ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

Night time temperatures finally rose above freezing, so we left Glenwood Springs, Colorado (vowing to come back) and headed for the town of Estes Park, just outside Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a relatively short, beautiful uphill drive along I70 and through the impressive Eisenhower/Johnston Tunnel. In the 1950's, gold was discovered as the tunnel was being dug and the mining of it paid for the entire construction project. When we stopped at a rest area right after the tunnel, there was snow everywhere. Although the spring melt had cleared much of the road area, a big mound of snow was still piled to the top of the restroom windows, making us wonder just how deep the snow gets up there in the winter.

At 11,000 ft., this plateau also contains archaeological sites from Ute Indian settlements. Tribes would trek from the plains of Kansas to this high altitude each summer to enjoy the crisp, cool air, frequent rains and bountiful game. It was their version of air conditioning in the summer!

When we arrived in Estes Park, we were pleased to discover that our campsite was right along the Thompson River and we were literally two minutes from the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. Doug was able to step out of his trailer and fish for trout right off of our picnic deck while Coco basked in the sunshine.

It was great to be back in Estes Park, where we stayed for our honeymoon. At that time, it was July and the mountains were capped with snow.  Now, it was May and most of the mountains were blanketed in snow, which made for a whole different experience of the Park. In fact, the higher portion of Trail Ridge Road was still closed. We were in awe of how there could be magnificent panoramic views of a winter-like wonderland, while at the same time, it was close to 70 degrees during the day at the lower altitudes.  

There was a variety of views and perspectives to behold everywhere you looked. 

Wildlife grazed everywhere. The rare sighting of a moose in the distance made us wish we had a zoom lens, but Sue managed to capture his image anyway. A family of Elk grazed directly across from our river deck every evening, barely noticing us humans.     

  
Doug happily painted snowy vistas at places we had visited during our summer honeymoon, creating entirely different paintings. 

 "Hallet Peak"

16x20 

   

"Avalance Alley" 

16X20 

"Long's Peak"

20x27

"Aspen Spring"

16 X 20

We originally reserved our campsite for earlier dates, but then bumped them forward in order to wait until nights were above freezing. Because of this, we could only stay four days due to incoming reservations. We found another campground on the other side of town. This one was on the side of a beautiful small mountain with plenty of hiking for Sue and Coco. Doug was happy to be closer to Thompson Canyon, one of his favorite painting sites. Unfortunately, there was a flash flood there in 1976 which killed 144 people, making it the deadliest disaster in Colorado's history. In 2013, a flash flood occurred again, but thankfully most everyone was evacuated, although eight perished. As we drove through the canyon and town, the trail the flood waters left behind was clearly visible and there was still some debris. This gave us a tremendous respect for the resilient townspeople who had rebuilt once again. 

"Thompson Canyon Light" 

16 x 20

"Big Thompson Falls" 

12 x 20

"Big Thompson Flow"

16 x 20

At this writing, we have actually been back in Pennsylvania for about 2 ½ weeks. The trailer is unpacked, the house is back in order and it’s almost as if we never left. Almost. But there’s something different now about “home”. After two years of extended travel out West in our RV, we’ve come to realize that we actually have two permanent homes. Our trailer has become as much of a home base as our house. We are less attached to our material possessions and would leave them behind at the drop of a hat for another opportunity to “hit the road” and head West. In fact, we will be doing just that every year from now until we can’t or don’t want to do it anymore. At the same time, however, we cherish our time back in Pennsylvania. Being gone for extended periods of time makes us appreciate, not only our family and friend connections, but also nature in our home state. We find ourselves more inclined to notice the  subtle beauty that surrounds us and Pennsylvania does not disappoint. When we left on Feb. 20, there was melting snow from a major storm. When we arrived home on June 2, a wonderland of fresh colorful blossoms greeted us as Spring was in the middle of putting on a great show.

On that note, we have come to the end of our 2016 RV Tour Blog, but not the end of our travels. Next year, we'll be going to Hawaii for two weeks at the end of January (we'll have to leave Conestoga Lite and Coco behind).  At the end of March, we load up and head West again, highlighting Sedona, Yosemite and Redwood National Park for Doug's Plein Air Workshop series, along with other beautiful stops along the way. For more information about Doug's workshops both in Pennsylvania and out West, visitwww.dougtweddale.com.

Signing off until next year .........