It's over, it's all over

Well, this trip is pretty much a wrap. We just returned the SilverCar after two good weeks and the Audi attendant was nice enough to drive us to our hotel near the airport.  Flight at 7am, so leaving hotel at 5.  Ouch.

I think the highlight of the day was our dinner - we checked TripAdvisor and found a place called the Golden Wok in Aurora.  I can't believe I'm typing this, but it was worth the near 20 mile drive each way to eat.  Soup, Pu Pu Platter to share, and 2 huge dishes with rice. Mmm...but that sure was a lot of food.

Earlier in the day, we hit El Dorado Canyon State Park for our final outdoor adventure. It was near Boulder and picturesque. It's a rough comparison with RMNP, but isn't everything?  We got in a good hike for our last outdoor adventure of the trip.  A nice park overall.

We then had a couple of hours to kill before checking in to our final resting place (no, not that one), so we drove towards Denver.  Saw the sign for Coors field, so exited the highway and drove up. Unfortunately, tours for the day were already sold out and there was a baseball game, but not until 6pm.  We next decided to check out Union Station.  It was bustling with activity.  Lots of places to dine and things to do to kill time waiting for your train, I guess.  Also, the weekly farmer's market was right outside, so we did some light sampling and checked out the goods.  Didn't buy anything, as most of it was produce and not ideal for a cross-country flight.  This ends the Denver portion of the trip.

We had a really good time this past two weeks.  Back to the salt mines soon.

5 lakes and a waterfall

Today was a big hiking day. We only hiked officially about 5.2 miles, but in total, walked over 8 miles today. We got up early to beat the crowds to the trails, which turned out to be prescient, as by the time we completed our first loop, the trails were packed. We had a bit of a rough night with crazy thunderstorms and the forecast today called for more starting by noon and lasting all afternoon; so getting out early was a goal.

We drove down to Bear Lake, arriving around 7:45am with the intent to see three other nearby lakes. There is 1.6 mile (one-way) trip from Bear Lake that took us past Nymph Lake, then onto Dream Lake, finally ending at Emerald Lake. All were nice in their own right. We hit Nymph pretty fast and pretty early. It was calm and quiet and full of lily pads. Dream was substantially bigger and still pretty quiet and gorgeous when we got there. Emerald was freaky cold. It was super windy and cool there, but only walking back 20-30 yards on the trail it really warmed up. Mountain views from the glacier-fed lake were spectacular.

After the lakes, we made our way to Alberta Falls, at a round-trip, of about 2 miles.  It was really super packed.  And several young people were doing some relatively crazy s&^t here and crossing over the falls, climbing the slippery rocks, and generally goofing around.  I promptly told the young whipper snappers to "GET OFF MY LAWN"!  (not really, but were tempted to lecture the numb skulls)

When we got back, we took in the views at Bear Lake and tried to relax, but alas all of the families and kids swarmed us like bees.  We don't like bees, nor did we enjoy all of the kids screaming and yelling, destroying the tranquility of a beautiful lake.  In search of a calmer experience, we drove up to Sprague Lake, which definitely was quieter.  But the views weren't great, it was getting cooler (winding towards rain), and so we only stayed there a few minutes.

To end the day, we drove into Estes Park and checked out a couple local shops. We did get some tasty fudge at Laura's and while we saw some cool art, pictures, and mugs, we restrained ourself from more purchases.

Back to the crib for dinner and resting.  Boulder is the last stop on our journey and we've only got 2 days left (imagine baby crying now).

*** A little later, back at the crib***
We are sitting in our sweet little kitchenette having some leftover pasta when Brian suddenly notices this:

Something old, something new

Today was a day to shift from the West side of RMNP over to the East, moving from the Grand Lake area to the Estes Park side.  We ended at Aspen Winds - a nice set of condos; our condo was equipped with a full kitchen and laundry, amongst the usual bed/bath/living room.  This was welcome, as we've now been traveling for about 10 days and Brian (especially) was tiring of the restaurant life. Plus, we needed to wash some clothes. We hit Safeway, got some groceries, and had a home-cooked meal for the first time in a while.

Our journey across the park was pretty spectacular.  The drive itself was harrowing at times and fun at others, but the Alpine region of the park is always amazing.  While the visitor center is closed for now and not set to open until 2018, we still were able to stop several times in the tundra and see both incredible views and a couple of creatures.

Oh...yeah...and before we even made it to the "top of the world", we stopped, on a whim, at Lake Irene.  It was a nice, little lake, only a stones throw from the parking lot.  We heard some rumblings of wildlife at the lake and sure enough, the second the lake was in our view, a couple of moose appeared.  They were munching away on something on the far side of the lake (from Brian, as Susan approached them from their side, but still at a safe distance).  That was cool.  I think we saw more animals this year in 2 days than our entire trip in 2014.

During our last foray into RMNP, we also checked out the Tundra and did much of the same.  It was still special.  But, today, our stop at Lake Irene was new and also well worth it.

Nice day.

A very long, but good day

Today was long.  Very long.  Super tired at the end of the day.  The "happy hour" $2.50 whisky drink didn't help.  It was STRONG.

Anyway, we got the day started with an early morning hike to Adams Falls which was just a few miles from the lodge.  An easy 2 mile round trip.  Falls were nice, but not spectacular.  We proceeded past them to a large meadow.  We saw a moose out in the distance.  Got some pictures.  Then it charged us.  Not really us, per se, but it charged right past us.  Passed maybe 10 feet in front of us on the trail, as it high-tailed up the mountain. Wild (haha) stuff.

We then decided to hit the amazing lakes nearby in a 2 person kayak.  Super fun.  We got the boat around 10:40am and had an hour to explore. Made it from Grand Lake into Shadow Lake and back. Super calm waters and quite nice.

After a short nap, we headed for RMNP.  As usual, it didn't disappoint. This park is amazing - so much so that I tend to get desensitized to the beauty quickly.  Anyway, we did a couple of short hikes in the park, knowing we'd be back for the next couple of days for more adventures.  A hail storm cut short our day in the park and we went back to the lodge for the happy hour drinks.

We decided to check out Grand Pizza for dinner, as Brian had a hankering.  Tuesday night.  Super, stupid busy.  Got there at 7:15 and didn't have pizza until 8:30. We did get to watch a hummingbird swarm (see video links) while we waited.

Off to bed. What a long day.