Day 8-Over the Mountain

We pulled into our camp at way past

dark thirty on a stormy night.

It was a nice surprise to see the view in the morning.

Steve cleaned a layer of dust off the Jeep.
We were surrounded by mountains and a beautiful lake.
Our bus. The sad part...you could tell where
the trees had to be clear cut from the pine beetle.
It's hard to grasp when you see all the dead, cut, or
dying trees that a little bug did it.
Colorado has been hit hard.
The brown trees are the ones that are affected.
We are towing the Jeep as we head into
Rocky Mountain National Park.
That makes for sixty plus feet of us in length.
Here Steve studies the map.
We entered on the west side of the park and just had
to take that road over the mountain...
the one with all the switch backs and curves.
Nothing to it.
It started off flat with construction on a tight road.

First animal inside the park!
An Elk!
Ok, so there were twenty cars,

we knew to look.
I'm having Yellowstone flashbacks.

Sad.

"Timberline" campground.
Beetle got the trees...so not so much timber.

YEA! One lane and a curve going uphill.
I felt like we were on an extreme test track for Wanderlodge.

Still one lane...at least it was on the inside this time.

Louie was stressed out.
Kept jumping from one spot to the next.

Soso just played with Moose and Mickey.

I think she liked us chanting,

"I think I can, I think I can!"

Went over continental divide.

This is where we are so high that the trees don't

grow...Alpine.

Self-timer with Louie as we cross the mountain.
He was on point for something.

The road felt really tight...
stress...

the right side was straight down to forever...
breath holding type deal.
Lots of beautiful snow up here.

This was an interesting moment...
The RV coming up was going to reach the tight turn
at the same moment.
Steve handled it like a champ.

I'm thinking this guy is...riding up on a bike...

good for him.

Glad not me.

I call this threading the needle...

When we reached the east side of the mountain,
there were storms building.

Nice thing about the park...up close to the animals.
No fences.

We made it over in the bus-

no break downs, overheats.
Not saying I ever...ever want to do that again.

Since we were laughed at at the campgrounds inside the park...
"No reservations?! HA! HA! HA!"
(That's how I heard it between the "I'm sorry" anyway

SIX months before you have to make reservations...)
We ended up right outside in Estes Park, CO.
It's the Gatlinburg of the Rockies...
we can handle one day of that noise and crowd.

It is cute with a main drag of shops to shop.

After we checked into the KOA,

we went back into the park.

Elk in your face.

A happy little Clark's Nutcracker

at an overlook stop.
(I love the click heals stop action I have going here)

Huge score for me-

marmot!

We drove all the way back to the top in the Jeep.
Trying to have dinner at the little cafe...that closed at 5pm.
Write that down.
So, we headed back down and enjoyed the views.

Goal to reach the bottom before dark-we made it!

Group shot
(Steve is freezing here. Soso & I have jackets on...)

Majestic sunset.