I was notified of my early departure from RMNP this past week as Karen was scheduled for another ACL reconstruction surgery, and so I worked through Saturday, October 3rd. Business has been busy @ Trail Ridge Store due to Estes Park's Elk Fest and Autumn Gold Festival, the colorful fall and the elk rut season. This last week saw the last international students leave, so we were left with a skeleton crew of workers, each pulling a six-day work week.
I bid Estes Park and friends goodbye Saturday evening, and drove down a very dark and rainy Big Thompson Canyon, headed for home. Northeastern Colorado's topography is very different than the mountainous terrain I had become accustomed to, and rain and darkness didn't help any. Arriving in North Platte, Nebraska, I decided enough is enough. Central Standard Time had kicked in and it was 1:30 a.m. A short five-hour sleep in Super 8 provided me some rest for the long trip ahead. Rest areas became my best friends as they provided a restroom and some walking areas. Friends and relatives were snubbed in Iowas as I was enroute to Wisconsin with a mission - to get home Sunday night. Travel time was 23 hours and 45 minutes from Estes Park, Colorado to Amery, Wisconsin!
After unloading a very poorly packed Jeep, I got in a few hours of shut-eye (and cuddling time with Joey, my cocker spaniel) before arising to see Kirsten off to her B-W music teaching job, surprising my Bible Study friends at their luncheon, chatting with my neighbors, paying bills and doing some laundry.
Repacking a new bag of clothes, I began my venture to Madison. My back and hips were balking my decision for more driving, but the heart strings to be with Karen for her surgery were too strong. Eau Claire offered me a respite from driving to visit my sister, Nancy, and get a few hugs! Wisconsin, too, has wonderful rest areas for various reasons. Arrival in Madison occurred at 8:00 p.m.
My alarm rang at 4:15 a.m., and Karen and I were enroute to her surgery at UW Health American Center that just opened seven weeks ago. It was quite a palace and state of the art technology. Her ACL was reconstructed using a portion of her patellar tendon. And she and I are resting comfortably in her Madison condo now. Thank you for all the well-wishes and prayers offered to us throughout my travels and her surgery. Karen has a very positive attitude, and this transition in her life resulted in her decision to go to grad school. She has a strong faith and very encouraging friends, necessary ingredients for recovery!
So what did I do the last two weeks in Colorado? Here's a glimpse:
- received chocolate bars from Carlos and Mario, two gentlemen from Ecuador, who left early for an ailing grandparent,
- hiked to the top of RMNP from our parking lot with Sean, received chocolate bar and chocolate chai tea from my Taiwanese son, Sean, who continues to tour the United States,
- witnessed a shrouded Blood Moon in the mountains,
- said goodbye to Valya and Mitko, two Bulgarian friends,
- awakened to coyotes howling and elks bugling,
- experienced another breath-taking sunrise enroute to Bear Lake,
- hiked to Alberta Falls one last time, entertained by the quaking aspens along the trail,
- reveled in the colorful mountainsides of RMNP,
- hiked around Bear Lake and Sprague Lake a final time,
- sat and marveled at many an elk rut performance,
- walked through the Stanley Hotel's new maze (from the movie, The Shining, that was filmed here),
- revisited Alluvial Fan and Elkhorn Lodge,
- drove up spectacular Old Fall River Road (a 9-mile, gravel, one-way, winding road to the top of RMNP), visited Chasm Falls, and enjoyed the work of the convicts who built this masterpiece back in the 1920s,
Look way above my Jeep for Trail Ridge Store! 
- explored Lake Irene,
- had a pizza picnic on the west side of the park while trying to find an elusive bull moose (with no luck), and then hiked a portion of the Colorado River Trail so I could say I walked across the Colorado River,
- found out I could go home early,
- browsed Estes Park's downtown one more time, and succumbed to toffee and Blue Paddle beer,
- ate delicious pizza with two colleagues, Pat and Teresa, @ Poppy's along the Big Thompson River, and
- hugged and said goodbye to my new friends from the summer of 2015.
Thank you for your support in my five-month journey to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was full of adventure and new friendships, as well as self-reflection time. I'm not sure what lies ahead for me, other than assisting Karen to renewed health. I am tired, and I want to appreciate Wisconsin's colorful fall, sit on my deck, grill out and drink whatever beverage looks good at the moment, catch up with my family and friends, and then contemplate my next ventures.
I have been blessed in so many ways through this journey. God's blessings to you!
Amy
