When we first arrived in Denver, we were looking for something fun but cheap/free to kill some time. The perfect answer was Bass Pro Shop. It's a fun place to look around and was perfect for a nice walk since we had been in the van for a few hours. We giggled at this sign as we walked in:
***I don't know why this picture is so small...but it says, "Welcome Fisherman, Hunters, and Other Liars"
WOW. Besides the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, this is the best Aquarium we've been to. It could seem a little pricey at $16.99/adult and $9.99/child plus $7.00 for parking, but it was well worth it. (***NOTE***When we went up to the counter to purchase the tickets, they had this huge banner that made it look like there was only 1 ticket option for around $22.00/person. NOT TRUE. That includes a short movie and face painting or something like that. There IS an admission-only ticket.)
There are MANY, MANY tanks and exhibits to look through. We were there for over 3 hours.
They also have animals besides fish, eels, starfish, etc. There are tigers, otters, snakes, frogs, and MOST importantly (to The Girl), MERMAIDS!
The Girl could NOT keep her eyes off of "Ariel". During this little show that they do, there are speakers in the room where you watch. A scripted dialogue comes on, and the mermaids in the tank mouth all the words so it looks like they're talking to you. The mermaid appearances are every 15 minutes from 10am-2pm.
After the show, the mermaids come out of the tank and you can get your picture taken with them! And the coolest part: it was F-R-E-E! They have their own photagrapher there and you can buy a picture in their "special paper frame", but they also let you take your own pictures.
In the picture above, one of the divers was playing "rock, paper, scissors" with Boy 1 through the glass.
They also had 2 really cool touch pools. One of them had different varieties of starfish and horseshoe crabs. The other was a large tank with Stingrays. You could touch them, and if you wanted to purchase little cartons of fish, you could hand feed them.
6. Pagosa Springs, CO.
Pagosa Springs is a sweet little town known for it's abundance of natural hot springs. We stopped here because it was a good 1/2 way point for us between Denver and Albuquerque. They have a well-known resort with over 20 different soaking pools. You do not have to stay at the resort to soak in their pools. It is $22/adults and $14/kids (children 2 and under are free with a paying adult). It was our intention to go to the pools, however, we got into town around 6 pm and no matter what time you enter the pools, it's still full price.
So instead, we walked along the San Juan River and explored the natural hot springs along the way.
And, of course, the kids' favorite thing to do...throw rocks in the river.
FOOD ON THE TRIP: We all know that one of the most expensive things on a trip can be the food. It's not like you can go without it, so we had to figure out how to save money. We brought a cooler with lunch meat, cheese, apples, grapes, drinks, etc., as well as a box with snacks. We made sure the hotels we were at served a free continental breakfast. Whenever we were out and about, we brought our own snacks, so we didn't have to pay $1.50 for an individual-sized bag of chips. We ate picnic-style lunches with our cooler food pretty much everyday. We would find a nice park, let the kids run and play, and have lunch together. We usually ate dinner at a restaurant. Sometimes it was a nice place (like the restaurant in the Denver Aquarium), but more often is was Mc Donald's, Wendys, or the like.
Well...this is the second and last re-cap of our family vacay. If you have any questions about our trip, where we went, what we did, etc. just leave me a comment and I'll get back to you!
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