Estes Park Colorado

Friday, July 22

We've made it.

Our 2200+ mile Journey West is over because we're here.  We left Beaufort 2 weeks ago and have had a nice journey, but being here is what it's all about.

There are hundreds of wind turbines across Kansas and Colorado

The high plains of Colorado

As we drove across eastern Colorado, the Rockies began to grow.

We arrived mid-afternoon at Elk Meadow Lodge and RV Resort in Estes Park.  We were scheduled to stay in the overflow camping area, but we found on arrival that there had been a cancellation and we're on a full hook-up site.  We're surrounded by beautiful mountain in every direction.

The high temperature today was around 83 degrees here and the low tonight the low is in the 50's.  Quite a dramatic change from yesterday.  We're at an elevation of around 7,500 feet.

Our home for the next couple of days

Soon after arrival, I contacted Kent and tonight we had dinner at a local restaurant with he, Betty and their three grandchildren.  It was great to see them again.

Kent and I go back over 30 years.  We met when Slade went to a small YMCA Camp in Canton, NC (Camp Hope) and Kent was the director of the camp.  I found out that he was a former KC-135 navigator and soon he and I joined the USAF Reserve as Civil Air Patrol Liaison Officers in Asheville.  Eventually, Kent became director of Camp Chief Ouray at YMCA of the Rockies - Snow Mountain Ranch, a part of YMCA of the Rockies.  Kent progressed from director of the camp to eventually becoming CEO of YMCA of the Rockies, which consist of Snow Mountain Ranch on the South side of Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park on the Eastern entry to the National Park.  www.ymcarockies.org

We're looking forward to an evening without having to run the air conditioners. We may even have to cut the heat on.

Saturday, July 23

Today we have started to enjoy being here.  After a comfortable night (we did not have to cut the heat on, but we really pulled the covers up), I got up early and went to the pool at Estes Park.  We're around 7,600 feet, and the air doesn't have quite enough oxygen.  I struggled a bit with swimming a mile today.

Later in the morning we took a road trip on the Peak to Peak National Scenic Byway which starts here in Estes Park.  It was a nice relaxing drive and great scenery.

We saw lots of bicycle drivers on the road.  We stayed behind the group for a few miles so that we too could enjoy the slow ride and beautiful scenery.

About 15 miles out of town, we stopped at The Old Gallery in Allenspark .  We learned that the local folks in community are doing a musical today and tomorrow, so we bought tickets for tomorrow afternoon's show.

This afternoon we went to Kent and Betty's house for a nice afternoon catching up on all that's been happening and to have dinner with them.

While there, we had a family of deer feeding in the yard.  They say this is quite common and they've also had elk strolling around the yard.

 I think he likes having the deer in the yard because they keep the grass short.  Cuts down on mowing (which there isn't a lot of done around here)

In front of their house.  Note:  Kent and Betty are now RVer's

We left their home about 1 1/2 hours before sunset, so we decided to ride up Trail Ridge Road into the Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was a great time to go.  Not only is it a great time to take pictures, there also isn't much traffic.  We stopped and watched the sunset at an overlook at 11,300 feet, then turned around and came back home.

Above the tree line in Rocky Mountain National Park

While I was on the top of the mountain taking pictures, this couple came up with what I think is their wedding photographer.  The photographer placed them on a rock and the pictures she was taking were sillowetts like this - a beautiful setting.  However, the temperature was 55 degrees and the wind blowing about 20 mph.  It was cold!!!

Quite a bit of snow on the North and Eastern slopes

Sunday, July 24

Today was moving day.  We moved from Elk Meadow about two miles to a nicer park run by the city.  As I mentioned earlier, we were lucky to get into any park this time of year.  Estes Park is filled to the brim.  I guess people down the mountain are as tired of the heat, as we were.

Our new home for three days

After moving and getting set up, we took off for the show we had bought tickets for yesterday.

We are always amazed at the talent that we see in shows like this one as we travel around the country.  The actors/singers in this performance were as good as any we've ever seen.  And many of them are from the local area around Allenspark, Colorado.  (I'd never heard of the place, and I'm not sure that it even exists.  If it does, it must be pretty small because we couldn't find it).

The performance today was entitled "Some Enchanted Evening", the songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein.  And it was great!!

These two young girls were the hit of the show.

And "The Old Gallery" is hard to describe.  Per their own story:  "The Old Gallery's mission is to provide the resources and opportunities to enrich our mountain communities.  The mission is achieved through our diverse programs:  Basic Human Services for people in need, Visual and Performing Arts; Wellness activities; Community Events, Education, and Visitor information".

Some of the activities include twice-monthly food bank distribution, a dedicated for the Community Clothes Closet (for needy families), an art gallery with art and crafts by local artists for sale, counseling, massage therapy, yoga and exercise classes and more.

And it's all operated by a non-profit group.  www.theoldgallery.org.

After the 20 mile drive back to Estes Park, we strolled main street and then went to dinner at a fabulous restaurant (the kind we should have gone to for our 50th wedding anniversary.  But, seeing as we're going to be celebrating for the next month, this one counts.)

The views from the grounds of the restaurant are breath taking.

Monday, July 25

Tonight Kent and Betty came over to have dinner with us.  We fed them some good Carteret County shrimp we had bought with us.  I'd bet that not much Carteret County shrimp makes to Estes Park.

It's always great to be able to spend some time with Kent and Betty.  As we rehash the"old" days from the 1980's and the things and circumstances that we went through together, I begin to think I might be getting old.  We've known them since Slade was a teenager.

Tuesday, July 26

Clara was rarin' to go this morning, so after a swim at the Y, we took off for some hiking.  We picked a beautiful trail around Lily Lake a few miles from here.  That's the first hiking we've done in a long time, and we did pretty doggone good to be hiking up and down mountains at 8,000 feet.  It is an overcast day and the temperatures were perfect for the hike.

We took the Lily Ridge Trail

Clara became fascinated by the weathered old wood laying around the trail.  She found a small stump that just had to be hers.  I told her that we were in a National Park and I didn't think we should be taking wood out of the park.  But she insisted (I wasn't going to jail with her).  Well, we made it back to the car with the wood with no problem, and now I'll be taking a piece of a stump with me for the next 3 or 4 thousand miles.  I'm sure it's worth it!!!!

8843 feet above sea level - the oxygen gets a little thin!

Our hike started beside the lake way down there!

Someone had taken the time to stack a lot of rocks (which would normally symbolize a trail marking) 

This afternoon I got caught up on the details for the rest of the trip.  After some checking, I found that I had not received a confirmation of reservations for our night in Silverton, Colorado.  A couple of phone calls and I found that the RV parks reservation system wasn't working when I made my reservations back in March.  A moment of panic!!  But they worked us in.  Thankfully.  Otherwise I don't know where we would have stayed.

Clara and I have come to the conclusion that we won't be making any more trips of this nature in the summer months.  Everywhere we go it is crowded (because we're going to the best places).  We're not use to the big crowds because we've only traveled out West in the off season.  I guess we're spoiled.  But having our family with us will make it worthwhile.

A Journey West - Phase 2

Sunday, July 17, 2016

From Beaufort NC to Hot Springs, Arkansas

Hot Springs Ark to Estes Park, Colorado

Fort Chaffee, Arkansas to Keystone, Oklahoma

Happy 50th wedding anniversary!!  50 years ago today, we were married in Beaufort, North Carolina.

Today, we officially celebrate, but we're really going to celebrate after the whole family gets together later this month out West somewhere.  That way, it will be more of a celebration.

Today we drove into Oklahoma and are staying at Keystone State Park a few miles West of Tulsa.  There isn't much close by, especially for celebrating.  However, we did manage to find a Mexican restaurant about 15 minutes away.  And besides, Clara really like Mexican food.

This afternoon I swam for about 45 minutes in the lake.  All the lakes I have swam in before have been greenish, but this one is reddish-green, and the visibility in the water is about 6 inches.  But the water was refreshing and I really needed the workout.

Two ducks leaving a wake

The park we're staying in is right next to a huge marina.  I guess there are at least 300-400 boats in the covered docks.  This would be a good place for anyone looking to buy a used freshwater boat.

This is about 1/3 of the boat docks at the marina

Monday, July 18 - Wednesday, July 20

North to Wichita, Kansas.

We're dropping by Wichita to see Tony and Jill.  They've sold their home here and are in the process of packing up to move to Florida.

Oh! It's hot here.

It's starting to cool off a little

We had dinner with Jill (Tony is out of town and returns tonight) and as usual, Clara and Jill are talking a lot.

We've had three great days here visiting with Tony and Jill.  This is the last time we'll be visiting them in Wichita.

McConnell Air Force Base is a very active place, with refueling tankers, KC 135's and KC-10's taking off and landing all times of day and night.

Thursday, July 21

Today (actually, you could say tomorrow), we end our Journey West.  We'll be there!!  Tomorrow night if all goes as planned, we'll be in Estes Park Colorado.

As I started looking for a place to stay when we got to Colorado this weekend, I found that every RV Park is full.  Must be a weekend!!!!  Anyway, I finally found an overflow spot in a campground in Estes Park, and seeing as we already had reservations there for Sunday until Wednesday, I decided a couple of extra days in Estes Park wouldn't be too bad.

Tonight we're in Goodland, Kansas at a commercial campground (KOA).  This is only the second commercial campground we've been in since we left home.  This one is okay, but it's not as good as the State Parks and Military bases.  At least it has 50 amp electric service, so all three air conditioners are running hard.  It was 102 degrees here today.

After arrival, I took the bike off the rack and rode around town a bit.  There's a museum down the street and I found it interesting.

High Plains Museum (and a buffalo)

As I was riding around town, I found a parking lot on main street filled with these old cars.  I guess someone is planning to restore them, or maybe they're for sale.  This is only half of them.

This 80 foot high painting is at the town entry.  It is a copy of a van Gogh painting.  This is a Rotary Club project.