Full Time RV Travel–Rocky Mountain National Park with the Grandaughter

Catching up on the blog. . .

it’s hard to believe it’s only been a month since we did this gorgeous hike. . .

Not really being an outdoor, nature girl,

we were concerned about taking Bree

hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. . .

She seemed to love every minute of it. . .

hiking with her Pa. . .

hiking with me. . .

Enjoying the view. . .

Posing for pics. . .

crossing the river. . .

the REWARD. . .

more pics: Alberta Falls Album

It was a glorious hike. . .so worth it!

Full Time RV Travel–Rocky Mountain Land Cruiser Tour

Old Fall River Road in Rocky Mountain National Park

is gravel, and is only open two months of the year. . .

we’ve wanted to do the Top of the World Tour since we got here,

and it finally happened this week when

Dave’s bub & sis in law arrived from Fort Worth. . .

If you drive the paved road, Trail Ridge Road,

you will drive 21 miles from Estes Park to the

summit in Rocky Mountain National Park. . .

If you drive the gravel, Old Fall River Road,

visible in the right hand side of the pic,

you will travel 11 miles from

Estes Park to the Summit. . .

You will travel around 23 switchbacks,

and get up close and personal with the dropoffs. . .

(yes, that is the guardrail right there)

a very good reason in my book to

take a tour and let the experts do the driving. . .

At our very first stop, the Alluvial Fan Waterfall

our tour guide, Alex, opened the hood

on the monster, and entertained the guys. . .

it was all greek to me. . .gear ratios. . .torque. . .yada, yada, yada. . .whatever!  LOL. . .

as close as you can get to the remaining snowfields without hiking. . .

Alex said he had lived in this area his entire life. . .

and he has never seen the snowfields completely disappear. . .but. . .

because the snow pack was so light this past winter, these last few

snowfields will probably completely melt away. . .

that will be sad, because the snow on the mountain peaks

is really what makes them so stunningly beautiful. . .

a Marmot was out sunning on a rock. . .

he stayed put just long enough to get a shot of him. . .

They hibernate 8 months of the year. . .

so they try to triple their body weight in the four months of summer. . .

More gorgeous views and family pics. . .Brenda and I are the only original in-laws. . .

so we gotta get our shots together whenever possible. . .

our hubby’s did good, didn’t they?  Lucky guys!

We had a great day in the park. . .and lots more fun later in the week. . .

More pics and posts later. . .

The END!

Full Time RV Living ~ Thank Goodness for Company

ugggghhhhhh. . .I’m BORED!  Now there’s a statement you won’t hear very often coming from me. . .life’s just too short, and too precious not to make the most of every moment. . .however. . .we are in a bit of a holding pattern here. . .so we wait!

 

Thankfully, we had company this past week which added a little excitement to the mix. . .

My awesome oldest brother (who’s still younger than me) talked my Dad into going on a road trip with him.  I’m still not sure how he accomplished that amazing feat. . .but once he got Dad in that truck. . .there was NO backing out. . .

Dad was all aquiver by the time they made it to Colorado. . .he had seen so many amazing things!  Since Louis’ mission was to deliver an air conditioning unit to an oil rig in North Dakota. . .they stopped by St Louis and saw the Arch. . .Dad kept asking when they were going to get to the “golden arches”. . .ummmm. . .wrong one Dad. . .LOL!

 

Since they were stopping by Mt Rushmore. . .I talked Louis (by phone) into driving the Needles Highway. . .Dad loved it. . .there’s nothing like that moment in time as you’re coming through that tunnel. . .and the entire panorama of Mt Rushmore is there in all it’s glory. . .breath taking!

 

After finishing business in North Dakota, they made a quick. . .and I mean a one day quick drive by pass through Yellowstone. . .with a stop to see Old Faithful in action.  No matter how many times you see it happen on a video. . .there’s nothing like the real life experience. . .hearing the sounds. . .smelling the sulphur. . .feeling the spray. . .

 

Knowing they only had one full day with us here. . .we wanted to cram in as much as possible. . .so of course we needed them to see our original reason for being here. . .Estes Park!  So a quick drive up to East Portal Campground to view our old stomping grounds where we volunteered for ten weeks. . .and to show my brother “the fix.”  He’s the smartest man I know about stuff like that. . .yep. . .we were right. . .can’t run 10 gauge wire 200 feet and expect to still have 30 amps.   Okay. . .now a “professional” has validated our decision. . .good to know!

 

A quick drive out the Peak to Peak Scenic byway to Lily Lake. . .

and a group pose with Long’s Peak in the background. . .

See the camera in Dad’s hand. . .he ‘bout wore it out. . .

Louis downloaded that memory card at least ten times. . .

digital cameras are the most awesome invention ever!!

On to Rocky Mountain National Park. . .Dad was worn out. . .

but he had a really, really great time. . .

and a perfect ending to the day. . .

a huge herd of elk on Bear Lake Road!

Thanks Bub for creating wonderful memories. . .you’re the best!

 

This Monday, Dave’s oldest brother Curtis and our beautiful

sister by law, Brenda, will be here. . .so next week should be hopping. . .yaaaa!

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