August 7th-9th, 2022
When most people think of Colorado, they have images in their heads that look like Granby. It's on the western edges of Rocky Mountain National Park, and the green mountains and blue skies surround everything. It's an awesome little town (though it can get a bit touristy), with gorgeous lakes next door. We saw all three of them.
Heather and Mike were staying at a campground on Lake Granby, while we stayed at the Sun Outdoors Rocky Mountains resort. It was more than we usually like to spend on camping, but we thought we'd live it up a little. With restaurants, activities, and gorgeous scenery, it was worth the extra money.
We toured around Lake Granby first, and it was really beautiful. The weather was perfect, too. It was nice just enjoying the day and hanging out with friends. We took the boat all the way out to the end of Arapaho Bay, including under the bridge there. It would have been a long drive with the motor home if we wanted to camp there, so it was better just to see it with the boat.
Of course, we took 360-degree videos of all three lakes. Use your mouse or move your phone to look around and enjoy the views we had.
The other two lakes we saw in the area are actually connected by a narrow channel. We picked up Heather's friends who were visiting her, so we had an awesome boat filled with fun people (Mike ended up hanging back at their campsite). We started with Shadow Mountain, which was much less populated on the edges. At least it was until we got to the channel.
If you watch this video to the end, you can see the channel and the lucky people with houses that back up to it. That was a pretty cool experience.
After we came out of the channel between the lakes, we found ourselves on Grand Lake. It was different than what we'd been boating on because it was surrounded by large, expensive houses on three sides. The fourth side had a line of businesses. Granby was there, and it's a pretty little tourist town.
We cruised along the houses and then found a courtesy (free) slip to dock the boat. Then we all found a spot on the shady grass to set up chairs and blankets. We hung out there, getting ice cream and enjoying the people watching. It was just about perfect.
Mike drove his truck over to meet us, which was cool. Then, everyone else decided to go back with Mike, so the trip back in the boat was just Margot, Monica, and Lacey. We zoomed around the middle of the lake for a bit, and then hung out in the middle of the lake for a bit just taking it all in.
That's when the boat decided to take its time starting back up. We were in the middle of a very deep lake (at least we had cell service) and the motor wouldn't turn over. After waiting a bit, it finally started up and we were off. We headed back to the channel.
When we slowed down to go through the channel's gate, the boat stopped again and wouldn't start. It was shallow, so Margot was able to walk the boat over to a dock while we waited. We had to wait a long time, but it finally started up again. It was definitely grumpy through the channel, so as soon as we passed out of the No Wake Zone we went fast again, hoping that would make it get over its grumpiness. It worked! Whatever was wrong with it was done, and it was fine after that.
Boating is definitely an adventure! We headed back for home at the resort, and it was time to get ready for visitors.
