You have to credit Marie for packing light, with only a purse and a small carry-on bag. And yet she somehow managed to find room for four pairs of shoes – each of which, she quickly pointed out, was indispensable. In a rare triumph of my better judgment, I refrained from asking Marie to explain why she couldn’t survive for a few days without the three-inch heels she wore on the plane.
Saturday morning we headed to the park and drove the full length of Trail Ridge Road, apparently the highest continuous paved road in the entire United States. For over eight miles it runs above 11,000 feet. At the highest point – 12,183 feet – we made the short hike to the geological survey marker and took in the panoramic views.
That night we camped at Timber Creek, where I introduced Marie to the fine art of cooking hotdogs over a fire. After enlightening Marie with a lengthy lecture on the proper technique for managing your hotdog over an open flame, I promptly allowed my cooking stick to catch fire, weakening it so much that the stick broke and dropped my hotdog right into the coals. Of course I only did this to further Marie’s education by providing her with a dramatic example of what not to do, but unfortunately she misinterpreted my methods and – instead of expressing the appropriate level of gratitude – she once again made sarcastic remarks at my expense.
In what I’m sure was an attempt to atone for the hotdog misunderstanding, Marie followed her impressive string of pre-dawn performances in Yellowstone by waking up with me at 5am on Sunday for sunrise photos. Our run of no-cloud morning luck continued and we didn’t get any good landscape shots, but the local wildlife stepped in to fill the void.
I found your blog from Flickr. Amazing photos, and an amazing trip so far.
And I agree. You must play John Denver at least once when visiting RMNP. Preferably so that you're singing Rocky Mountain High while topping Trail Ridge Road 🙂
Safe and wonderful travels!
Robin
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I just returned from my 1st family vacation as a dad to Dream Lake & will admit, I showed my kids how to feed the chipmunks anyway. Raw peanuts in the shell. Like you, I reflected on trips with my folks as a boy. I did have John Denver w/ me but sadly the cd I grabbed didn't have Rocky Mtn High OR Country Roads on it. It barely sufficed to hear “Mathew” especially since I drove past Colby Kansas on the way home. Thanks for the great fotos. Nice mountains.
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thanks for sharing – fantastic pics of the outdoors & wildlife. makes me really want to make the trip to Co and Yellowstone (again)!
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