My Adventure Enroute to Rocky Mountain National Park - My Summer Home

It's been over a week since I left Wisconsin, and made the indirect trek to Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado.  Here's some of my highlights with photos on my journey:

• visited Voyageur's National Park in northern Minnesota for the first time,
      
• was at the geographical center of North America in Rugby, ND,
  
• witnessed a fabulous, inspirational mosaic entitled, "The Sower," that was created in memory of my cousin's husband's father and brother,
  
• toured the International Peace Garden with its Peace Chapel at the border of Canada and ND,
     
• walked the grounds of the Scandinavian Heritage Park in Minot, ND,
    
• saw the remnants of Williston, ND's oil boom and bust,
• learned about Fort Buford and Fort Union Trading Post National Historical Site,
                       
  
  
    
• was saddened by the story behind Bear Paw Battlefield, a National Historical Park, where the U.S. Calvary slaughtered almost all of the remaining Nez Perce, fleeing to Canada after the tribe resisted their land being taken away and being forced to live on reservations,
  
• was awed by the snow-covered extremely steep mountains of Glacier National Park,
   
• walked around the Glacier Park Hotel (run by Xanterra but was closed still), located adjacent to the Amtrak Station, where guests just are transported across the road to their lodging,
     
• toured through the accessible parts of Glacier NP:
• Two Medicine Road ending at Two Medicine Lake, 
  
• Going to the Sun Road that was open for five miles on the east side to St. Mary Lake, and traveling about ten miles on the west side to dramatic Lake McDonald and the historic lodge there, 
  
   
• Many Glacier area to Swiftcurrent Lake and past a man-made lake, Lake Sherburne, created by a dam before the passage of this area into national park status,
   
• saw the historic Many Glacier Hotel in a very picturesque setting,
  
• on the northwest side, drove to the historic Polebridge Mercantile where life has stood still for the past 100 years, and then navigated a very PRIMITIVE road to Bowman Lake, a hidden gem nestled in the Rockies, 
  
• experienced the tragedy @ Big Hole National Battlefield in MT where the U.S. Calvary began their attacks on the Nez Perce, surprising them in their camp where nearly 100 Natives were killed, mostly sleeping women, children and the elderly,
  
• drove through the historic towns of Nevada City and Virginia City where a gold rush took place, and where one could visualize life during that period,
   
• saw countless ranches that raised wonderful Angus beef, other types of beef of which I am unfamiliar (brown ones and whitish one), horses and sheep,
   
• cried at the sights of endless poverty-ridden homesteads with mini junkyards around them,
• marveled at bison, elk, pronghorns, white-tailed deer, bighorn sheep, grizzlies, prairie dogs, and ground squirrels,
  
  
  
  
• took an outdoor hot tub soak in 36 degree weather,
• watched Old Faithful erupt
  
• toured the west side of Yellowstone National Park; luckily the road to the Tetons just opened up that morning!
    
   
• marveled at the magnificent Tetons in Grand Tetons National Park, and saw the most picturesque spot with the snow-covered mountains reflected in Jenny Lake with blue skies and cumulus clouds reflected as well,
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• experienced a gorgeous Wyoming sunset while traveling 80 mph (that was the speed limit) across WY on the longest drive of my trip,
  
• ate many cheese and salami sandwiches, apples, trail mix, granola bars and chocolate,
• drank TONS of water in preparation for higher elevations (and visited countless restrooms),
• finally arrived in Estes Park, with hugs from friends, and 
   
• cheered on the Rockies as they defeated the Mets 4-3.

Hoping you are able to have many adventures this summer that you can share with me.

Loving all of you,

Amy

April 25, 2016

Spring has arrived in northwestern Wisconsin!  Greenery is sprouting from the soil, crocuses have bloomed, daffodils, hyacinths, bleeding hearts and tulips are exploding with their pageantry, peas and lettuce have been planted, and the lawn has already been mowed.  Eight goslings have been spotted learning to swim with Mother Goose on the Apple River, and Kirsten and I have already kayaked the river!!

              

Kirsten, Karen and I attended our annual Minnesota Twins game, indulging in the fan food and craft beers, and witnessed a victory!  Karen has started a new job, and Kirsten is headed towards the end of her first year of teaching.  Joey is adorning her new summer haircut, and LIFE IS GOOD!

         

It's less than two weeks until I embark on my trip out west.  I'm trying to complete some tasks around my home, and dining with friends before departing.  A road trip is in order to a few national parks in the northwest before reporting to my summer home, Rocky Mountain National Park.  If anyone has any recommendations for me regarding GLACIER, NORTH CASCADES or CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARKS, I'd love to hear from you.  PBS is offering a glimpse into our national parks on PBS, starting with an airing on Monday, April 25th @ 8:00 p.m.  I encourage you to catch some of the week's episodes, highlighting the treasures during the National Park Service's 100th anniversary.

I ask for your prayers for safe travels and my transitioning back into my summer gig.  Also, for strength and wisdom in leaving my family and friends behind in the Midwest.

Amy

WHIRLWIND ENDING IN RMNP!

Some snow has fallen in the high elevations of RMNP, the aspens have flashed their magnificent colors and are shedding their coats, and the elk have put on their shows in the lower elevations to throngs of people, creating elk jams wherever their performances occurred.

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