July 23 - Estes Park more hiking and some rain

Very overcast day and rain in the forecast so what do we do. We pack our raincoats and off for another hike. 

Here’s a pic of the fog as we are driving up to Roosevelt National Forest once again. So many trails that dogs can use. Love it here 

Decided to take the hike to Lake Isabelle Glacier today   It was a little challenging for me with the altitude but beautiful in the forest. Met so many interesting people on the trail. That’s what we enjoy - talking to others as we meet them on the trail. 

As we were entering the NF, look what we saw. So excited and these moose could care less about us standing around taking photos. 

See why it was so challenging for me!  Look at all those boulders. But up we went. Lenny had such fun climbing. Reuben was in his backpack taking a snooze 

Here’s what we saw when we got to the top - foggy Lake Isabelle Glacier. But after we ate our cliff bars, the fog life’s for about 5 minutes. It was beautiful and worth the climb!

It started to rain a little on the way down but wasn’t too bad. Hiked about 5 miles today. 

Came back to the RV and did some laundry since it was raining

Tomorrow we pick up Linda. Hope it’s a little better weather so she can see the beauty all around us. 

July22 - Hiking in Roosevelt NF and Rocky Mt NP

Excitement started early when I went to look at the sunrise ... elk in our campground. 

Next we headed to Brainard Lake Recreation Area in Roosevelt National Forest. We first saw Brainard Lake and then hiked another mile to Mitchell Lake. The hike was a little harder than yesterday because the path was rocky but Reuben made it 2.2 (he made me put the .2 in). On the way back, he was in his backpack fast asleep. 

Brainard Lake

Mitchell Lake

This was a fern growing on a stump. 

View as we were walking. 

A different view of Brainard Lake. 

Then we decided to drive through Rocky Mt National Park to see if we would see any more wildlife. 

Only saw a marmot and a two more elk. 

A few shots as we were driving:

July 21 - Camping in Estes Park

Had a little excitement while we were eating breakfast. Lenny decided to take a little hike. We went looking for him and had several people looking for him as well. Then one of the men campers said he saw him in the men’s bathroom. About that time, I saw him come out. Have no idea why he did that. 

We started today by taking Lenny and Reuben to the dog park. Lenny played with his rock in the lake and another dog who joined him. Reuben slept. 

Then decided to take a drive down senic drive down Route 7 called Peak to Peak drive. Had a great hike on the Sourdough trail. Even Reuben walked the whole 2 miles and seemed to enjoy it. 

A few wildflowers we saw on our hike. 




Night. 

July 20 - Headed to Estes Park, Colorado

Driving across Kansas was another hot day, 94 degrees and still high humidity. We saw lots of corn and wheat along the way and just a few cattle. 

As we crossed over into Colorado, there were more trees and small hills. 



Typical grain elevator. 

Then when we started to climb towards Estes Park, we had mountains and majestic trees. 

Our campground is right in Este Park. Lots to do for all ages but no fires. And it’s considerably cooler and almost no humidity. We are anxious to hike a lot and maybe see wildlife!

Lenny had to check out the stream that runs through our campground. Water isn’t as warm as it was in Kansas. 


Sunset isn’t as vibrant as I thought they would be but still some nice colors with the mountains in the background. 

July 19 - driving across Kansas.

Driving across Kansas, there wasn’t much to photograph. As you can see either these windmills, not much energy was being made ... little air flowing. AND it was hot - 99 degrees with 93% humidity 

Miles and miles of flat farmland. 

Thought I’d see some sunflower fields (because Kansas is the sunflower state!) but when I asked some Kansans about it, they said they’ve been in a drought so sunflowers probably won’t bloom until late August or September. Then I was reading Facebook and I saw Diane Maggs had a photo of her sunflower field. Didn’t need to go all the way to Kansas, did I. 

We stayed at High Plains Campground. Not much to look at but it had a pub - Cap’n Jacks. Good elk and buffalo burgers. 

Headed for Spruce Lake Campground in Estes Park where will be for 5 days and we pick up Linda at Denver. 

July 18 - Lake Shawnee, Topeka Kansas

When I took Lenny and Reuben out this am, the lake was was so smooth. 

After a hearty breakfast of eggs and scrapple, we got the kayaks out on the lake. Only had to share the lake with one fishing boat ... nice. 

That’s an Eagle we saw fly over us twice. 

See our RV in the background?

Had a little excitement getting out of the kayak. Sorry, no pics but it was funny. The bank was muddy and I slipped getting out of the kayak and got a little wet. Well more than a little. My sandal came off. Luckily it floated so Bill was able to get back in his kayak and rescue it. I’m sure he won’t let me forget that for awhile. 

Took a hike around the campground to a little dock and small area where Lenny could try out his new floating rock Kristen found for him. He LOVES it. 

Sailboats on the lake. 

Ended the night talking with a fellow camper who was a race car driver and now his sons are racing. He came to watch them this weekend. 

July 17 - Leaving St Louis - headed for Topeka Kansas

With Lenny and Reuben’s schedules, I sometimes get to see a sunrise. Beautiful one this am before we headed out. 

Packed up and headed out across Missouri. Hoping to make it to Topeka Kansas and Lake Shawnee Campground. We stayed here last time we came through Kansas. 

We made it and this is our view.  Hoping to make it out on the kayaks tomorrow.