Rocky Mountain National Park
June 20, Tuesday: Trenton, NE to Estes Park, CO
We drove 250 miles to Estes Park, gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. On the way, route 34 changed back and forth from good to bad and back again from county to county. On the whole, though, the road was good. Eastern Colorado had nasty cattle holding pens with thousands of cows and a smell that preceded them by miles. Getting closer to the mountains and on the way up to Estes Park, we passed through beautiful Big Thompson canyon where they had a disastrous flood back in the 70’s. The Spruce Lake campground in Estes is fine, but nothing special, and its $40 per night fee is one of the most expensive we’ve ever paid. We are in the front of the park, so we have spectacular views of the mountains, but there is little snow on the peaks. We’re told that an extremely warm spring melted everything but the few small glaciers that remain. We drove into town to find a notary so I could waive my executorship of Dad’s estate to George, stopped at the post office and explored around town.
June 21, Wednesday: Estes Park, CO
We woke up early and stopped at the Rocky Mountain National Park visitors’ center before driving the parks main road, Trail Ridge, up and over the continental divide to the west side of the park and Grand Lake. We stopped at the various outlooks and saw a moose, lots of elk, small ground squirrels and chipmunks. We walked two relatively short trails, but at 12,000+ feet, even the short walks had us huffing and puffing, but we were surprised at how well we did walking considering the altitude. Thankfully, Jack’s ankle and feet seem to be doing ok. The tundra walk was cold, but it was worth braving the weather to see the carpet of dozens of different tundra flowers. 
While admiring the view at one of the scenic lookouts along Trail Ridge Road, a bunch of bikers were talking about scenery and the animals they saw – including some cantaloupes!! That poor biker will never live that one down with his buddies.
The lodge at Grand Lake was spectacular. It has a huge, rustic lobby and the most wonderful front porch with wooden swings and rocking chairs and views of two lakes. We had coffee and soda while swinging on the front porch and enjoying the view. We just finished hiking to a small waterfall on the outskirts of Grand Lake when the gathering big thunderheads dropped their rain, so we had to skip a couple of things we had planned.
We returned to the RV to relax and clean up before driving to the Dunraven Inn in Estes Park for a nice dinner. The food was ok, but the décor was impressive in a funky and unique way – dollar bills on every square inch of the entryway and the dining room was filled with many different photos and paintings of the Mona Lisa.
June 22, Thursday: Estes Park, CO
The park’s literature indicated that the popular Bear Lake area parking lot fills by 10am, so we pushed to get there early. Five miles before Bear Lake, signs by the Glacier area where the shuttle buses stop said the Bear Lake lot was full, but we decided to take a chance and drive down. Luckily, the signs were wrong and the parking lot was only half full.
We hiked up to Nymph and Dream lakes – about two miles with a 450’ elevation gain. We did fine, even though the altitude is over 9,000 feet. At Sprague Lake, we ate a picnic lunch where the stellar jays waited close by in the branches for dropped food.
We returned to the RV to relax and then drove into Estes Park to see about replacing our sneakers with hiking boots and do some grocery shopping. The guys at the shoe store really knew their stuff and we were surprised to learn that both of us have been buying the wrong size shoes. We did buy the hiking boots and we’ll see if they make a difference.
Lin and Ben drove up from their home in Longmont right after dinner and somehow a whole bottle of wine disappeared. We had a good time talking and planning what we’d all do on Saturday. Ben watched TV for a while and then at 9:30 Ben announced he was tired! Ben fell asleep on the converted dinette bed, Linnie returned home, and Jack and I watched a little TV before going to sleep.
June 23, Friday: Estes Park, CO
Ben and I dropped Jack off to play golf and then we went to the fun park. Ben enjoyed the slide (many, many times), bumper cars, bumper boats and then went down the slide a few more times.
We headed into town to get some ice cream and then on to the rock shop where he picked out a bismuth – a pretty stone with peacock colors. We returned to the RV to relax a bit, swim in the campground’s pool and have lunch. Then we went back to the fun park where Ben worked up the courage to do the huge bungee jump on a trampoline. He was really scared at first, but then decided he liked it. Ben said it was one of the best days of his life – he was so proud of himself for doing the jump.
We had to leave the fun park to pick up Jack at the golf course; otherwise I’m sure Ben would have gone down the slide a few more times. At the golf course, we took some pictures of Jack as he finished the last hole.
Linnie drove up for dinner, and we talked and walked around the RV park. They had great oldies music with dancing at the campground’s pavilion, but Jack was really tired, so we didn’t go over.
June 24, Saturday: Estes Park, CO
We all woke up early, had bacon and eggs and then Linnie drove us back over Trail Ridge Road to the west side of the park in her cute Volkswagen bug. We walked the Coyote trail where we saw lots of Elk, but no coyotes. 
We ate our picnic lunch at the edge of the meadow by Coyote Trail and then went to the ranch museum. We spent more than an hour exploring the buildings and furnishings of the ranch and then we all tried our hand at lassoing a wooden horse. Lots of fun. 
We started back over the pass with the convertible top down, but when we gained altitude, the 80 degree temperatures dropped to 42, and we froze! Three quarters of the way back, threatening rain finally made us stop and put up the top, which made Ben a lot happier. We had planned to stop at the Alpine Visitor Center at the top of Rocky Mountain National park, but it was closed because the rangers were using it as a base for a search and rescue mission.
After a cup of tea at the RV, Linnie and Ben returned home. Jack ordered a pizza for dinner which was surprisingly delivered right to the RV. After dinner, we rode out to Horseshoe meadow off Fall River Road looking for wildlife, especially a moose, but there were no animals anywhere. Signs in the area indicated that one meadow is set aside for big horn sheep along with a stretch of roadway for the sheep to cross from the cliffs to the meadow with the rangers acting as crossing guards. According to the posted signs, the crossing happens mid-day, so we’ll return one afternoon.
June 25, Sunday: Estes Park, CO
We did an easy one-mile walk around Bear Lake and then returned to the RV to do housekeeping items. An elk walked right through the campground and stopped at the stop sign long enough for me to get his picture. Had a nice ravioli dinner and played cards before going to bed. 
