Getaway to Baldpate Inn

We left our trailer behind and took a three day/two night adventure through Rocky Mountain National Park and Boulder, Colorado.
Through the park, we shared the road with "Ride The Rockies" bike rally, made up of 2200 bicycles. Good thing it was a Thursday, so traffic wasn't too heavy. We parked our car at the Moraine Visitors Center and took the free shuttle bus to the Bear Lake Area. We hiked around Bear Lake and then to Alberta Falls. Although Rocky Mountain NP is a heavily used park, we found only a few people on the trails that day. Once we arrived at Alberta Falls we realized we had taken this same hike over 13 years ago when we visited in 1999.
Researching places to stay, we found the Baldpate Inn. This rustic lodge built in 1917 is 7 miles south of Estes Park. At over 9,000 feet elevation it is adjacent to Rocky Mountain NP and has 12 guest rooms.

Room #2 was our home for this two night getaway. We had a nice large room with a king bed, a couch, antique dresser, tables and lamps. It had a sink, but the bathroom was down the hall where there were three with old fashioned tubs and two with stall showers. We were supplied with terry cloth robes to make the journey down the hall. We were very comfortable here and slept with the windows open above a real wood burning fireplace.

The restaurant was open to the public for lunch and dinner. They offer a soup & salad bar. Each morning the guests are served a 3 course breakfast consisting of fruit with homemade muffin, quiche and bacon, followed by a homemade cinnamon pecan roll.
The Key Room contains the worlds largest key collection, with over 20,000 keys. Included in this collection is a key from Mozart's wine cellar, Westminster Abbey, the Pentagon and Frankenstein's Castle.
We were required to wear hairnets (and beard nets) while touring the Celestial Tea Company in Boulder, Colorado. After the tour we could have all you can drink, sampling their over 70 different tea products.
We also visited NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) and Leanin' Tree Museum of Western Art. These are all located in Boulder. We enjoyed The Mall, a brick paved section of Pearl Street, closed to traffic. After dinner we drove up Mount Flagstaff for a panaramic view of Boulder.
On day three we took the long drive home by going south on Scenic Hwy. 72. Great views of Long's Peak, Meeker Peak, Evan's Peak and a beautiful drive down the unpaved, "Oh, My Gawd Road" to Idahoe Springs.

Sunday Church and a Snowy Range Tour

Zion Lutheran Church, Laramie, WY, was our church home last year and again this summer. It is a 152 mile round trip, but well worth it. Pastor Shawn Kumm is an excellent pastor as well as bible study leader.
After church we took an even longer way home via WY130. After a delicious lunch at the Old Corral Hotel & Steak House in Centennial, Wyoming, we continued on through the Snowy Range.

The sky was clear with temperatures in the 30's and wind gusts up to 40 mph at the top. Medicine Bow Peak at 12,013 feet is the highest peak in this mountain range. Amazingly, we can actually see the Snowy Range on most days out our dining room window, from over 80 miles away.

The turnout to Mirror Lake was closed due to a snow drift. Although the mountains in Colorado were rather dry of snow, there was plenty here.
Stopping at Lake Marie for a brisk walk, we continued on to WY230 through Riverside/Encampment and back to the Refuge.

Return to Arapaho NWR

We arrived back at Arapaho NWR on May 31 after a 3 day drive from Texas. This year we are joined by our good friends and fellow volunteers, Wally and Carolyn. We have volunteered with them before and look forward to working with them here.

We returned, as did the Tree Swallows from Mexico. We enjoy watching them raise their family.

We noticed the mountains have very little snow this year, compared to last. As a result the rivers are very low with many of the irrigation ditches dry as a bone. This part of Colorado appears to be in a drought now.
One of the first jobs was working at Mortenson Lake NWR counting Wyoming Toads, an almost extinct species. We didn't find any toads, but we did find this interesting nest containing Red-winged Blackbird eggs, along with two brown headed cowbird eggs.


After we got settled, we spent a day driving Cameron Pass to Poudre Canyon (Hwy. 14) all the way to Fort Collins and back.




We had our first moose spotting of the year.




In Fort Collins we had a nice lunch at Austin's American Grill in the historic downtown district. After lunch we took a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery.

We enjoyed the special selection of beers in the Hospitality Room. We tried three beers each plus a 4oz. taste of the new Wild Blueberry Beer. This is considered more of a dessert drink. Kurt loves blueberries, Virginia, not so much. We tried Leffe, Landshark, BL Platinum and of course, Budweiser. As a side note the tour guide mentioned that the state of Texas consumes more Budweiser than any other state. Soooo after consuming a quart of beer each we were all set for the long twisty turny ride back home!!