Rocky Mountain National Park

I write this tonight at a Days Inn in Ft. Collins,CO. Alec is feeling sick tonight. I hope he will be well enough for the long drive tomorrow. My guess is that it was a lot of thin mountain air that got to him. My other guess is that he will be fine tomorrow.

This morning we departed the Riche's house. They were so great. Everyone was still asleep so we couldn't say good bye to everyone. We then made the trek to Rocky Mountain National Park. What a great place! The drive was ok. One funny thing was that we needed to stop at a grocery store to get stuff for when we are in the park. So, we are in Boulder looking for one. The only place we saw was a Whole Foods. I have to drive long ways back home to get to one! We had a healthy assortment of food! Driving through was cool. It wasn't as crowded as it could have been. That is why we went on a Monday. We started on Old Falls River Road which is a weird, dirt road that winds its way through the high parts of the park. I took it to avoid some construction. The road is rather dusty and slow. It was alright. I was also concerned about thunderstorms in the area. After we got back to the main road we went to the Ute Trail which is on the Continental Divide. I took it last time I was here. I did want something different but given the conditions (concern the weather could turn on us), it was the right trail to take (since it was nearby). It was fun! We did have an abrupt encounter with some elk on the trail. It was cool. I literally turned a corner on a switchback and there he was - about 10 feet away. We just sat down and let him be on his way. There were others too. We made it up to above the tree line but didn't stay long. There was rain in the distance and we were hearing thunder. You need to get out of open ground when you hear that stuff (lightning kills people out there every year). After heading down for a while it cleared up. Figures. I think that it actually turned out as a blessing, though. We got back to the car and were originally going to try another trail. Alec was exhausted. He fell asleep in the car for the rest of the time in there. Naturally, the day was over. That's ok, it still was great there butI was getting a bit weary too. Now that Alec isn't doing too good tonight, I am even more glad we cut it short. I think that it might have been just a little too much for him. He has said that he would one day like to hike a big mountian. I think one day he might - today was just a start.

As I get ready for bed it is now settling in that the trip is over. I am now longing to get back home. I usually feel that way once I am done with whatever I do out of town - whether it is something that lasts a few days or a few weeks. Once I am done, I want to get back. I was even listening WGN radio out here tonight! Other than Cubs games I really don't listen to them. Tomorrow brings a long drive. Probably to somewhere in Iowa. I'll check in then.