Estes Park

 Estes Park is a small town on the outskirts of Rocky Mountain National Park... There are a few ranch style buildings and restaurants, many actual ranches, and just an overall feeling of being  someplace special that has been well loved and preserved. 

It also happens to be the home of the famous Stanley Hotel from The Shining.

So, what could be better than spending a few hours horseback riding up the mountain with your favorite people and soaking in the gorgeous views?  

It really was stunning...

But I'm going to be honest with you, despite all the beauty and wonder the horses and mountains had to offer..... 

the Hatcher crew was just off this particular day.  I'd love to share all the stories of us laughing and being in complete awe... 

The reality was... everyone was being a total jerk...

Could have been the long car ride... maybe we were tired... maybe we had too many days of each other... could have been hungry... not sure.

But sadly, the people in all of these pictures were just grumpy.

Richie and I weren't speaking.

Luke kept having trouble guiding his horse - he was super frustrated and nobody was cutting him any slack. 

There were very few words spoken amongst any of us.

So, I just took pictures and tried to capture the beauty... 

Despite myself being among the grumpy, I knew this would be the only time we'd have this day and this experience... and I didn't want it to just go to waste..

My boys smiled for me... cuz that's just what they do

And while it hurts my heart a little to know that the pictures show one version of the day ... and all of our memories know another...  I think it's okay.  We're human.  We can have bad days. 

I mean, I'd rather us not pick the expensive, once in a lifetime days of horseback riding alongside Rocky Mountain National Park... but sometimes it happens, I suppose. I forgive us. And I love us just the same. We just happened to pick a bad day to have a bad day.

This below may be my most favorite picture of the day... Luke's horse was a bit gassy... and Sam was being the most honest about how it made him feel 💚

It's the most honest picture of the whole day. Kinda sums it all up.

Better luck next time, Team Hatcher... 😚

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry..."