Rocky Mountain High: July 2016

While northwest Wisconsin has been receiving oppressive heat and storms, we here in Colorado are experiencing temperatures in the mountains in the 60s and 70s and lesser humidity. Needless to say, the rest of Colorado has been having record high temps, so the Front Range inhabitants are taking their families up into the mountains for reprieve from the heat, so Rocky Mountain National Park and our Trail Ridge Store & Cafe have been busy. My days are ten and a half hours long with our 45 minute commute up the mountain one way, but there's always time for fun and relaxation. I work with a great group of people.

Here's a recap of the last couple weeks:

on Friday, July 22nd, a gentleman came up to my work station and asked to see the manager, and he was Kirsten's boyfriend, Jeremy, who shocked me with their SURPRISED VISIT!!
They were on their way to the west to visit national parks. They took a detour in their planned road trip and toured The Badlands and Wind Cave, so decided they were close to RMNP enroute to Bryce Canyon, Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks. The smiles, conversations, and HUGS were so appreciated by MOMMA!
I found out today I'm not as young as nimble as I used to be! I hiked to Gem Lake with an elevation gain of at least 1000 feet, and had the lake in solitude for about an hour. It was great to be in silence, in prayer, and journaling. I decided to take the Black Canyon Trail along Lumpy Ridge on my way home. Sometimes the steps are high for my SHORT little legs, and as I was stepping down with my right, I landed cockeyed, and heard something in my left quad snap. After wallowing in my pity pot for a short time, I decided I needed to get back to my car which was probably .75 miles away. After putting ice on it for some time, and taking some Advil, I went to Estes Park's emergency room. Tentative diagnosis is that I have a tear in my vastus lateralis. I wonder what tomorrow will bring!
sampled two brewskis @ Rocky Cut Brewery: Steamy Blonde & Cucumber Pilsner.
here are my views from my lunch picnic table at the store:
see fantastic sights enroute to work every day,
a family of four marmots visited me at lunch just a few days ago,
after a fabulous Sunday message @ Rocky Mountain Church ("When life gets hard, what/who is your default?" My answer is GOD!), I hiked around Lily Lake to beat the approaching afternoon storm,
a great Texas couple, a retired teacher/baseball coach and his wife, Mark & Mary, just arrived as co-workers, last working at Yellowstone National Park for the past six summers,
friends of Cal & Mary's, co-workers from Rapid City, came to visit, and we ate ice cream and visited out on our balcony, and then the four of them treated us to a BBQ chicken dinner!
experienced my first Charley Horse of the summer, from not drinking enough water and doing TOO MUCH activity (self inflicted and some stupidity)
drove to the west side of RMNP with three Taiwanese co-workers: Annie, Tracy and Sam. We visited Lake Irene, toured Holzwarth Historic Lodge, stopped at Grand Lake Lodge, was at the Continental Divide, saw a cow MOOSE and a young BULLWINKLE, hiked to Adams Falls and the meadow beyond, walked in on Grand Lake's parade, sampled a shredded buffalo sandwich and a Maine wild blueberry pie (YUM!), and saw multiple elk and a PIKA.
rejected our employee dining food for the evening and enjoyed pizza with friends,
took several evening walks (even though I average 7.5 miles of walking in the store every day), and worked on identifying the many Colorado Rockies wildflowers,
appreciated a steak cookout our general manager and his wife prepared for us for increased sales for 2016,
enjoyed spectacular sunrises and sunsets here,
and finished a couple more books (none to brag about). If anyone has any good recommendations, I'd love to hear from you.