Retired and Trippin

Poonie was rolling away from our hotel in Estes Park at 7:30. It was sunny and a chilly 37 degrees. We rolled south on 7 to Lily Lake where we found more aspen gold and a pretty setting. Highway 7 took us back north into Estes Park and then we took 34 west into Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). We saw plentiful aspen gold and a herd of elk in a huge meadow. Trail Ridge Road through RMNP revealed some beautiful views and we were above 12,000 feet in elevation. On the way down the west side of RMNP we stopped at Irene Lake for a short hike. We continued westbound on 34 to Granby and then took 40 west to Kremmling, where we stopped at the Moose Cafe for a satisfactory lunch. Highway 9 south was our final leg to our destination of Dillon, where we landed at 2:00. After unpacking we enjoyed a soak in an outdoor hot tub before calling it a day. We drove 147 miles today and our high temperature was 73 degrees. It was a beautiful day but the wind on Trail Rid...

At 7:20 we were scooting out of Burlington, CO westbound on I-70. It was sunny and 63 degrees. Our route today was I-70 westbound to Seibert, north on 59 to Cope, 36 west, 71 north to Brush, and I-76 and Hwy 34 into our destination, Estes Park. Just south of Cope, a heard of turkeys crossed the road in front of us causing us to stop. A car coming the other way also stopped. The turkeys acted as though they owned the road. Just west of Cope we spotted two antelope in a field. As we turned north on 71 the temperature also reached 71 so the top came down. Somewhere west of Wiggins on 34 the temperature dropped from the high 70's to 64 all at once and when it dropped to 61 the top went back up. We stopped at the Loveland, Colorado visitor's center and walked around the grounds. They had an amazing little robot moving around that cut the grass for them. I took a video of it working so you can check it out by viewing photos with the link below. At the end of the video it appe...

Chris and I love to see the aspens when their leaves turn to gold in autumn. We've been checking the reports from Colorado and it looks like this might be a good time. So off we go. We left home at 8:00 under cloudy skies. It was 61 degrees. Our route was I-70 all the way to Burlington, CO. West of Salina it started to rain and it rained off-and-on with varying intensity all the way to around Elllis, KS. Chris was happy to have a roof over her head. At Victoria, KS we stopped to check out the "Cathedral of the Plains", Saint Fidelis Church ( Cathedral ). I couldn't tell when the church was built. One cornerstone showed 1880, another had 1909, and web sites said it was dedicated in 1911. In 1971 the church was voted as one of the 8 wonders of Kansas ( 8WondersKS ). We would have gone inside but there was a wedding or something going on. We enjoyed lunch at Vernie's Hamburger House in Hays, KS. The burgers were delicious but they were stingy with their tat...