My family started taking an annual summer trip to Estes Park 58 years ago. We will be there again from June 1-4 this year.

It was our parents’ special place. It is our special place. It is our kids’ special place and it will be our grandchildren’s special place.

When we made our first journey in what would become an annual pilgrimage, we were flatlanders from Kansas.

Mom was so excited for us to see the mountains. We were unimpressed when we first saw them on the horizon. As we got closer, we were awestruck. We’ve never lost that initial wonderment.

As children, we stayed at the Lake Shore and Lake Terrace Cottages, which have long since been lost to development. They were not on the lake shore nor was there a terrace.

Our family enjoyed the pools.

We kids spent hours in the swimming pool while Dad spent hours

playing pool with Mr. Knox, the owner, and other guests.

We played our first pinball game and were introduced to shuffleboard there. Mom would take us to Brodies Market on Elkhorn Avenue when the fresh bread was coming out of the oven. We would sit on the curb and eat it while it was still warm.

Those are the things that my siblings and I can only share in remembrance. Many other places and activities can still be enjoyed and have become the cherished memories of subsequent generations.

• Riding the Go-karts, bumper boats and mini-golf at “Ride-a-Kart.” It’s rare for three generations of a family to be able to play together with each enjoying themselves as much as the others.

• Enjoying the scenery at the aerial tramway. At the top, we always buy some peanuts for the chipmunks. These chipmunks get hefty over the summer, though. They tried Weightwatchers. The chipmunks said, “you want weight? Just watch.” The tramway closed a few months ago, so this, too, might fade into memory.

• Driving to the Continental Divide on Trail Ridge Road presents some of the most magnificent scenery on this glorious planet. While not a challenging drive for experienced mountain drivers, it’s terrifying for our flatlander relatives. My Uncle Bill from Wichita was so nervous on the drive he ate an entire bag of potato chips.

• The more challenging drive is Fall River Road, which is so narrow it’s one-way. There are no guardrails, many tight, hairpin turns and a long drop if anything goes wrong. We didn’t dare take Uncle

Bill up that one. He’d have knocked off the potato chips and gnawed the covers off the headrests.

• There’s no shortage of things we don’t really need on Elkhorn Avenue and we always buy them anyway. As kids, it was toys at Indian Village, which is still there. One year we all came home with welts after buying — and using — rubber-band guns. Almost every T-shirt I own came from Estes Park.

• Add delicious salt water taffy to the list of things you can buy on Elkhorn Avenue, but don’t add it to the “things we don’t really need” list. We need it. Really. We do.

• We usually take in a movie while we’re there. We’ve seen some classics like “Young Frankenstein” and some less-than-classics like “Don’t Mess With the Zohan.” During the blind man scene (starring Gene Hackman in a rare comic role) in “Young Frankenstein,” I laughed so hard I actually fell out of my seat.

• A trip to the world-famous Stanley Hotel is a must whether it’s for fine dining or a ghost tour. It was during a stay at the Stanley that novelist Stephen King was inspired to write “The Shining.”

Perhaps 42 years from now one of my grandchildren can write “A Century in Estes Park.” I’ll be gone, but I have no doubt our family will still be coming.