museum??? Very nice, a good time killer. The upstairs has some hands on things for the kids about how the mountains were formed, etc. Animal displays. Pictures. We even were able to get the two rocking chairs in the big upstairs window which faces Moraine Park and were able to sit and just watch the rain. And then watch the rain some more. Bought a poster of RMNP to remind us of this wonderful trip.

Well it was drizzling off and on after a while. We went to town. Walked around. Each of us bought a T-shirt or sweat shirt. Don't mind buying these things now that the kids stay the same size for a much longer time than when they were little. Now what???? Hmmmmm.

I had read the drive up Hwy 34 was nice, drove up their a little bit. Yes, it was pretty, then headed back towards the hotel and decided to stop at the Estes Park Mountain Shop and see the climbing wall. Very cool. Have not seen a wall that big before and there was some sort of class going on, people with their ropes and harnesses. You could get 3 climbs for $10.00. We watched one guy who fell down a few seconds after he started up. His $10.00 went quick and we decided not to do it. Walked around the store a bit. Lots and lots of cool gear.

The rain and drizzle had stopped so we took the kids to the Go-Kart place. Oh the smiles on their faces while they drove around. But their second trip around it started to pour, again. We were laughing and they were laughing and boy, were they soaked. Back to the van and put on the heat full blast.

Went back to the hotel for some dry clothes and made some sandwhiches in the room.

Spiderman 2 is showing at the Mountain Reel!!! Never really go to the movies much as a family. We went to the movies. I bet the owner of that place is loving this weather!!!!

Went out to dinner after that. Ed's Cantina. We don't really eat Mexican much, and are not really experts in this field, but we thought it was good and the portions generous and would go there again. Even lucked out with a parking space in the lot by the door.

Now what to do???? The Tour de France was on!!!! Lance Armstrong was expected to make history by winning 6 Tours in a row. So, back to the hotel to watch these amazing bikers. Maybe the Olympics will be starting if anyone is going in August.

Yes, this is what you can do on a rainy day. And the most very best part of the day in my opinion was enjoying just "hanging out" as a family. Nothing wrong with learning to go along with flow and having some relaxing down time.

(Did I get wordy again?? Are you all awake out there??)

[Jenny]

Welcome back Lovethemtns!! What a bummer that you guys had so much rain on your vacation. It sounds like you still had some fun and made some memories!! I hope that we don't have quite that much rain during our trip!! Somehow pictures of a soggy tent and sleeping bags hanging out to dry is beginning to haunt me!! :unsure:

-Jenny :P

[lovethemtns]

I thought of you guys while we were there. The campgrounds in the park were all posting vacancies except one night Glacier Basin was full. It was always earlier in the day that I looked at the boards for the campgrounds, and maybe they filled by the night time, I don't know.

I will tell you though that there were 2 days that it rained a lot. And when we were in the Moraine Park Museum we were wondering if many of the other people there were campers looking for a break from the rain.

Hopefully the clouds will be emptied out by the time you get there. I have camped in the rain before. It seems no tent is totally leak proof. At least none that we ever had.

On the positive side, I guess all the rain has allowed for so many wildflowers. There are soooo many flowers in the meadows. My daughters and I really enjoyed them. Moraine Park is beautiful. Since I had never been to RMNP I wouldn't know if this more or less flowers, but some of the locals told us it was a lot.

[dtigg69]

yeah, put on some proper gear, and HIKE in the rain !!!
The Enos Mills Museum sounds great...never been there.
Sittin' out on the covered patio where I stay watching the
Fall River roll by is my fave though.

[jflo]

I just lay in my tent and sleep! Last year when we were in Wild Basin it poured like I've never seen it before. It was about 10:30 pm and I woke up hearing my son and his friend who had made a "fort" with downed trees and rain ponchos yelling to each other. My friend had a tent that was held up with a rope through the top and he had a river running through it. I called to them to get into my tent until the rain let up, but it never did. They finally decided to head back down to the trailhead in the rain. I, on the other hand, turned over and went back to sleep!! thanks to my waterproof Sierra Designs Orion CD tent, I stayed warm and dry all night!

[Aaron]

I, on the other hand, turned over and went back to sleep!! thanks to my waterproof Sierra Designs Orion CD tent, I stayed warm and dry all night!

Very nice! Was probably relaxing to to sleep in the rain like that, huh?

--Aaron