Yes, definitely do a day trip but make sure the road up is open. Weather can close it any time but I think it might only be open from May to August or September. As it is, even in nice weather, the drive up and down is a bit dodgy. There are bicyclists and bits of road missing and in our case, my dad looking over at the lovely valley as he's driving while my life flashes before my eyes. We did Mt Evans and then drove to a little town in the mountains called Silverthorne that had a Coach outlet. It was very cool and rainy and I loved it, especially when the front range was so hot and dry.

My sister and I were being overly enthusiastic about the parade so I'm sure the fact that we were whooping it up for the guys on the float might have had something to do with the barrage of candy.