Last July, I went on the best vacation I’ve ever been on, though I definitely didn’t know it at the time. My family took a trip to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and if I could use one word to describe the break, it would be marvelous. We traveled to a small mountain tourist town by the name of Estes Park. It was surrounded by huge tree-dotted, rocky (ha…get it?) mountains, and it took 45 minutes to drive on the winding roads from the main city. The drive there was very pretty, especially when we got there as the sun was setting. I saw mountain goats standing rocks much smaller than their feet and white-water rushing rivers about 20 ft down along the bottom. Before I came here, I thought the ideal vacation was relaxing in the sand on a bright sunny day somewhere in the Pacific. Colorado was about to prove me very wrong.

Though Estes Park had horseback riding, white water rafting, and zip lining, the main highlight of the trip was the Rocky Mountain National Park, where all the immense mountains were on display. They got larger was we drove farther in, and soon we were steadily climbing a narrow road which dropped off to the side with an extremely steep slope. The only thing separating us from certain death was a short stone wall that looked to be about one foot tall. It was extremely terrifying yet beautiful and exhilarating at the same time. The mountains, more gigantic than the ones back in the town, created an unworldly enchanting view. It was slightly drizzling out and the towering brown masses were encompassed by silvery clouds at the top, revealing to me me just how small I was. My eyes were amazed at the God’s creation, but we had just started our journey.

We stopped at a small parking lot next to a tremendous valley. As my family got out, we grabbed PB&J sandwiches from the small red cooler and walked on an open path surrounded by large rocks embedded in the ground and green tundra. The path led to a round platform enclosed by a stone fence, with an absolutely stunning view of the vast expanse below. Even though it was mid-July, the high elevation caused the temperature to be about 40? Fahrenheit. The view here was even more magnificent than the view from the car. Staring down on the immense gorge, I saw hundreds of tiny evergreen trees dotting the lower half of the snow-capped mountain. A narrow river wound through the rocky foliage, and misty clouds drifted along the bottom. We were about a mile above those clouds, which showed just how high up we stood. Behind us, on the other side of the platform, laid a gargantuan grassy hill where about 50 elk grazed; the hill was so huge, they were only visible with binoculars. Do you know that feeling when you just feel completely free from all your problems? That’s how I felt, on top of all those mountains, feeling so gigantic yet knowing I was just a speck in the distance. My family took numerous pictures so we could remember the moment forever, then continued on, driving up the mountains.

The road continued at the top of the hill, where there was no protective wall, which made the journey yet more thrilling. I looked down off the green slope and saw an immediate drop-off into another valley. My dad carefully drove in the middle of the road, going at a very slow pace. My ears had long since popped, and our elevation grew to 13,000 feet. We walked up a small hill where we could see everything for miles. I felt like I was on top of the world; mountains stretched as far and infinitely farther than the eye could see, gradually fading in the distance. We were so high up in the Rocky Mountain range, some of the mountains were below us. The paved path that I was on wove up another. Despite our height, there was still grass here. Air pressure made it harder to breathe, but I barely noticed. I just stared at the endless scenery in front of me.

When I came to Colorado, I wasn’t that excited. I expected the mountains to be a mediocre size, and I would be impressed, but not amazed. I had only seen pictures of the mountains, and pictures never do anything this immense any justice. But this vacation was better than any beach in Hawaii. It was the best vacation I’d ever been on. I never wanted to leave, and when we did, I was already wondering when the next trip would be.