Colorado 2011 - Days 12 thru 18

Okay, so. I started out strong and then fell apart in keeping this up to date!

Day 12: We all ate breakfast at the Egg and I and then Schers went home to get ready for work. Joan and I shopped town starting at one of the quilt shops here. Then we went to Lyons to the quilt shop there. Good gravy! Such a big quilt shop in such a small town! Then we had lunch in Lyons before heading back to Estes Park.

Day 13: Joan was going to head back to Denver today but didn't need to leave until 1 or so. We went into the park to take some pictures of some white poppies that we had seen. And stopped to take some pictures of the stream too. Then we had a picnic at Sprague Lake before she headed home. It had been a great visit with Joan!




Day 14: Been so busy that Breck and I decided to take it easy. Really didn't do much. Breck was happy with the dog park and a few walks and I was happy with some down time and my book and my computer. When Schers got off work at 3:30 we went geocaching. found quite a few.



Day 15: Pretty much a repeat of day 14. Though i did drive down Big Thompson Canyon to find some more rocks to take home for my rock garden extension and for Kathe! Cane home through Glen Haven - I had never driven up that road and it was really nice. Follows a nice stream and there are lots of places to stop and enjoy!

Day 16: Another day of rest and relaxation...dog park...walks...drive though the park...readin...computing...geocaching! All in all very nice. resting up for the hike Scherry and I are taking tomorrow on her day off.

Day 17: I picked Scherry up at 8 and we headed up to Bear Lake where we would start our hike. We headed out on the trail to Lake Haiyaha. The name means "big rocks" and once you get to the lake you can see why. The hike is about 2 and a half miles with about an 800 foot elevation gain. We went by Nymph Lake and Dream Lake and then really headed uphill!! Once we got out of the forest we could see all the way down to Estes park - an amazing view. We could see Nymph, Bear, and Sprague Lakes. We could even see the indentation that would be Bierstadt lake - we just couldn't see the lake. We crossed some beautiful streams and saw great wild flowers. Then when we got close to the lake we had to scrmble over huge bolders! We felt kind of like mountain goats! It was a beautiful spot. We ate our lunch on a boulder by the lake and then headed back down. We had beautiful weather and it was a great day!







Day 18: Today I took Breckers to the dog park for his last time swimming in Lake Estes! What a happy dog he is to get to swim in such a nice cold lake! He loves it!! Then I stopped by the office to see if I could move my motorhome to a pull through so that I could hook up my car this evening and be ready to head out early tomorrow to return to the HEAT! They found a spot for me so Schers came over and we were able to get the slide in (Thank Heavens!) and I moved to a pull through and rehooked up. Then Schers and I headed to Boulder where we were going to meet up with 4 other college and sorority friends - Joan, Cheryl, Jeanne, and Marsha - 3 of whom Scherry had not seen in 40+ years (one of whom I had not seen since graduation in 1968!). We met at REI and then went to Chatauqua for lunch. It was a great place and we really had a great time. It was a lot of fun to connect with old friends!



This ends this section of the blog. I will be back in september from the New England cruise.

Colorado 2011 - Days 10 & 11

Joan arrived on Monday. It was good to see her. We decided to see if we could catch the sheep down at Sheep Lakes. We packed lunches for a picnic and headed out. No sheep. So we headed down to Endo Valley for our picnoc. It actually did not rain on us thought it looked a little threatening at times. Then we headed up Old Fall River Road which had just opened the day before. We stopped at Chasm Falls which were really roaring. It started raining on us which made Schers a nervous wreck - Old Fall River road is a one way dirt road which goes up to the top and connects with Trail Ridge Road. Up at the top we went into the visitor center to shop. We saw a momma marmot and two little ones outside the window. They were great. The little ones were just playing and mom was just watching over them. When we came back down Trail Ridge Road we checked on the sheep again but no luck. Then we ate dinner at Poppy's. All in all a good day!







Tuesday we headed out to Indian Peaks Wilderness Area to take a hike to Mitchell and Blue Lakes. It was a 6 mile round trip with 800 feet elevation gain. It was a great hike BUT next time we hope to do it without the RAIN! It was really a beautiful spot - great streams and mountains and lakes. But we didn't get to stay up at Blue Lake for a picnic as we had hoped - it was raining pretty hard when we got up there so we just took our pictures and headed back down. I fell twice on this hike - what a clutz! Once I tripped over a log and then on the way down I slipped on a wet rock! Glad I was able to get up and keep going both times!! Always feels good to know I can get up when I fall down with no perminent damage! We got home from the hike - took hot showers - and met over at Scherry's house for a cookout. We grilled steaks and had baked potatoes. It was a great dinner - Breck was happy too - he even got a steak bone to munch!! All in all a wonderful day - in spite of the rain! In bed and asleep by 9!