Colorado

Our next stop was Colorado.  We drove through Kansas to Colorado and stopped in Estes Park.  We love Colorado--absolutely love Colorado.  It is so beautiful.  We are also partial to Estes Park because that is where we spent our honeymoon!

 Four years ago

Now

We had fun, but it was much cooler than we were anticipating.  Coming from the heat and humidity in the south, where even the "mountains" are still hot and humid, we forgot that Colorado is much higher and naturally cooler, so we didn't have any "warm" clothes with us.  When we arrived it was a nice 92 degrees--and I do mean nice.  It is amazing the difference between dry and humid 92.  The temperature cooled considerably as the evening drew closer.  Not too cold, but definitely cooler.

We spent Wednesday evening at a local outdoor concert and being a tourist through the main part of town; just walking the shops and along the river.  Right outside our hotel room we spotted the first (and only elk) of the evening.  The elk had no fear and as we drove by to leave, we were literally ten feet away from him.

The outdoor concert

Zuri playing in the grass.  She wasn't all that excited about the concert, but she would clap at the end of each song with a big smile on her face.  It was pretty funny.  I miss her curls!   As soon as we hit Colorado, her curls visibly diminished.

We also went to see the Stanley Hotel, where The Shining was filmed.  I have never actually seen the movie, but I have heard about it!  They even offer guided Ghost Story tours, which we wanted to participate in, except they only have them on Fridays and Saturdays. 

Thursday was overcast, so we relaxed and did a bit more sightseeing.

 Feeding the ducks

I really wanted to go hiking, and we were waiting for the weather to break.  Finally, in the early afternoon, we decided that it was just going to be an overcast day and we decided to go on a short, two-mile hike to Gem Lake in the Rocky Mountain National Forest.  

The lake itself wasn't much to look at, but the view on the way to the lake was worth the two-mile uphill hike.

This rock is just sitting on the smaller rocks!

Gem Lake

By the time we reached Gem Lake, it had started to sprinkle a bit, and then stopped.  We were more worried about lightning than the rain, but luckily there was only a rumble in the distance.  The sky continued to grow darker and more ominous, so we picked up the pace on our way back.  Not too long after we started, the wind and rain began.  It was really cold and we got soaked.  J and I protected Zuri the best we could, but she got really cold and wet.  We ran the two miles back to the car.

Trying to get Zuri warm and to stop shivering.  Luckily, she didn't get sick or anything!  What an adventure!

Later that evening we were on our way to dinner when J spotted some elk.  There were four or five bull elk just wandering in people's backyards.

 

Funny story about this bull on the side of the road.  J pulled ahead to take some pictures and the elk kept staring at him.  Then the elk started crossing the road to our side.  We kept on driving at that point, but it had paid the other car no attention and noticed us even though we were a whole lot further away!

I think we wore Zuri out that day because we had turned on a movie to relax with and the next thing we know it had gotten quiet.  Zuri curled up on the floor next to the bed and fell right asleep.  So, we made a makeshift bed for her on the floor and we all had a peaceful nights rest!

This is how we found her in the morning!