ROCKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

This is where we are headed - Rocky Mountains
Getting closer
The destination - and the highest continuous highway in the US
No Kidding.. STOP !!!
Snow in the higher elevations

At it's highest point the winding and switchback turns of the Rocky Mountain Trail Ridge Road is 12,183 feet. We did not get that high but we did get over 11,000 feet. The grade is never over 7% so as far as steepness of the road it was never hairy...however, the road did not have guard rails and on one side would be straight up mountainside and the other side a straight down drop. Yikes. Jack did not like that part at all.

The drive to this location took us through bustling Boulder, Colorado where some big event was happening. Bumper to bumper traffic for about 3 miles. Once beyond Boulder we were in the foothills with flat flat "Front Range" on our right and the Rocky Mountains to our left. No gradual up sloping - flat then mountains. The road to Estes Park was fun and beautiful. We took nearly 200 pictures and haven't finished sorting yet. Craggy rock is a good description of the Rocky Mountains. B I G and spectacular. Being up so high was fun and the scenery amazing. We did get to above tree line into the alpine tundra and it was at that point that I could understand the spell bounding beauty of rocks described by Craig Mortenson in his book "Three Cups Of Tea". Back in VT, Mount Mansfield has some alpine tundra areas but nothing at all compared to these Rocky Mountains... fields and fields of this beautiful high tundra and craggy rock made for spectacular scenery...allbeit...scaring the pants off Jack. The only wildlife we saw was a chipmunk being fed peanuts by some kids and a beautiful black bird with red and white markings. Once back down to the 7,222 elevation of Estes Park we felt pretty good. The town of Estes is adorable, old west style, lots of shops and restaurants and touristy things. We met a man (73 years old) in the visitor center who moved there from Kansas 13 years ago. He and his wife went on vacation there and loved the beauty of the area so much they up and moved. He loves it. While on the Trail Ridge Road we met a family from Colchester,VT! Their children are checking out colleges in Colorado and were doing some sightseeing. The wife works in Denver commuting from VT, the husband lives and works in Colchester and stays with the kids. I didn't quite get her work week, but they seem happy with the arrangement.

We drove to Thornton to visit with Joy and Jane and Rob before heading back to Denver. Once back in Denver, we were hungry so stopped at the Applebees near our apartment and, you guessed it, another transplant from VT to Colorado. Morgan grew up in Montpelier and came to vet school somewhere near Denver. She is still in school and has decided to stay and live in this area....reason...."the weather is so awesome"!! Our first real sightseeing day was fun and we did see some spectacular sights.

Love to all the family

Grace and Peace

We had an awesome day