Turtle Rock Trail at Vedauwoo, Medicine Bow Mountains, Wyoming

When we go camping, one of the things that I always look for in a campground is if there are hiking trails nearby.  Vedauwoo doesn't disappoint in that department!  The Turtle Rock Trail, which is the most popular in the area, encircles the large Turtle Rock formation, and there are numerous other trails within the area as well.  We opted to hike the Turtle Rock trail because there was a way to pick it up from the campground and because I thought it would take us to the top of the rock formation.  How wrong I was!  We actually came across some other hikers on the trail who asked us if that trail continued up the rocks and I said that we had hoped the same thing, but since we had both done half of the trail we realized it did not.  And after looking online after the hike, we realized that it was pretty obvious that it did not continue up the rocks when we were given a map by one of the park rangers.   Here is a great map of the trail and area.  We still had a great hike even though it didn't go as planned. Click here for my post on the Box Canyon trail which does continue up the rocks. 

Vedauwoo Campground, Buford Wyoming - Finally, some summer camping!

We haven't camped all summer; which is crazy for our family because we love it so much, but July was packed with things to do each weekend and when August rolled around and my 33rd birthday; Josh asked what I wanted to do and I replied "go camping!"
Since this was our first camping trip with Magnolia, we wanted to stay in a campground for conveniences like use of port-o-pots and running water and we  wanted to camp somewhere that it didn't get super cold at night, which meant not camping at 10,000 feet in Guanalla Pass, it meant finding somewhere new.  I can get easily overwhelmed with all the places to choose from while searching online and can spend hours looking at one place after another.  But I don't have time to be indecisive anymore, Magnolia keeps me very busy, so I asked for some suggestions from friends.  My friend Suzy from Hip Mountain Mama (an amazing family owned shop) suggested that we check out Vedauwoo in Buford, Wyoming (pronounced Vee-da-voo); they often frequent the campground and have a great time with their kids.  She sent me her photo album with amazing shots of huge rock formations and big sky; I took one look and decided Vedauwoo was the place to go!  The one thing that I liked about this campground was that every review I found online remarked that each site had lots of privacy from the next and there are views from every site.  Privacy is the main reason we don't often choose campgrounds, we enjoy being far away from everyone, but Vedauwoo provided the best of both worlds; a port-o-pot and running water, combined with secluded sites and great views plus a trailhead which you can pick up from the campground.   All of this meant, staying put and enjoying the weekend hiking, camping and checking out the great views and big sky.  

Sunset Park and Bellows Park, Lakewood Colorado - take a walk in the park

Now that my days are occupied with Magnolia and I can't just (as quickly) jump into the car and go to a trail, so I often try to find parks to walk in.  I can take our Bob Stroller, which will cover most terrain that any of the parks in the city can dish out and we hit the pavement/dirt/concrete!  

Last week, I decided to load up the stroller and drive to Bellows Park, a place that I noticed a few times while driving.  I wasn't sure of the size of the park, but figured that it would be at least an hour of walking and if worse came to worse I could just walk the stroller into one of the nearby neighborhoods for a stroll down the street.  However, I ended up finding that Bellows Park is a pretty neat little place, and it connects to another Lakewood Park called Sunset Park which is significantly larger and offered more walking trails and a playground.  

Meyer Ranch, a great getaway from the heat!

I've hiked at Meyer Ranch numerous times over the years, but when I went to search for it on my own blog I was shocked to see that I had never done a blog post about it before.  Meyer Ranch is a great place to get out of the heat in the city, the trail is a shaded pine forest and the hike is a gradual incline up the mountainside.  

A new friend that I recently met asked if I wanted to hike, so I suggested Meyer Ranch, easy, shaded and out of the city. We were on the trail before 11:00am, hiked up the Lodgepole Loop out to the neighborhood access, then back down the loop to the picnic tables for some lunch.  I carried Magnolia in the Eddie Bauer hiking pack gifted to us by my friend Christina; and it felt pretty good, although a lot of the weight was carried in my hips and I still have some adjusting to do on the pack.