Colorado National Parks
Eli and Mort are on their next adventure and this time they are visiting National Parks in Colorado.
While in Colorado Eli and Mort the Moose visit Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park, Four Corners National Monument and Great Sand Dunes National Park. Who knows where they will end up next?
To get Eli and Mort’s complete road trip itinerary around Colorado, get the book Eli and Mort’s Epic Adventures Colorado Summer Road Trip.
1. Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park
Rocky Mountain National Park is just a quick hour and a half trip outside of Denver. It’s full of fun for kids. Get ice cream in Estes Park then head out to do a great hike. While in Rocky Mountain National Park, Eli and Mort the Moose hiked the Wild Basin Trifecta. Well, Eli hiked and Mort took a ride in his backpack, while Boo the floppy puppy tried to keep up with my li’l sis.
Eli had a compass with so Mort and Eli, Boo and Eli’s li’l sis wouldn’t get lost. Mort and Eli were determined to find a wild moose, like Mort. My stepmom told us that moose had the largest antlers in the world, just like Mort’s.
We saw Copeland Falls, Calypso Cascade and Ouzel Falls. I imagined Orca whales dancing in the falls. Mort tested the water with his hoof. It was cold.
2. Colorado National Monument
Colorado National Monument is the first National Park while traveling up 1-70 from Denver, just outside of Grand Junction Colorado. Eli’s stepmom said there are 8 National Monuments in Colorado and Colorado National Monument was one of them. Dinosaurs used to live here which makes sense because the rocks are as tall or taller than dinosaurs.
3. Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park is truly awe-inspiring. It’s a long drive from Denver–about 7 hours–but worth the trip. There are other things you can see near Mesa Verde such as the Four Corners National Monument and Durango.
At Mesa Verde Mort the Moose and Eli were going to see houses built under cliffs by Puebloans.
As it turned out, no one knows why the Puebloans decided to build houses underneath cliffs. The houses had kitchens and living rooms. “It’s just like our house,” Eli said to Mort, “Except everything is made from rocks and sand.”
When we got back to our campsite, Mort and Eli tried building a fort from rocks and sand like the Puebloans. Eli said to Mort that the fort we built was pretty decent for a boy and a moose. Mort thought so too.
4. Four Corners National Monument
The Four Corners Monument is the place where the four corners of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico meet at their corners. The neat part about it is, you can be doing something in all four States at once. Mort and I decided to do some push-ups with one hand in Utah, the other in Colorado, and our feet in Arizona and New Mexico.
That night, while we were looking at the stars through the roof of our tent, I asked Mort what his favorite part of the trip was so far. He said he couldn’t choose between clearing the tabletops while downhilling in Winter Park, seeing fairies in the flowers in Crested Butte, pretending to be a cowboy at the rodeo, or eating his favorite kind of sugar cereal for breakfast.
Mort licked his lips thinking of breakfast the next morning, and we both fell fast asleep under the stars.
5. Great Sand Dunes
In the distance, Mort and I saw the biggest piles of sand we had ever seen in our whole lives. As we got closer and closer the pile of sand got bigger and bigger. We were going to snowboard, and run and play in giant sand dunes that were as tall as mountains. Mort and I could barely wait.
Li’l sis, Mort and I ran up the sand dunes. Then we slid down them on our snowboards. And then we ran up again. You could roll, slide, jump and tumble all day, and never get hurt. It was sand.
Mort discovered that when you slid on the sand like you were sliding into first base, you could make funny fart sounds. So we kept running and sliding and laughing out loud. I said to Mort, “What could be better than gigantic piles of sand?” Mort thought, ‘Absolutely nothing.’
