The Joy of Traveling with My Youngest Son

I was lucky enough to just spend an entire week in Colorado with my youngest son as a celebration of his high school graduation.  Just the two of us hiking and exploring.  It was wonderful.

N is leaving for college in less than 1 ½ months (just writing that makes me sad) so this was an extra special time for me.

A few years ago, I took a graduation trip with my older son to South Dakota (his choice) and loved every minute of it.  This time it was N’s choice and trip, and he picked a week in Colorado.  If you’ve read any of my previous blogs you know our family loves the outdoors, so this was a solid choice for many reasons. 

And the trip did not disappoint.

The trip

We flew into Denver late on Monday night after lots of plane delays, so we were both wiped out.   After picking up our rental car – they “upgraded” us to a bright red Dodge Challenger which provided lots of laughs and was always easy to find in every parking lot – we drove to Boulder.

I have been to Colorado previously, but it was over 25 years ago so I don’t remember everything.  Plus, this was a very different trip from last time with my family. 

Flatirons hike

Boulder is a lovely town and we enjoyed walking on Pearl Street, visiting the local bookstore that has been there for years, and having lunch next to a spouting fountain.   We drove up to visit NCAR (the National Climate & Atmosphere Research Center) that overlooks Boulder and is right at the base of the Flatiron mountains.  NCAR has a terrific visitor center filled with hands-on climate science exhibits and has numerous hiking trails on its grounds.  We did our first hike of the trip with the Flatirons as the backdrop and looking out over Boulder – just lovely.

We have wonderful family close to Boulder who were gracious enough to host us for a few days and provide local information you can’t get anywhere else. 

A view from up high

Our next adventure was in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP).  Certainly, a tough 9.5-mile hike at elevation for us – we reached 10.2k feet and felt it!  The views were breathtaking, and the air was gloriously fresh.

For the rest of our trip, we were in the area near Pikes Peak.  I found a great cabin in a small town near Florissant Fossil Beds National Park which was our home base for several days.  We visited the fossil beds for a hike to see petrified wood and almost got caught in a terrific thunderstorm.  Watching the rain and thunder over the mountains in the close distance was amazing. 

Pikes Peak

On Friday, we drove up Pikes Peak to the 14k elevation peak.  We both thought the drive might be a little lame, but quickly changed our minds as soon as it started.  The ride up is equal parts amazing and terrifying, especially in the “switchbacks”.  Envision being super high up, no guardrails, and driving on a two-lane road.  Needless to say, I told N to take photos so I could look later as my eyes were not coming off the road!  At the top is a visitor center with spectacular views and wonderful hot donuts.  We of course ate the very delicious donuts while we admired the views and the marmots racing around from the safety of a bench.

Our adventures also included a hike at Garden of the Gods, a visit to the Olympic training center, a wolf sanctuary, and testing spring waters in Manitou Springs.  We hiked miles and miles during our adventures.  We spotted elk, a mountain hare, numerous deer, yellow-bellied marmot, Wyoming ground squirrels (adorable), prairie dogs, two kinds of chipmunks, and lots of birds. 

We had conversations about random subjects, lots of laughter, and best of all we made many happy memories.

The best part of the trip

N is my youngest, my baby.  Until the last few years when his brother left for college there have always been other kids in our house.  I’ve been loving the one-on-one time we’ve gotten in the past few years, but this trip allowed me even more time – and I will forever be thankful.

There were a lot of firsts on this trip that I didn’t plan for in our itinerary. 

I didn’t realize that N had never planned a hike or an outing before.  It’s always been done for him, and he’s just come along for the ride.  During this trip, he learned how to use hiking apps and plan a day using the app and maps.  This was a great learning experience for him, and after a few bumps, he embraced it by the end of the trip. 

This trip also helped me to see my youngest as a more self-sufficient young man. 

He planned and packed appropriately without many reminders and had everything he needed for the trip and each adventure.  This included the myriads of medical supplies he needs on a daily basis.  N leaves for college in just over 5 weeks and I have been so nervous about him going.  I’m feeling better now knowing that he has paid attention to all of our lessons through the years and knows how to plan and to handle himself.  Although I’m still feeling heartache at him going, some of the worries are gone.

I know not everyone has the luxury of being able to take an entire week and fly off with one child at a time, but if you do, I strongly urge you to spend the time.  If you can’t swing a week, maybe a weekend or even an overnight.  Maybe a day is all you can spare.

Find the time where it is just the two of you, without sports or friends or other family.  A time you can really get to know each other and to listen to each other.

 I can promise that you will never regret it.