This past June, our family flew to Denver and then did a road trip around Colorado. I wanted to share all the pictures and locations in case it helps anyone else plan a family trip to Colorado.
About 80% of these were taken with my iphone 7+ and then my favorite scenes were shot with a Fuji XT-2.

Day 1
We took an early flight into Denver, rented a minivan, picked up a cooler, some ice, and some food and then hit the road for Estes Park.
By the time we got there, found our hotel, etc. it was time for dinner and then we headed into Rocky Mountain National Park to enjoy the evening in the mountains.

We drove part way up the main mountain road for some nice views and then came back to Moraine Park where there were lots of deer and elk roaming around.
It was the most amazing weather this evening. 75 degrees and a soft breeze. It was perfect weather for elk watching. We must’ve seen at least 50.
3 of them ran across the road right in front of our car.

Day 2
Woke up at 5:00am, headed into Rocky Mountain National Park for a hike to Dream Lake and Emerald Lake. Passed a bunch of elk on the way. We were done with our hike at 10:00am and as we were leaving, the parking lot was filled with hundreds of cars. Perfect timing for us!!

In the afternoon, we crossed the the Rockies on trail ridge road. Check out the big bull elk we saw at the end of this photo set.

Next, we ended up on the west side of the park by Grand Lake and did the short walk to Adams falls.

In the evening, we drove up to the top of Mt Evans to catch the sunset at 14,000 feet. It didn’t disappoint. It was cold but gorgeous!!
We even got to see 6 mountain goats including a couple of babies.
We were right by the bathrooms at the top and they were right there. They were a bit too close for comfort but it was still really cool
If you are deciding between Mt. Evans and Pike’s Peak, I would strongly recommend Mt. Evans because you dont’ have to pay the $45 toll and you don’t have to worry about when it opens and closes.

Day 3
We drove up over Loveland pass then through Keystone and then on to Breckenridge.

In Breckenridge, the boys got to practice panning for gold, then they had their first gondola ride up to peak 8 where they have the Epic Discovery Adventure Park. The first adventure was the alpine sleds. We took the ski lift up even further which Reid was not a fan of. When we got on the ski lift it was 75 and sunny. By the time we got to the top 15 minutes later, it was raining and they closed the sled run. We had to wait for jeeps to drive everyone back down the mountain.

By the time we got down, the rain stopped so they did a giant maze, then some mini golf and by then the sun was out so we did the alpine sleds a couple times.  We all had a blast!

Next we drove to Aspen and spent the evening at Maroon Bells which is the most photographed spot in America!

Aspen was crazy expensive so we stayed in the neighboring town of snowmass that was 1/3 the price of Aspen.  Our hotel neighbor had a motorcycle which just had to be used for a photo.

Day 4
We drove out to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It was very rainy but still led to some incredible views.

We then drove out to Great Sand Dunes National Park. The drive with the storms was really cool and when it was time to play in the sand, the skies cleared up and the kids had a blast rolling down the sand hills and wrestling.
It was definitely the most photogenic spot on our trip due to the amazing evening light.

Day 5

This morning we did a high ropes course just outside of Salida. Mayz and Reid were both a bit scared at first but by the end, they wanted to do more!

Who would have thunk that our cheapest hotel of the trip would be a 4* Marriott with an indoor/outdoor pool. Not bad for $95. Thanks Hotwire!
We had a nice evening stroll in Garden of the Gods.

After dinner we went for a short walk around Garden of the Gods.  What an amazing place to have in the middle of a city like C-Springs!

Day 6

Today we started the day going way above the clouds up to the top of Pikes Peak at 14k+ feet.  Personally I found it to be super expensive and overly touristy. I guess I shouldn’t complain since we were also tourists, but Mt. Evans was much nicer.
However, it was a rainy day in Colorado Springs so with the low rain clouds, we were able to get WAY above the clouds up on Pike’s Peak.

Next we headed back down and did a tour of the Cave of the Winds. It was really cool learning about how the caves were formed.

Next we had a great lunch with Aunt Dawn and Uncle Jay who live in Colorado Springs.

From there it was on to Denver where we went to the Capitol building and then a quick visit to Mile high stadium but there were no tours left in the day so we didn’t get to go in to the stadium.

Day 7

Last night from our hotel, we had a beautiful sunset and this morning, these boys were champs with a 3:45am wakeup.
They held up pretty good today!!
Now it’s Home Sweet Home!!

In May of this year, our family headed out to California to hit some of the main natural attractions.

5/20/17

We flew into Los Angeles, rented a minivan and hit the road.  We arrived very late at night and by the time we got our rental car it was already close to 1:00am.
I was trying to find a hotel with breakfast included and all the places I called were booked.  Finally I found a place and got us a room.
Unfortunately it was a total dump.  The hotel was gross and the “free breakfast” was literally peanut butter and jelly served out of a cooler in the parking lot…yikes!

5/21/17
The next day we drove the 4-5 hours to Sequoia National Park and enjoyed the mountain vistas and the gigantic/beautiful trees.  Some of these trees are mind blowing because they are so huge!!

I love this tree that has been lying on the ground for the last 100 years.  At one point, a family even lived inside this tree.

This helps give a size perspective on how big these things are!

Next, we headed over to the neighboring park of King’s Canyon.  The gorge off the side of the road is beautiful.

One of our stops was Grizzly Falls.  The wind was blowing like crazy and with the gushing waterfall and all the spray coming of the falls, it felt like we were in a hurricane.

Some areas of King’s Canyon really remind me of driving through the alps.

Near the end of the King’s Canyon road, we found this pretty little waterfall.  I had never been to King’s Canyon, so I was expecting that the end of the road was going to lead to a vista point but it didn’t.  It just ended in a small loop that turns you around the other way.

As we were leaving the park, the sun was setting which created some really pretty views with the mountain backdrop.

Looking back east, I love seeing the winding mountain road leading into the park.

We ended up driving about halfway to Yosemite and spent the night.

5/22/17
The next morning we drove into Yosemite National Park.  Yosemite has always been one of my favorite places but the infrastructure there is just not able to handle the crowds.  It took 45 minutes to get into the park waiting in line at the entrance. Once in the park, there was an hour long traffic jam.  It then took us half an hour to find a parking spot. By the time we found parking, it was time for lunch.  We wanted to go do a short hike.  We waited 15 minutes for the shuttle to come, then the shuttle which was taking us about 3 miles took 45 minutes due to all the traffic jams.  We did a really nice 1.5 hour hike to Vernal Falls.  On the way back, we waited one hour for a shuttle with enough room for the 5 of us, then the 3 mile ride too another 1.25 hours to get back to the Lodge.  In other words, it took us almost 6 hours of driving/waiting to do a 1.5 hour hike.
It’s beautiful, but the traffic, crowds, and waiting were exhausting.  I will only go back if it’s off-season.

This photo was taken on the trail to Bridal Veil Falls.

Tunnel View is one of my favorite viewpoints in the world.  The waterfalls and unique landscape are mesmerizing.

Here is a quick photo from the mist trail at Vernal Falls

In the evening when the park started to empty out, we drove up to Glacier Point to watch the sunset and that was definitely one of the highlights of Yosemite.

Here is a pretty shot of the side of halfdome being lit up by the sun.

From this view you can see Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls way down in the valley.

On our drive back into the valley, we had some beautiful sunset views.

5/23/17

This morning, Kole and I woke up at 5:00am to go do photos around the valley at sunrise. We found a few really pretty spots along the river and then went back to Tunnel View.

We then met back up with everyone else and spent a little time exploring the valley before doing a short walk to lower Yosemite falls.

Next, we drove out to San Francisco.  Driving through the central valley in California, it was 102 degrees.  45 minutes later, in San Francisco, it was 65 degrees.
We stopped for dinner at pier 39 which was a fun place to explore.  The boys loved the Sea Lions.

Next, we stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts.

We hoped to see a sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin headlands, but that whole area was shrouded in clouds and fog. We stayed at the Mirage hotel by the zoo.

5/24/17
The next morning, sunrise was cloudy. We planned to drive up to Twin Peaks for a view of the city, but that was also covered in fog. We drove out to Baker Beach. The boys played around on the beach and we enjoyed the nice view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

We stayed the nigh at the El Castell hotel in seaside.  They had a cheap price, decent room, good enough breakfast and a heated pool so the kids had a blast.

5/25/17
The next morning, I started to feel really sick so we had a slow morning.  Cheridy and the boys went and had some pool time while I stayed in bed in the room.
Since Highway 1 was closed, we had to drive back inland to make our way south.  We stopped at the famous Hearst Castle and did a tour.

5/26/17
Todaywe made our way out back out to the coast and stopped off in Malibu, Santa Monica to explore the Pier, and then Venice Beach.

After that we got to meet up with cousin Caleb who lives in the West Hollywood area and he took us up to the Griffith Observatory and then we had a fun dinner at a Korean barbeque place near his apartment.

5/27/17
Today was just a long flight home with some rest on the plane!

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In early March, we decided to bring the boys on a family road trip around the southwest national parks.  It was a perfect opportunity to teach them about the southwest region of our country along with some history lessons and some hands-on photography classes.  THIS is just one of the reasons we were excited to homeschool.
Here is a journal of where we went and what we did.  These photos are a blend of images taken by me (Prem) with a Canon 5dMK3 and an iphone 6s along with a few photos that the boys took of each other using Canon Rebel xti cameras.

3/1/16

Today was strictly a travel day.  We flew to Phoenix, rented a minivan, met up with my friend Ben for dinner, and then drove one hour to Camp Verde where we stayed the night.

3/2/16

This morning we woke up nice and early, had breakfast at the hotel and then went off to explore Montezuma Castle National Monument.

The boys have been learning about the Anasazi Indians so being able to see some of their cliff dwellings first hand was pretty cool.

Next, we drove half an hour through Sedona and over to Red Rock Crossing and did a short hike and took some photos.  The light was really bad for pics, but the kids had a blast.

On our way out of the area we drove back through Sedona and stopped off for a beautiful view of Sedona from the top of Airport Rd.

We then drove out to head to the Grand Canyon.  A little ways south of the Grand Canyon is an old Chevron station that will often have some old classic vehicles.  Today that had an amazing old motorcycle.

As sunset got closer, we took the bus to Pima point and planned to watch the sunset at Yavapai Point but we ran out of time and couldn’t make it back there before sunset.  So, we went back to Mohave Point for sunset.

We then took the shuttle back to where the van was and then drove one hour to the Cameron trading post for a very mediocre dinner.   However, there were no other options and we were super hungry!  Rather than staying in Cameron, we decided to continue on to Page which was another 1.5 hour drive.  It had already been a long and tiring day but getting to Page would allow for us to see the sunrise at Horseshoe Bend tomorrow.  On our way to Page, the night sky was just magnificent!!  Cheridy and the boys saw an amazing shooting star.  I missed it because I was setting up for this shot.

We drove the rest of the way to Page and stayed the night in the hotel.

3/3/16

The next morning we work up at 5:15am so we could go watch the sunrise at one of my favorite places…Horseshoe Bend!
It was a pretty rough morning.  Yesterday was a REALLY long day the kids didn’t get to bed until 11:00pm and then getting up super early was difficult.  But, we made it!  The Horseshoe Bend parking area is only a 5 minute drive outside of Page and then it’s a roughly 20 minute walk from the parking area to get to the cliff edge.  The walk was fine, but the wind at the cliff edge was really cold and it was not the most enjoyable stop.  However, it was very beautiful.

The kids were cold and tired and other than Mayz, they didn’t take a lot of pictures.

After the Horseshoe Bend excursion, we went back to the hotel for breakfast and to pack up.  Our next stop was going to be a photography tour of Upper Antelope Canyon.  We signed up for a tour, but the tour company we went with was really tough to work with, inflexible and difficult to book.  They also packed our tour with way too many people.   Others companies said to not do more than 6 photographers due to all the tripods and people getting in each others way.  They had 9 of us in the group.
For those that aren’t familiar, Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon on Navajo land.  It was formed over thousands of years by wind and water and provides photographers with limitless opportunities to capture beautiful abstract shapes.  Over the last few years, it has become insanely popular and the difficult part about that is that it is a very small canyon so when you fit hundreds of people in this tiny canyon, it gets a bit crazy.  It is also very expensive due to the popularity.
On our photography tour, we were grateful to be able to travel one direction without too many people in the photos.  Our guide did a good job of making sure we could get some clean photos.  On the way back, it was like herding cattle into a corral.  It was shoulder to shoulder and there were probably 15 jeeps from the various tour companies all parked by the entrance.
The boys did great as they all used their tripods and received a lot of help from Cheridy to take photos inside the slot.
Here’s a quick iphone shot showing what the entrance to the canyon looks like.

After the overlook hike, we drove to the main bridge over the Virgin river.  I was hoping to do photos of the Watchman mountain at sunset but the sun didn’t cooperate.
The boys still had a great time taking photos by the river and playing around.

3/5/16

The next morning, we had another really early morning to photograph the sunrise.  Sunrise at Bryce is an amazing thing to see.  It’s incredibly beautiful there.
We started off at Inspiration Point.

All of the viewpoints are great.  However, for the sunrise photos I actually wanted pics where we were more submerged IN the landscape.  We decided to go back to Sunset Point as that is oddly one of the best viewpoints for SunRISE.  We walked 5 minutes down the Navajo Trail towards the rock formation known as Thor’s hammer and this area was magnificent for pics.

3/6/16

We had a slow morning, the rain kept us from doing sunrise pics but we still headed into Arches National Park around 10:00am and we explored the Windows area which is my favorite part of the park.

After exploring and climbing around the north and south window along with Turret arch, we went a few hundred yards over to Double Arch.

We made a few other stops in Arches and then headed back to Canyonlands National Park.  Our first stop was for a short hike at Mesa Arch which is an iconic photo op from this part of the world.  The arch is right at the edge of a steep cliff and it frames the Lasalle Mountains in the background.

We spent some time driving to a few other viewpoints include the end of the road on the island in the sky which is Grand View Point. However, the Green River Overlook is a more impressive view so we just went back there.

We then went to the Schafer trail overlook for a quick stop.

At this part of the trip, Mayz was like my shadow trying to take a lot of the same pictures which was pretty cool.

We exited the park and went to catch the sunset at Dead Horse Point.  There were beautiful skies on the way there but too many clouds blocking the sun for a good sunset.

We headed into Moab for a terrific dinner at the Spoke restaurant and then it was off to bed.

 

3/7/16

We started the day with a 1 hour drive to Newspaper Rock State Historical Monument which is an amazing collection of ancient carvings.

That was follow by a 2 hour drive to Mesa Verde National Park.  Mesa Verde is an extremely unique place in our amazing country.  The area is riddled with indian cliff dwellings and it’s pretty amazing to see all those places where people once lived.  The most impressive of these areas is the Cliff Palace which is basically a whole town built into the side of a cliff.  They built in these areas because they were really hard to access which meant it was very difficult for attackers to get to them.   Can you even imagine that life?

We then drove one hour to the four corners where, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado all come together.  We planned to go take a quick family pic right on the point but didn’t feel like paying $25 to the Navajo just to go take a selfie so we kept driving.  Another 1.5 hours and we got to Monument Valley.  This is one of the most iconic locations America.  We got there just in time to enjoy some beautiful evening light.

We stayed the night at the View hotel which is correctly named.  Every room has an amazing view of the valley.  I decided to setup my tripod on the balcony and do some star trail photos.  The streak in the foreground is from car headlights driving through the valley.

3/8/16

The other main location and famous stop is the White House Ruins

After that, it was follow by a 3.5 hour drive back to my friend Ben’s house where we stayed the night.

 3/9

Yesterday was a LONG day of driving so today was just a fun relaxing day where we hung out at the house.

Yes, we did play putt putt with a hammer.

In the evening we met up for a wonderful dinner at our friend Gail’s house and had dinner with her, her daughter Tracy, son-in-law Case, along with my friend Ben and his girlfriend Dena.  The kids all had a blast swimming and playing in the yard.

3/10

Today was our travel day.  After a 2000 mile road trip. we were ready to fly home.  We had a safe and uneventful trip home which is just the way I like it!!