Vail

Choosing a location

Choosing a starting point in Colorado was very tough. There’s so many worthy destinations. A good strategy to take when you have too many options in life is to introduce arbitrary constraints. Here we decided to use the “easy hiking and biking for kids” criteria as our constraint. After a bit of Googling we landed on Vail.

Choosing an Airbnb

Choosing an Airbnb is also a difficult decision because there are so many options. So, add an arbitrary constraint! Whenever we’re checking out a town or city we find the best parks on Google Maps and then look for homes near those. Although we are on a roadtrip, we prefer to walk as much as we can once we arrive to our primary residence. So parks that are walking distance are a must. This constraint greatly reduces the options.

Getting There

Vail is a 16-hour drive from Austin, so we stopped for a few days’ visit in the Texas panhandle to visit family. After getting some tips on routes from Poppy we decided to drive into Vail through the mountains and valleys rather than taking the interstate. We were so glad we did! We stopped in Salida at the Riverside Park. Playground stops are critical to making it to our destinations. They zap the energy out of the kids and create happy car riders.

Riverside Park in Salida, Colorado

The first few days in Vail we settled into our Airbnb. This home was located right next to a park/playground AND was just steps away from one of the top trailheads in Vail! Booth Falls Trail is a moderate trail that we learned is just a bit too long for our 4 year old. A couple of attempts were made with Milo but we finally found it was just a bit too long to keep him entertained. The girls (Danielle, Amelia, and Reese) made the hike though and loved it.

A few days in and we started to explore Vail Village, just a quick 10 minute drive from our Airbnb. The village has loads of shops and restaurants. We loved that a large part of it was pedestrian only so we didn’t have to keep the kids within arm’s reach. Amidst the shopping and dining there’s parks, playgrounds, and gondolas that will carry you up the Vail mountain.

We arrived at the end of summer so we didn’t have many chances to ride up. One weekend the boys (Donnie, Milo and Pax) took the Eagle Bahn Gondola and spent about 15 minutes on the mountain. It was an overcast, cloudy day and Milo wasn’t happy with the wind or the PB&J pre-packaged cold sandwiches offered on the mountain top (restaurant options were closed due to Covid). So we snapped some photos and headed down. We did enjoy the ride, though!

Another weekend the whole family took a trip up Gondola One on the last day it was operating for the summer. We thought we’d just go on a short hike and explore Mid-Vail for a bit and then head back down on the gondola. Instead, we decided on a whim that we’d just hike down the whole mountain! Or at least we’d try. We found the trailhead to Cabin Trail and began. I don’t know what this hike is like any other time, but in September it was amazing. It might have been the highlight of Vail. The aspens had just turned yellow and began dropping their leaves. We probably could have swam in the yellow leaves if we tried.

The rest of our time in Vail was spent in homeschool, playgrounds, and pools. Between learning sessions we’d get in the van and go see what playground we could find next. Vail is amazing for playgrounds. We didn’t even get to them all unfortunately, but none of them disappointed. The Avon Recreation Center (20 minute drive from East Vail) has an indoor swimming pool that was open but operating at reduced capacity. We visited this pool a couple of times during our stay and highly recommend it. Reservations were required but I think that may have only been because of the reduced capacity.

After a couple of weeks in Vail we headed to Denver for a few days. Danielle had a flight to catch and Denver was a good spot for flights and activities for the kids while she was gone.