Day Trip to Estes Park

On Tuesday, we drove to Estes Park.  We headed through Boulder and onto Nederland, where we then headed north through the mountains.  The valley views along the twists and turns, as we ascend and descend, are at once breathtakingly beautiful and white-knuckle scary!!

 

Because of the floods, we had to take the long way....rather than either of two ways that are closer and easier drives!  Ah, well!

 

We visited Estes Park during our visit in 2011, but only as far at The Stanley Hotel.  This trip, we went to the downtown first...what a delightful town!  Made all the better with the crisp leaves gathered along the side of the main street.  (It reminded me of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls, somewhere I would love to live...if I could ever find it!!)  It was a sunny day, that started cool, but we were completely comfortable in shorts, tees and sweatshirts. 

 

We walked up and down, stopping in many of the shops.  Shops that were so happy to see us.  The flood made impassable the 3 routes into Estes Park and this tourist town was starved, plus many of the businesses were severely damaged, some not even yet re-opened.  We were there after season, so it was quiet and some things were closed, but we don't like crowds anyway.  Our pace was leisurely.

 

There is a river walk which is very well planned with benches, tables, stairs and even plenty of public restrooms.  The river was bubbling along, providing a peaceful sound helping to further create the relaxing environment. 

This same rambling river that wreaked so much havoc just weeks before. 

 

We made another quick trip to The Stanley.  And, again, we missed out on a ghost tour!  Sheesh!!!  Guess that means another visit is a must!  Actually, we would like to get tickets to the Stanley Film Festival in May.  Either way, we are going to stay the nite on our next trip up into the Rockies!!

 

This is elk "rutting" (mating) season and the best time to see them is dusk; however, there was no way we were staying and then having to drive back through the mountains.  We did see about 5 or 6 laying around (guess to conserve energy for meeting up with the ladies later) as we were heading out of town.

 

Our return trip was back along the scenic Peak to Peak; this time with the sun setting.  The yellow of the aspens made golden by the late afternoon sun against the green of the pines that rise from the mountains made the arduous drive worthwhile.