It's warming up in Colorado these days. While the temps nearly hit 100 degrees in Denver, it's a balmy 80 degrees here in Estes Park, and 65 at 12,000 feet. The glorious wildflowers are smiling at us around every corner, and the abundant wildlife greet us every day! My office has a magnificent view.
I've had to slow down a bit this past week, as I tweeked my back pulling a bag full of packing peanuts out of a garbage can. Sitting in a van as I drive up the mountain three to four times a week is my greatest challenge. Walking is the best which I get plenty of at Trail Ridge Store, usually 6-8 miles a day. Today we averaged 700 guests per hour - never a dull moment!
Thank you for the cards, notes, texts, photos, and calls I receive from friends and family near and far. My day brightens when I stroll to my mailbox and see something there. Thanks also for good neighbors that are looking after my abandoned home as the girls and their men now live in North Hudson. Karen and James just purchased their first home. Kirsten and Jeremy are taking excellent care of Joey.
Here's the newest in my life from Estes Park:
- I'm driving three to four days up the mountain as the van shuttle driver. I have to concentrate on the safety of 14 passengers so no photography gets done during that time.
- Laura, a teaching colleague of mine, and her husband, Wayne, braved the Great Plains driving, and embraced much of what Rocky Mountain National Park and the surrounding area offered once they arrived. We dined a couple of times together, and laughed our way through a mysterious melodramic farce, "Seven Keys of Baldpate," at an outdoor theater at the historic Baldpate Inn. I learned a new card game, "Quiddler." Great times!
- Nancy and I visited the local farmers market and purchased some wonderful breads, pastries and salsa. A pink pinta hanging basket now graces my balcony as well.
- Christmas in July has arrived, and we had Secret Santas to surprise us. My Secret Santa was Kasia from Poland! Great treats!
- I dragged myself out of bed for an amazing surprise sunset enroute to a six-mile hike to Lake Bierstadt. Not a soul was on my path, and I had a fabulous reflection of the Rockies in the lake to enjoy while journaling.
- Greta and I introduced a few of our colleagues to Saturday night worship at Rocky Mountain Church.
- I was visited at the store by Hillary, one of Karen's co-workers from Madison's MOKA coffee.
- Nancy and I went full moon strolling around Sprague Lake, a tradition I brought with me from Wisconsin.
- I tried out a new restaurant while celebrating a co-worker's birthday, indulging in my first elk burger.
- We admired the unique apparel that guests were wearing for the Fourth of July, before witnessing the fireworks over Lake Estes.
- We ventured to Fort Collins, visiting several breweries: Odell Brewing, Fort Collins Brewing, New Belgium Brewery and Snowbank Brewing. Old Town Fort Collins was explored with its painted pianos, and of course, eating was included. Wonderful cookie sampling! I visited a visitor information center that was also an informational place for CRU - Karen did training for Athletes in Action (under the CRU umbrella) in Fort Collins in 2011 while attending UW-Eau Claire.
- Mark and Mary, great friends and colleagues from last summer, along with their granddaughter, visited us for an evening.
- We've had a beer tasting night, a wine tasting evening and rum experimentation on the balcony.
- Before Old Fall River Road (a one-way gravel switchbacky road built by convicts in the 1920s) was opened to vehicle traffic, Brad and I hiked 9.25 miles DOWN it. Wildlife and wildflowers dotted the roadside, and majestic views of our store and the mountains with its glacial cirque entertained us. But, my toes and hips reminded me that we had descended about 3500 feet. Well worth it, though.
- In late June, Estes Park hosted a Scandinavian Midsummer Festival. We watched Nordic dancers from Decorah, witnessed old world Nordic villages and their lifestyle, sampled lefse, tapped our feet to an Uff Da band, delighted in a delicious KORV, a Swedish sausage, and drank Aquavit and some Breckenridge beer.
- And daily, I see countless new wildflowers dotting the roadside, forests and tundra, as well as marmots, pikas, elk, foxes, mule deer, and bighorn sheep smiling at me. Moose and coyotes have been evasive to me in the past few weeks.
I hope you're enjoying family and friends in the locale where you live. Give your loved ones a hug, and be grateful for all you have. God's creation is a wonderful thing to behold.
Happy Summer!
Amy
