It was SO SAD to see September gone - my favorite month always goes WAY too fast!
So here's a few random photos that didn't make the blog!
I needed a new fall decoration for the top of my cupboard and I LOVE the one I got!
And that's it for September - on to October!
We headed out after breakfast and only had about 45 minutes to get to Sargents - since we were only staying the 1 night, we just parked the 5th wheel in an open area right off a main road - easy set up and easy to get out the next day! While we were setting up, Brad went by (son-in-law) who was over there hunting! We waved and he turned around and came back to visit with us!
After a quick lunch, we headed out to the aspens! Sargents has always been one of my favorite places to take pictures and this year was no exception! Between our first day there and the next morning of ATVing till about noon, I got all the pictures I needed and was smiling from ear to ear!
What a wonderful fall trip to both places - a fall I won't soon forget!
It's my FAVORITE trip in Colorado - the annual fall trip to see the leaves! I thought and thought about where I wanted to go - and with the weathermen saying it was going to be an early fall, I was just hesitant to book a cabin anywhere as sometimes we actually miss the fall colors because you have to book so far ahead! So I FINALLY decided that this year we would just camp - and that way we could go when the colors were perfect - and that's exactly what happened!
We left on a Tuesday morning, headed for Pitkin - it's one of my favorite spots although not Glenns' because the road to get there is SO bumpy! But oh well!! We do have a favorite wilderness spot so we parked the 5th wheel and unloaded the razor to check and see if it was available - of course it wasn't! But that didn't bother me because I LOVE the campground in Pitkin - they have wonderful drive through spots so there's plenty of room and there were only 2 campers when we arrived! Spot #8 has always been taken when we've been there in the past but it was open this year so that's where we went!
The only bad thing about the campground is it is set in SO many trees, that not a lot of sun even comes through during the day so it is colder there - unfortunately not long after we arrived, it started raining - so Glenn took a nap and I hunkered down with my kindle and we were both happy! A little later we headed out, all bundled up as it was darn chilly out!
As it was still rather dreary out, I waited to take pictures the next day!
It was DARN COLD that night and the furnace ran a lot - but we stayed toasty warm and ran the generator in the morning to charge the batteries up! And then we were off to see the leaves!
I can't forget to post the bear pictures! During the first week of September, we must have been camping or something because I checked the camera one morning and this is what I found!
This is on our front porch and if I would have been sitting at my computer, this bear would have been about 4 feet away!!!!!!! We have large windows in our office that look out on this porch!
Apparently he was looking for a hummingbird feeder and thought the flower planter was it! I am VERY good about bringing in the feeder every evening as it hangs out in the tree in front of the porch!
The bear hasn't been back - which is a good thing!!
Saturday morning we were up bright and early once again to get Parker to Denver for the Cosmic Clash Blacklight Wrestling tournament!! He has been practicing a lot during the summer months and even though the wrestling season has not started at his school, his coach was taking a few of the wrestlers to the tournament! It was an open competition, not school related!
Jill and I headed out early to take Parker and Glenn and Robby followed just a little later! We packed a lunch and had our phones charged!! Traffic wasn't bad till we got into Denver and found the spot where it was being held - oh my gosh - the people and the cars!!!!!! We were lucky and got into a parking lot right across from the stadium so that was good!!! But the line to get in was ridiculous so we dropped Parker off and then parked and stood in line for quite a while!
I had NO IDEA what to expect but soon found out once we got in the door! Seating was all around the stadium and there were about 24 wrestling mats on the floor!! We found some seats and immediately tried to get our phones on their website!! But with around 1200 wrestlers in the house along with all of their families, the phones just didn't work very well!
You can tell by the picture of the two of us that it was rather dark in there - loud music was playing - and the entire floor where the wrestlers were practicing was dark with the crazy colored black lights doing their thing!!
But Parker lost his next match so by that point, he was done!
Glenn and I were thrilled to get to see Parker wrestle as his season is always during our Mexico Trip - Robby does send us videos of the matches which we truly appreciate but it's tough not to ever get to see him wrestle in person so this tournament was perfect!!
By the end, I was more than ready to get out of that place and into the sunshine!! We had brought our car so we could head right home - Gwyn actually had a softball game in Denver that we had considered earlier going to but with my pounding headache and being gone for 5 days, I was ready to just head home! But what a great 5 day trip we had!
RMNP has been on my bucket list for YEARS!! Yes, we go to Estes Park to celebrate Christmas every year BUT that's in the middle of winter and not the best time to go there! Last year we had planned to go up there to see the leaves but it just never happened!
So when we were planning our 5 day stay between Denver and Ft. Collins, I figured that Friday would be the perfect day to go since Jill and Robby would both be working! I immediately checked the "Timed Permit" rules as I had to idea if we could even get in! But I was glad to read that if you enter the park BEFORE 9:00am or AFTER 3:00pm you don't need a timed entry - that was a relief since the timed entries for our day had been taken a month ago! BUT they would release a few more the night before at 7:00pm - I wasn't too concerned about going in early as we were planning on leaving Jill's about 6:30 anyways and it was just an hour to get there - BUT I really did want to get a timed entry for one of the best roads in the park which is Bear Lake Road! This road has a couple of lakes and more leaves to see!
Luckily we were back from the ball game by that time so I got set up on Jill's computer - we could see there were 38 permits that were going to be released right at 7:00 so I was ready - and at 7:00 I clicked the button to get the permit and they were all gone already - WOW - apparently they clicked their computers a 1/2 second before I did!! Oh well, at least we would get to see the rest of the park!
We headed out on time and stopped in Loveland at Scooters for breakfast sandwiches and coffee to go with a picnic lunch packed in the back!
Entry was easy - we have the "free" senior park pass so it didn't cost anything to get in which was nice!
Right away, we saw a herd of elk - a LOT of people were stopped looking at them so we pulled to the side and got out! Not a new sight to us but I'm sure visitors that have never seen elk were thrilled to see them! There was a bull there also who I captured after we went a ways further!
We had a picnic at the stop for this lake as they had picnic tables available! It was cool out so we had worn our sweatshirts most of the time!
On the way out of the park, we stopped at one of the Visitor Centers and I got my Christmas ornament of the park! And my thoughts on the park: It IS a beautiful national park but I do have to admit that the views and things we saw were no different that what we see everytime we ATV in the mountains! Once again, I'm sure the out of state visitors are absolutely enthralled to see these sights because they don't see them on a daily basis like we do - we are so blessed to live in the mountains!
As soon as we got out of the park, we called Eric Lass (son of our good friends Dick and Jane) as him and his partner Jessi run a horseback riding company - Jessi's family has been doing this for 50 years!! They are based in eastern Iowa where the horses are during the winter and they haul them out here late spring when the tourist season starts! And lucky for them, their place is right on the edge of RMNP so the trails they use are all in the park! We enjoyed seeing their home in Estes Park AND the riding stables!
Then it was back to Ft. Collins - Jill prepared yummy tacos for dinner and we all enjoyed the evening - Jill, Aleah and I actually ran out later to DQ to get treats for everyone!
We headed up to Ft. Collins mid morning on Thursday - Jill was working at her school and Robby was busy with computer things - I had brought up Glenn and I's new iphones and a bag with all the new cords and car cords and cases and glass shields - I was SO GLAD that Robby was going to download our new phones and teach me anything new I needed to know!
As soon as Jill got home, we headed to Aleahs' softball game with Glenn and Robby following us also as Robby had a delivery after the game!
Aleah made the varsity team at her high school - so proud of her!! The team is mostly seniors and the coach only picked 2 new girls to the varsity team and Aleah was one of them - she doesn't get a lot of play time but she sure will next year!
Since Gary and Jessi both worked on Wednesday, Glenn and I decided to go to the Botanical Gardens! We always enjoy seeing all the plants and flowers and this year was no different!
I was 1/2 expecting to see a few fall displays but that wasn't to be........
The orchids were beautiful and in full bloom!
It was a great day for walking around and seeing everything - we even ate lunch at one of the cafes there and had a nice meal!
