Spending time with family in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Rocky Mountain National Park

August 1 - 5

Fort Collins, CO

During the summer of 2021, our family did our final Navy PCS move from California to Virginia. In preparation for the move and for the big cross-country move, we bought a truck and travel trailer so we could make a trip out of it.

At the time, Sadie was 8 and Nate was 4, about to turn 5. Along the route, we took the kids to Lassen Volcanic, Crater Lake, Yellowstone, the Tetons, St. Louis Gateway Arch, and New River Gorge national parks. We went rafting down the Rogue and Snake rivers.

At the end of the four weeks on the road, what was both kids’ hands-down, absolute favorite stop? The Fort Kollins KOA.

So when planning this trip, I did everything I could to return to their favorite spot. Dipping down into Colorado before going to the northern mountain parks was the only way to guarantee we could get there before snow and ice hit the mountain roads.

In recreating the fun we had in 2021, Nick’s brother’s family flew up from Texas. My aunt Carolyn, cousin Hannah and her husband Ezra drove up from the Denver area. It was Hannah’s birthday, so we did one of her favorite things—paddleboarding on Horsetooth Reservoir.

Shortly after, Nick’s brother Matt, his wife Jamie, and our nephew Merrick drove up from visiting family in Denver.

At the risk of sounding like an old lady, it’s wild to see how much the kids have grown in those four years.

With our now-bigger kids, we didn’t spend as much time hanging out at the KOA as we did last time. We sought our more Colorado-y things to do. Like rock climbing at Horsetooth Reservoir.

One of the mornings, my aunt Carolyn took Sadie and me on a fun outing to one of our absolute favorite places—Trader Joe’s! She just started working at one of their stores a month ago, and we got to use her employee discount (score).

Rocky Mountain National Park

Our last full day together, we drove the hour and 15 minutes to Rocky Mountain National Park for a hike beginning at the very popular Bear Lake.

Unfortunately, Sadie was sick and wasn’t up for joining us on this. In fact, whatever crud she picked up in South Dakota knocked her down the whole 10 days we were in Colorado. She did her best to show up when she could but spent a lot of time resting. It was not at all the return to the Fort Collins KOA she’d spent four years dreaming about.

The rest of the visit, we spent time enjoying the KOA. We’ve been staying at a lot of KOA campgrounds because these parks tend to have a lot of amenities. Our kids can freely roam enjoying the playgrounds, mini golf, and fishing. And there’s usually other kids around for them to play with. On the grown-up side of the trip, Nick and I enjoy the predictability of things like full hook-up campsites, camp store for grabbing missing groceries, and laundry on site (boring, I know).

One of our favorite things from last time was the easy fishing. It didn’t disappoint.

It was awesome to see family and explore some of Colorado. But there was more of Colorado to see in the week ahead—MUCH more.

Final Thoughts

After a solid month on the road since seeing family in Philadelphia, it was amazing to reunite with family here. Thank you so much to Matt, Jamie and Merrick for flying in from Texas. And thanks to Carolyn, Hannah and Ezra for driving up from Denver to spend the weekend with us. We love you all and can’t wait until next time!

Roberts on the Road

For those just finding us, hello! Inspired by the Year of Jubilee in Leviticus 25, our family is on a yearlong RV road trip in 2025-2026 to celebrate my husband’s retirement after 20 years in Naval Special Warfare, as well as our 24 years together during the ups and downs of it all.

With our 12-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son in tow, this trip to explore America’s national parks and beautiful places is intended to help our family reflect and reset as civilian life begins.

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For background info on who we are and where we’re traveling, we’d love for you to read the intro post. The full list of road trip blog posts can be found here. Thanks for stopping by!