A funny thing happened on the way to Rocky Mountain National Park; we came across the infamous Stanley Hotel. You might recall Steven King spent the night in Room 217 many moons ago, where the bones of the book The Shining was born in my favorite “horror” author’s imagination. He and his wife were the only guests staying at the hotel that night. Needless to say Steven King’s memories of this eerily quiet old hotel at the edge of the Rockies, developed into an American classic horror film. As you can see, the impressive backlit bar became one of the most memorable scenes in the movie, as Jack Nicholson waxed poetic with the ghostly bartender. Out of the maze garden grew the terrifying episode as Wendy Torrance races through the intricate maze with her son in an effort to escape the abusive Jack. Ika and I spent most of the day snapping pictures, until I grabbed the last one as they entered the Otis elevator. This is where Matt, as you can see, had enough of the “bloggers” documenting the scenes:) So, on we went to one of the “easy” hiking trails of the Rockies,

This “easy” trail was about two feet wide, running along the edges of steep cliffs, with an added challenge of icy snow. The trail guided us to three lakes as we clawed, slid, and clambered our way towards the top. I use the term “we” loosely, as this grandmother stopped at “Dream Lake” and rested while the kids headed for “Emerald Lake”. As I sat on a boulder in the sun, waiting for the family to return, I couldn’t help but notice that a great deal of time had passed with no sign of the kids. Finally, after more than an hour, they reappeared looking haggard at best. Evidently the trip up to “Emerald” was even more challenging than we thought. I was so glad I sat on the boulder and rested. I’m getting too old for this!

For a much more relaxing experience, we took it easy on Mother’s Day. The Denver Botanical Gardens at Chatfield Farms was a nice flat, and significantly wider, path with distant views of what is becoming a favorite neighborhood for Matt and Ika. The treehouse was an impressive creation that Ika photographed so Matt could reproduce it in their own backyard, when they find “the house”. The maze constructed of hay was also an interesting idea, but looked a bit too “snaky” for this grandma. The canadian geese were everywhere, and there was a wonderful outdoor gazebo with mountain views that had hosted many local weddings. To top it off, Matt asked the mom’s what delicacy our hearts desired for our special day. This is something Ika and I will always agree on. We can never get enough sushi, and it was time to introduce the “little Swede” to a serious array of fish. As you can see, he definitely took to it:)