Rocky Mountain High...We Were Really High!

Utah to Denver was a bit of a bumpy and hilly ride so we stopped for a night in Silt, CO to break up the drive. Our RV park was just outside Glenwood Springs and our campsite was right on the Colorado River. We were tired from three weeks of non-stop National Parking, The 3 Utah National Parks caught up to us so we just chilled for the next couple days/nights.

Our first full day in Denver we did Brad's third favorite thing in the world to-do and that is a visit to the Capitol building. It was golden. Literally, the place had gold everywhere taking full advantage of one of the state's most precious natural resources. The other cool part of our visit was that they gave us complete access. We were able to enter the Senate and House Chambers which is always neat.

The day before driving around town we saw a huge Blue Moon sign. It was a development and research Blue Moon Brewery. We had no idea before our visit that ironically Blue Moon started at Coors Field in Denver. We had a few beers we never knew Blue Moon even brewed. Kathy had a Lemondrop Pilsner along with a proverbial Belgian White and Brad had a Luna Azul Baja Lager and an Orange Blossom Honey Kolsch. Our awesome bartender steered us in the right direction on our beer selection and happy hour picks. Plus, he was a big time Broncos and Rockies fans so Brad and him hit it off. He also helped us pick our seats for the Rockie's baseball game the next day.

The next day was pretty action-packed. First thing we did was visit the world famous Red Rock Amphitheater, Billed as "One of the Greatest Entertainment Venues in the World" it was awesome to be able to go. There was some electronic show that night which we had no interest in going to and Jackson Brown was playing that Sunday who we've seen at the Oakdale. So, we just wanted to tour the venue and tour we did. They had a Red Rocks Performer Hall of Fame, plaques for every performer for every year there were shows at Red Rocks...ever, along with a Visitor Center and Cafe.

The only bummer was we couldn't get down to the performance area space since they were readying for a show that night. It was a historic visit.

After Red Rocks, we checked out Buffalo Bills gravesite. One of Brad's Bloomberg friends recommended we go. Thanks Toddly, it worked out just fine. Meanwhile, while we were at Red Rocks, Brad was texting with some of his Bloomsburg Buddies and was told the Revivalists played there four times. The Revivalists Saxophone Player is Brad's Bloom Buddy Rick Menniti's Son-In-Law's Band. Impressive! Check them out!

Brad's second favorite thing to do is to watch sports so Kathy threw him a bone and we went to see a Colorado Rockies baseball game that night. They were playing San Diego who was competing for a Wild Card Playoff spot with the Phils so Brad had a vested interest. We had Elk Sausage and Blue Moons along with Smashburgers and Bratwurst for dinner there. Unfortunately, Kathy didn't feel well so we left only after the fourth inning. The goof was, the game went into extra innings and The Rockies won. Yay Rockies! And, Kathy felt better the next day which was awesome..

Pearl Street Mall was a cool place to hang out the next day. It wasn't a Mall like we would picture a Mall on the East Coast it was a series of streets with restaurants, shoppes, bars and things. It had a cool vibe to it. We shopped and ate Sushi at Hapa (which was really good) and Geko for Ramen for dinner. Yes, we bought that coffee (below), but it wasn't that strong, and, Brad hit the candy store and got a bag and a half of stuff.

Our next Rocky Mountain High stop was to Rocky Mountain National Park. We stayed at a Yogi Bear Yellowstone RV Park in Estes, CO. The park had a mini-golf course, game room, playground and bounce house and we didn't use any of them. For us, the best amenity to this park was it's close proximity to the National Park. It was only 15-20 minutes away.

The first day we had a reservation for a 3pm arrival to the park. yes, we had to reserve in advance. We went in through the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center entrance and stopped there to get our national park passport book stamped and talk to the Rangers there. We went to Beaver Meadows to start. It should have been called Elk City. There were herds of Elk in three or four separate areas. It was pretty cool to see so much wildlife in such a short period of time.

After driving around Beaver Meadows we headed toward Bear Lake. This part of the park is open to all traffic after 6PM without a reservation. We stopped at Sprague Lake which was scenic and a short mile hike through. We learned that the lake was named after Mr Sprague because prior to this space being part of the national park system he ran the lakeside area as a tourist attraction. It was a vacation destination for many.

It was starting to get dark out so we called it a day. We went back to the Coach, had dinner, played 500 Gin Rummy, and planned our route for the next day's visit.

Now we know why this National Park is called Rocky Mountain. There are a lot of rocks in them-there mountains. The next day we entered the park from the Fall River visitor center and made a few stops: Alluvial Fan Trail, Tundra Community Trailhead, Horseshoe Park and then the Alpine Visitor Center. Our final destination of the day was Bear Lake since we didn't have a reservation and could only go there after 6PM. When we went to Tundra Community Trailhead, we were 12,000 feet in elevation. We thought it was a quick hike to an overlook but it was a longer than expected stroll uphill. Plus, with the high elevation it wasn't real easy to breathe. Check out the video to give you an idea of what it looked like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUSH0MvL_d8

We won't get into the details of each stop we mentioned. This National Park is 415 square miles which of course we didn't get to see all of, but, we did move through pretty good and get in as much as we could. Here are some pictures we thought were worth sharing.

Our last stop of the day was Bear Lake. On the way, we were saying this better be worth it since they make a big deal about making a reservation to visit this part of the park. It was definitely worth the wait. Unfortunately, we didn't have as much time as we would have liked before it got dark. Might have to advise the NPS that the hours need to change for this time of year but boy was it scenic. Check it out!

Our last stop in Colorado was Fort Collins. While we were there we also went to Cheyenne, Wyoming for Brad so he could get his visit to the Capitol fix in. Fort Collins was a cute little town. It had a cool, quaint downtown with breweries, stores, and restaurants. We bought a portable fireplace at Ace Hardware. What a great investment. We used it twice in the first two nights.

While visiting the Capitol building in Cheyenne, we strolled around the town and went to the Wyoming State Museum and stopped at this cool store called The Wrangler. Holy cowboy they had meat, jeans, boots and hats all with a huge twang.

We know that was a long one so thanks for reading this far down. Even if you only looked at the pictures. We would have gotten this blog out a handful of days earlier if we had better internet service in Kansas and Oklahoma. Yes, our upcoming blog will include Wichita, Oklahoma City and the Ozarks in Arkansas.

Go Phils! Go Birds! Let's Fly! Kathy and Brad