Jim and I took a day trip first heading to Boulder, CO. Along the way we passed the National Oceanographic Atmosphere Administration (NOAA), National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and NASA. The center reminded me of Microsoft headquarters. Also in Boulder is the University of Colorado, reminding me of the UW. Boulder is a cool city with tree-lined streets, brick houses, and lots of young students and techies riding bikes everywhere.
We drove on up to Estes Park (below), a quaint, small, touristy town located at the base of RMNP. We stopped for lunch at a sidewalk cafe and enjoyed the scenery.
The Rocky Mountain Lodge was a perfect pit stop before entering the park.
There are two roads to the top. We took the back road thinking we would see more interesting territory. We did! There were others who apparently felt the same way. It was actually a well kept dirt road for a nine mile stretch to the top.
We saw the same things sometimes twice because of all the switch backs. The snow markers on the road were approximately 12 feet tall.
We made our way up to an elevation of 12,213 feet above sea level, above the tree line.
We had almost reached to lodge on top when we came around a corner in the road and spotted these bulls. These beautiful animals are well protected in the park and could have cared less that we were there. Check out them racks!!
At Alpine Visitor Center, we're not quite at the top.
There was still patches of snow left so I imagine it gets mighty cold at night in them there mountains.
We drove about 200 miles this day and have 100s of additional photos if your interested. The skies and mountains are magnificent! If you ever have the opportunity to visit CO, I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.
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