A curious detail about our camping spot in Estes Park, CO is the colony of critters and their vast underground network of tunnels interspersed throughout the campground. My daughters affectionately referred to these things as “Timmies” (?) but they are actually Wyoming ground squirrels.
Our hiking destination for Monday morning was Gem Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. We got up early to beat the crowds (and because the park now requires reservations during prime visiting hours), but the parking lot was scarily small and filling up fast. We’re not towing a car this trip which means we have to take the whole rig everywhere we go, making parking a challenge. We had to bend the parking rules that morning:
The 1.7 mile trail to Gem Lake was fairly steep, but there were several places to stop along the way for a scenic overlook.
SIDE NOTE: While writing this blog entry, I happened across a photo in a previous post and was struck by how much the girls’ CamelBaks have apparently shrunk:
Gem Lake, at around 9,000 feet in elevation:
Em had some more “Timmies” interrupt her snack break. My best Google-guess, however, is that these were golden-mantled ground squirrels. Whatever they were, they were not at all bashful.
Amy, Nat, and I climbed a little higher for a better view. It was spectacular.
I suppose clear skies would have made for better photos, but the cooler temperatures made for a perfect morning hike.
After our hike we stopped at Estes Park Brewery. Carrie and I had a round of beer flights to sample all their flavors. As much as I sometimes miss having little girls, drinking beer with an adult kid is pretty great.
Our campground is named “Elk Meadow Lodge & RV Resort” apparently for good reason. Amy saw this herd of elk during an early morning run, and here they were again on the way back to our campsite.
The skies cleared up by Monday afternoon, but the temperatures stayed quite pleasant. It just felt great to be outside.
We got up at 4:45am on Tuesday morning to catch the sunrise at nearby Lily Lake.
The girls and I walked the 0.8 mile loop while Amy ran several laps.
We went off the trail for one last little climb. I could have sat there all morning inhaling the pine-scented air, but it was unfortunately time to start the long trek home.
After several miles of descending out of the mountains, the RV brakes were starting to smell. We pulled over to let them cool down.
After driving all day we landed in another random driveway, this one belonging to “Kansas Ken” outside of Topeka, KS. Ken has a meter to accurately track his visitors’ electricity usage. We racked up a 66 cent electric bill during our stay.
Wednesday was another long day of driving, and by late afternoon we were back in Indiana.
We weren’t ready to go all the way home yet so we stayed our last night at Lieber State Recreation Area about 45 minutes west of Indy. It was a lovely little park with — inexplicably — no mosquitos.
Amy set up a nice area for a Zoom call she had scheduled, but we were unfortunately in one of the few internet black holes of the trip (she was able to find WiFi closer to the ranger station).
While Amy had her call, Em and Nat listened to music in the hammock:
…while Carrie and I relaxed at the playground:
*Sigh*…dumping the tanks for the last time this morning. This might speak to how much I love RVing: I get sentimental about emptying a tank of poop.
The only thing less fun than moving into an RV is moving out of one. I didn’t get lucky with a good parking spot, so our multiple trips between the RV and the house involved a lot of walking with arms full.
We pretty much dumped everything in the house so we could turn our attention to cleaning the RV and returning it on time later that morning.
Going into this trip, I tried to manage my expectations and recognize that this would not be like our RV travels 10 years ago — our girls are older, the trip was shorter, and the RV was merely a rental. But this memory-making machine came through once again, and the experience was everything I hoped it would be.
Amy and I have caught the RV bug again, so my hope is for more of such memories to come.
—
Bonus content
Video by Natalie:
Video by Carrie: