Full Time RV Living at Rocky Mountain National Park

The Park Rangers and Office Staff keep telling us how they didn’t get a lot of snow pack this year. . .and how dry everything is going to be. . .so we wanted to go up into the park while there was still a lot of snow on the ground.

We headed straight for the summit. . .

They’ve been closing Trail Ridge Road off and on. . .so this guy is up on the mountain. . .ready for duty

This cow elk was boogying across the tundra. . .

about an hour’s drive to the summit. . .11,796 feet. . .where everything was still closed. . .hmmmm?

where there was plenty of snow. . .temps about 55* (not bad). . .but wind gusts at about 50 mph. . .you just couldn’t stand to be out there. . .seriously. . .

a view of Fall River Road. . .all gravel, one way road. . .from the bottom to the top. . .

a road which the Beast will never, ever travel. . .we may take a jeep tour though. . .driven by a professional. . .thank you very much!

We want to see the rest of the park. . .all the way over to Grand Lake. . .but we are thinking, that since we have all summer. . . we’ll hold off until the weather warms up a wee bit. . .cold weather folk we are not!

We have a busy Memorial Day Weekend coming up. . .park is full. . .and although we are not scheduled to work. . .of course we will pitch in. . .and our friend Brenda and hubby Jimmy are coming up from Denver to spend the weekend. . .so it’s going to be great. . .

Check us out on Janice and Dave’s FaceBook where we’ve been posting lots of awesome photos of all the amazing wildlife. . .love it!

Talk to you after the holiday. . .enjoy!

 

Full Time RV Living–Estes Park–Our Summer Home

Isn’t this a glorious, gorgeous place to live for five months. . .

we just keep walking outside saying . . .WOW!

It took some doing to get us settled in up here. . .let me tell you. 

Now we know our rig is big and heavy. . .and has very low ground clearance. . .

so that’s why we upgraded to the big truck “the BEAST”. . .

but, with all the loose gravel,

even the Beast could not back us up the hill to get us into this spot. . .

that required a fellow camp host’s 4X4. . .

thank you Terry and Becky. . .you guys are awesome! 

Dave designed us a sitting platform. . .

overlooking the mountains and the meadow below. . .

life is good!

The YMCA horseback riders come across the meadow almost daily. . .

The hummingbirds are literally everywhere. . .

and if you get between them and their feeder, they will buzz your head!

I am currently designing a feeding platform for the bluejays and the magpies. . .

and am looking forward to adding several new finds to my Birding Life List. . .

We can feed the birds, but not the wildlife. . .as that would draw the bears. . .hello!,

and we must take in the feeders at night. . .

of course the squirrels and the chipmunks can climb anything. . .

so there will be no keeping them out of the feeders. . .

as if I would try!

the mule deer wander through our camp each evening. . .

as do a flock of five wild turkeys. . .

 

It’s hard to believe we have only been here one week. . .

As you can tell we are loving every single minute. . .

and will have lots, and lots more to share. . .

 

Today, we are going over to Rocky Mountain National Park,

where we plan to do a couple of easy hikes. . .

and tomorrow. . .back to work. . .

it’s tough, but somebody’s gotta do it. . .

 

Hugs to you all,

Janice

Full Time RV TraveL: Wishing you a great day!

Full Time RV Travel: Enjoying Estes Park~Next Week We Work

 

It has been a very quiet, enjoyable week in our temporary home

at Mary’s Lake Campground in Estes Park

We arrived last Sunday. . .

It snowed most of the day Monday. . .

but warmed right back up. . .

so Wednesday we trekked to downtown Estes Park

to check out all the tourist shops before the

summer crowds arrive around Memorial Day. . .

had a great burger with a great view. . .gotta be able to tell the folks in the

campground where the good eating places are. . .

 

Yesterday and today are training days with the Larimer County Staff. . .

learning all the ins and outs of being a Camp Host. . .

 

It’s sounding pretty great so far. . .

except for the Ranger’s scenarios of doom and gloom. . .LOL!

 

They were telling all these horror stories about what to do in out of control situations. . .but did admit that 98% of the folk are just here to have a great time. . .

and only need to be reminded about the basics. . .putting away food. . .

after all, we are in bear country. . .that sort of thing. . .

 

Here’s hoping for Happy Campers. . .

‘til next time!

 

Tips and Tricks for Full Time RV Living–Following your Favorite Blogs

I follow about 60 different blogs. . .some are RV How To Blogs, 

some are friends who blog about their travels, some Ministry Blogs, 

and some are just Life in General Blogs. . .

Now, of course, everyone on every blog 

doesn’t write a post every day, or that would be overwhelming. . .

but I have a very efficient way of keeping up with them all. . .

so simple:

GOOGLE Reader. . .
but here’s the trick to making it even simpler than that. . .

GOOGLE Chrome. . .
and the Google Chrome Bookmarks Bar. . .

Open your Google Reader. . .
it’s listed on your GMail Tab on Google Chrome. . .

Click on the Tools Icon
 (on the far right side by your name) looks like a little cog. . .

Open READER SETTINGS

Open GOODIES

Scroll down til you see the NEXT icon. . .

drag it to your Google Chrome bookmarks bar. . .

Scroll down til you see the SUBSCRIBE icon. . .

drag it to your Google Chrome bookmarks bar. . .

That’s it. . .

Open one of the favorite blogs you love to read. . .

hit the subscribe button in your bookmarks bar. . .

follow the instructions. . .done!

Once you have subscribed to all your favorite blogs, 

and have them listed in your Google Reader, 

all you need to do is click on the NEXT icon in your bookmarks bar. . .

and read away. . .so much easier than looking them all up.

Hope some of this makes sense, and is helpful to someone. . .

Good luck,

From Blogger Pictures

Dave and I have lived in our RV Full Time since 2003, when we sold the house and everything in it, and have traveled fulltime since 2009. Follow our tales by signing up to follow our blog on your favorite Blog Reader, and check back often as we share the tips and tricks of living the lifestyle. Connect with us on our

 FACEBOOK Ready To Go Full Time RVing Page. . .

where you’ll meet lots of other RV’ers just like you. . .
traveling and enjoying this great adventure.

If you would like to receive our blog updates, just enter your email in the top right corner.

We respect your privacy, and never share your email address

Full Time RV Travel: Day Tripping–Colorado State Capitol and the Denver Skyline

My goal is to personally photograph all 50 State Capitol Buildings, so with that in mind we set off for

Downtown Denver this morning. . .oops, we forgot about it being Cinco de Mayo. . .traffic was bad. . .crowds were thick, but we persevered and got this awesome shot of . . .

Colorado State Capitol

In addition to wanting a photo of the Capitol. . .I also love city skylines. . .so I researched the

best place to get a good shot of the Denver skyline. . .City Park. . .so that’s where we went.

Standing on the back landing of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, we also got the

beautiful panorama of the Rocky Mountains with the Capitol Dome in the foreground. . .

My favorite skyline shot. . .

and a close up. . .there was a MS run at the park today. . .

and as a bonus. . .a few shots for my Birding Life List. . .

this Snowy Egret was having a bad hair day. . .

the Double Crested Cormorant were plentiful. . .on the shore

in the water. . .

and nesting.

gave my Peterson Field Guide a workout researching this one. . .

it’s a Black Crowned Night Heron. . .

They were also in nesting mode. . .

and of course. . .Canada Geese. . .I know, I know. . .they are everywhere,

and they are loud and messy. . .but I think they are beautiful. . .

and I want to see how many places I  can get pics of them in. . .

It was a great day. . .tomorrow we head to Estes Park to start our newest project. . .

Updates soon from our summer home. . .

Full Time RV Travel: Day Tripping: Peak to Peak Scenic Byway–Estes Park to Golden CO

The things we saw along the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway in Colorado

Just out of Estes Park, we saw elk grazing in a meadow. . .

Long’s Peak – in the center, at 14,259 feet. . .

the highest summit in Rocky Mountain National Park

Chapel on the Rock – designated a Historic Site in 1999

still snow in the mountains

Scenic views. . .

Blackhawk is a gambling town. . .

driving along the river between Blackhawk and Golden

was reminiscent of driving the canyon road

between Bozeman and West Yellowstone MT. . .

Three tunnels. . .big rig friendly. . .not sure!

Denver Skyline

The End

Other Peak to Peak Scenic Byway stories you might enjoy:

Colorado Rocky Mountain High « Our Adventure in RVing
Up the Raton pass putting New Mexico In our rear view mirror, we cross the Colorado border and wonder if Rocky Mountain “High” is caused by the thin air and lack of oxygen. Maybe the high is from the excitement of ...
Publish Date: 05/02/2012 22:10
http://ouradventureinrving.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/colorado-rocky-mountain-high/


Peak to Peak Scenic Byway | Colorado Scenic Drives on ...
The Peak to Peak Scenic Byway is Colorado's oldest Scenic Byway (designated in 1918) and travels between Longs Peak and Pikes Peak passing through the spectacular beauty of Roosevelt National Forest, Rocky Mountain National Park ...
Publish Date: 05/19/2011 1:28
http://www.myscenicdrives.com/drives/colorado/peak-to-peak-scenic-byway

Full Time RV Travel: Garden of the Gods & Pike’s Peak ~Colorado Springs

After our hike at Seven Falls. . .

we were too pooped to do anything more than. . .

drive over to the Garden of the God's Visitor Center. . .

stand on their balcony, and take this gorgeous photo

of Pike’s Peak, with Garden of the Gods in the foreground. . .

Twenty four years ago the boys enjoyed 

exploring every inch of Garden of the Gods. . .

and we took the cog railroad to the summit 

of Pike’s Peak. . .where it was snowing. . .we all loved it!

Full Time RV Travel: Seven Falls Colorado Springs CO

 

Although you can’t really tell it by looking at the pics. . .

there really are seven distinct and separate waterfalls. . .

each one as beautiful as the last. . .

but the only true way to see each and every one of them distinctively

is to climb the two staircases like this one, totaling 224 steps. . .

I heard one of the guys telling someone that when you get

short winded. . .don’t stop. ..cause then your legs will freeze up. . .

great huh. . .I climbed 10 steps. . .rested. . .10 steps. . .rested. . .

and so on, and so forth. . .of course I pretended to be reading

the signs about each waterfall. . .hey, whatever works!

I love, love, love this horsetail fall, with the pool at the bottom. . .

You know how you always read in those historical romances. . .

(I mean novels) about bathing under the waterfall. . .

can’t you just imagine that happening here?  So beautiful. . .

So. . .as if climbing 224 stairs straight up wasn’t enough. . .

we decided to hike an additional mile and 400 more feet in elevation. . .

to Inspiration Point. . .

This was the trail. . .

catching our breath. . .

love these granite outcroppings. . .

our first view of Colorado Springs

from the summit.

and with the zoom. . .so beautiful. . .and so worth it!

Yes I plan to make many more hikes like this during the

summer we spend in the Rocky Mountains. . .wish me luck!