We followed up our trip to Breckenridge with a short stop in Grand Lake for a cousin's wedding. We stayed at the historic Grand Lake Lodge in a small (very small) cabin (nicely modernized). They had a pool with great views of Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain Lake.
We took a nice hiking trail from the lodge into town and had lunch at EG's Garden Grill. We were going to go to Pancho & Lefty's (based on a recommendation from people who had been in town for the week) but it took about 5 minutes for a hostess to greet us and when she did she mumbled something so I wasn't even sure she was a hostess. The restaurant was virtually empty and she told us it'd be 20 minutes before she could seat us. We had hungry kids, a bad impression, and couldn't figure out why there would be a wait so we hightailed it out of there. I'm not sure we found anyplace better (food wise) but the atmosphere was better. I was drawn to the nice patio w/ live music. I figured the food/service could be pretty bad since the atmosphere was so nice before I would dislike this place. Well....
I had the fish tacos. There was one more on the plate before I ate it. They were good but I needed a side...coleslaw, chips, rice, something. If I pay $10.99 for a lunch I expect to be full (I don't need the oversize plates of most places, however,) when I'm done. I was still quite hungry.
My husband had the Rueben which he thought was okay.
My son got the corn chowder. I believe the sign said it was homemade. If that meant throwing in way to many pieces of celery (large chunks) in a canned soup then I guess it was. It did have a corn flavor but I would have been hard pressed to find a single piece of corn in this soup.
My daughter had the Mac n' Cheese and seemed happy. Other tables were kept waiting longer than us to be served so I'm not sure that any other people were blown away by EG's. I had the impression that anywhere you ate in Grand Lake was going to be the same: so so food and so so service. (Such is life in a tourist town)
The wedding went off without a hitch...
except for a small amount of hail that thankfully fell after the vows when people could take shelter on the porch. My possessed daughter had fun picking it up.
The beautiful atmosphere provided a nice setting for some family pics.
We had to get our standard pic at the entrance to the national park. We are trying to collect as many as possible.
You can't go through the park without being guaranteed to see at least a couple of elk.
I had time for a run the last morning. I took a pleasant trail from the Lodge to RMNP. I'm glad I went as far as I did since I saw two moose in a meadow. Definitely made my morning. Just wish I had a camera with me since one was all of 20 feet from me when I turned around.
Hike: Tonahutu Trail
Trails Used: Tonahutu Trail in RMNP
Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 5.1 mph
Overall Time: 1 hr, 25 min
Total Ascent: 744 ft.
Overall average: 5.1 mph
Overall Time: 1 hr, 25 min
Total Ascent: 744 ft.
