We drove through the main, 48 mile road to Grand Lake yesterday. Today we decided to visit Bear Lake, a short, easy 10 mile drive. There were some twists and turns, and a small rise in elevation (about 1,000'), but in general, very relaxing. This area has shuttle buses to take visitors to the various parking lots, as parking is limited. We decided to take our chances and see what parking was available when we arrived at Bear Lake. We were lucky, and although the ranger said the lot was full, he told us he noticed a car leaving - and we were able to get that space.
On the way to Bear Lake...
Bear Lake is a shallow, 13 acre lake which was once a resort. The owner made the lake bigger by damming one end. There is an easy, 1/2 mile walk around the lake, which we decided we were up to trying. At 8,200', breathlessness was still something to contend with, but the other high altitude effects were all but gone. I could live here - the lake is beautiful, as are the surroundings. I took over 100 photos on the walk around the lake - but picked out the best dozen for here.
Greenback cutthroat trout are being restored to their native habitats, and fishing is not permitted in Bear Lake.
Blue dragonflies were everywhere. The only place they sat still for a photo was at the water :)
As we exited the park, we passed Elk Meadow campground, the sister campground to ours. Coming out of the campground, followed by a crowd of people, were 4 elk!
We headed back into town to explore, only to be reminded why we don't like 'tourist traps'. Estes Park is beautiful in the early morning, but the crowds of people in the afternoon were just like at the shore. There were lots of t-shirt and trinket shops, and ice cream and fudge shops. We lasted an hour before heading out of town to relax at the camper.
We ended the day at The Other Side restaurant, just across the Little Thompson River from our campsite. Our waitress was from Bulgaria, here on a summer work program. She came last summer to New Jersey (we apologized!!), and she decided to return this summer to see a different part of our country (smart).
On Friday morning (July 17), we were hooked up and ready to go by about 8:00 a.m. We drove out Rt. 34 to Loveland, where we picked up Rt. 25 - the road that runs north/south, down to Denver and further down to Colorado Springs. We headed north to Cheyenne, where we picked up I-80. We will be on I-80 for several days, until we get home! Rick is in travel mode now, and it is hard to get him to stop. If he had his way, now that we are headed east, he would drive until we got home - never mind that it could be 2 or 3 days early!
In our travels today, we saw antelope, camels, bison, and lots of horses and cows. Haley'e eyes were glued to the windshield, searching for stuff to see - I think she laid down a total of 10 minutes the entire day - one point was about 5 minutes total - the rest were just down and back up again. She is now comatose, she is so exhausted! We saw a storm in the distance - love those prairie storms, where you can see them miles and miles away! It was a pretty intense storm, as we were hearing on the radio, and we witnessed the aftermath when we saw piles of hail alongside the road.
We are camped in a campground in Grand Island, Nebraska, where we stayed in 2000. We remembered that is poured - nice summer storm with no lightening - so Rick decided to take advantage of the free water and wash the trailer. As he got it soaped up, the rain stopped! Oops!
We have just over 1200 miles left to travel - and expect to be home Monday or Tuesday (I'm betting on Monday - Rick will push it for his softball double-header on Tuesday!)
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