Having a Grand Old Time

When Craig and I returned from our backpacking trips in 2023, my nephew Eli told us that he really wanted to go camping with us. It was a definite yes from us! Camping season was almost over for the year so we decided that his birthday gift would be a weekend camping in 2024. After almost 9 months of waiting, we were finally able to take him camping this last weekend.

Eli has gotten into fishing the last few years so we wanted to take him camping near a lake. We decided to risk it and try first come first serve camping at Grand Lake, since there was no reservable campsites anywhere! A few nights before we left, I decided to look again just in case and thankfully I found one spot that was open in a campsite in Rocky Mountain National Park. I booked it just in case, but we were still hoping to find a site closer to the lake, as the campsite was about 30 minutes away.

Eli and my dad (who joined us) stayed the night with us in Golden so we could leave early on Saturday with hopes of finding a campsite. The drive was only about two hours and a majority of that time was passed listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on audiobook. Once we reached Grand Lake, we were very grateful that I was even able to book a campsite. Everything near the lake was completely full! After trying our luck at three different campgrounds we called it quits and parked so we could hang out at the lake and Eli could fish. Unfortunately, no fish were caught, but it was a great time just hanging out on the shore together. We decided to head to a different part of the lake to see if he would have any luck there. Point Place has a beautiful dock with amazing views so he tried there. No luck was had there either so he decided to go for a swim instead!  

A nice iced drink was calling our names so we ventured into town to The Hub. The drinks really hit the spot, afterwards we decided that it was time to head to our campsite. The drive was beautiful and we even saw a mother moose and her calf! We pulled into the campground to check in and discovered that someone decided to take our spot over their own. They asked if we were willing to switch so we did, and I think we got the better end of the deal. Our new site was near the bathroom, surrounded by trees and even had wild strawberries that Eli discovered. Setting up camp was a breeze and then we got to relax for the rest of the evening.

I truly love being with my loved ones while camping. No distractions from technology, we just get to be present with one another! My dad grilled up some delicious steaks for dinner and then we hung around the camp fire telling stories, and obviously had to end the night with smores! We then got ready for bed and piled into my brother in laws 6-person tent to get some sleep after a fun day!

The next morning, we woke up to the crisp mountain air and Craig started coffee for us. It was a beautiful morning and so nice to wake up chilly compared to the hot weather back home. Dad, Craig and I enjoyed our slow morning sipping our coffee until it was time to make Funfetti pancakes (Eli’s request :) ). Craig headed out to ride his bike up Trail Ridge Road, while we hung around at camp for a bit and started cleaning up. We wanted to spend as much time at the lake before storms rolled in so we left Rocky and headed towards Grand Lake.

Eli stayed in the shallow water this time and tried his luck catching smaller fish near the shores. The rain was rolling in so we had to hunker down in the car a few times, but he did finally catch a sculpin. His mission was completed, and it was so fun to see him so excited about his passions. He could talk for hours about fishing and fish.

The storms started rolling in so it was a good time to head to town and grab some lunch. We sat down and Craig made it just in time to join us (after getting stuck in hail 11,000 ft up and having nice people drive him into town). Eli and Dad had a great idea to end off the weekend with a game of mini golf so that was our final stop in Grand Lake. We all were pretty decent golfers and everyone got at least one hole in one! Eli kept saying that it was a great way to end a camping trip and that made me so happy to hear that he enjoyed the weekend!

We were all sad to leave after such a wonderful weekend! I am so grateful that Eli wanted to join in something that he knows brings us so much joy, and I hope that he wants to continue joining us on these camping adventures and we can make more and more memories together!