Days 9-14 Colorado

 On July 9, we left Steamboat Springs and drove over Trail Ridge into Rocky Mountain National Park. We stopped up on top at the Alpine visitor center and hiked up to the top.  We have definitely acclimatized to living at sea level. It was hard to breath and quick to tire hiking in that altitude!  But, it's just as beautiful and cool as we remember. 

After arriving in Estes Park, we set up camp at Spruce Lake RV and then went to drive and look around for a bit. We went to where we got married for a quick look around. It's a not a mountain lodge anymore but a Dao meditation center. Weirdly, they didn't remodel any of the rustic decor, so you have the stone fire places, deer heads, exposed wood beams, horse corrals, etc...with a layer of Asian decorations and buddha statues over top. It was a bit bizarre; definitely a place with an identity crisis, but fun to visit anyway.  Sadly, Mary's Lake Lodge, where we used to enjoy an occasionally lunch is no more. It's been torn down and replaced by condos, sigh...Estes Park has grown up quite a bit in 10 years since we were there. We took the dogs to the dog park and then headed back to camp.  The town's elk herd was cooling off the first night in the river near camp and the next morning, several of them were right in our campsite. 

The next morning, we headed back into Rocky Mountain National Park. We had the dogs with us, so hiking wasn't really an option, but we drove around looking and then then decided to take Old Trail Ridge Road to the top. It's a one-way dirt road to the Alpine center, only open and passable July-September. It has amazing views, if occasional steep drops that made me very nervous. We stopped at a gorgeous waterfall called Chasm Falls along the way too. Saw some elk and a marmot, and on the drive back down a couple of Rocky Mountain sheet ewes. After that, we went back into Estes Park, had hamburgers at Penelope's, another long-time place we used to visit and then did some shopping and wandering in Estes Park...bought a couple souvenir shirts, some salt water taffy, some Colorado made vodka before visiting the dog park again. Back at camp we played a round of mini golf and enjoyed the river for a bit.

On our last day in Estes Park, we dropped the dogs at a daycare and then went for a morning hike in Beaver Meadows in RMNP. There were lots of wildflowers to take pictures of.  Unfortunately, I noticed after the hike that there was a smudge of my camera lens, so all the pics from the hike have a blurry spot. Sigh...We stopped at the Visitors Center and also visited the Alluvial fan area where the 1982 flood happened.  Then, we drove back to town. We had lunch at the Stanley Hotel and then took their tour, which was actually fun. I don't care much about the spooky Stephen King angle, but the history of the Stanley was interesting and it's a beautiful old building.  After that, we picked up the dogs, and spent an evening at camp.   

We drove down to Loveland the next day, where we have been staying at Boyd Lake State park for the last few days.  We have had fun swimming and playing in the lakes, and Jackson is really getting good at the kayak. Ember has been in heaven. Pepper didn't like it, but even she swam a little bit, when she got upset because mom was paddling away on the kayak. Other that hanging by the lake, we've spent lots of time driving around...drove by where we used to live (still miss that house and land), showed Jack the towns around, catalogued all the changes that 10 years brings. The area has changed a lot and grown quite a bit too.  We had dinner at several places we used to frequent (not as good in some cases as we remember), Mike and Jack rode their bikes to get breakfast burritos with Colorado green chile, and we've visited several old friends.  We drove to Greeley for a park playdate with Jodi and her daughter Olivia.  Jodi and I job shared and taught together back in 2011 after I had Jack at University Schools.  We had dinner with Kasey, Michelle, and Ethan, family friends and former co-workers of Mike from back when. We also visited with Lynnette, our old next door neighbor. It's been fun to reminisce.   On Friday, the dogs went to daycare again, and we went rafting on the Poudre river. It was fun if a little cold!  I don't have any pictures of that since I couldn't take my phone and didn't want to buy the expensive staged shots.

Today, we are heading south where we will visit with one of Mike's coworkers and friends, go to a concert at Redrocks, and stay at another state park for a few days. More updates soon!