Phannie

Phannie
Photo taken near Monument Valley, Utah

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Estes Park With Friends as Guides

At Elk Meadow RV Campground, Estes Park, Colorado...

We have spent most of the week here at Estes Park, enjoying the incredible high mountain weather with daytime temperatures in the seventies and needing to turn on some heat on the chilly mornings. When we see the reports of triple-digit temperatures in Texas, it seems far away and unreal. However, when we return there at the end of summer, it will still be hot and all too real, I'm afraid. We wouldn't think of going back so soon, but we need to make our way to Tennessee and points east, to fulfill our autumn plans. Before we do that, we need to make our semiannual appearances at the offices of various medical professionals in the Houston area. This will facilitate the prescription renewals of the chemicals that largely hold our aging carcasses together.

While enjoying the cool mountain climate here, we have been in the company of Glenn and Joy, fellow Phaeton owners whom we met recently at Colorado Springs. We find it amazing that we would run into a couple who are so simpatico, sharing as they do my deep roots in the beautiful forested hills of far east Texas. (We grew up only about 75 miles apart.) We find that our backgrounds are remarkably similar, having many of the same family customs and preferences, borne from our mutual rural heritage.

Joy and Glenn
Glenn and Joy have spent many summers in Estes Park, so we have had the unexpected good fortune to enjoy their role as tour guides, a favor they seem to delight in performing for us. Had it not been for our daily pilgrimages together around the area, we would have missed some very interesting and beautiful parts of this picturesque area. We traveled into Rocky Mountain National Park several times, seeing new sights and learning more about the beautiful area each time. Aside from an ascent to the highest point in the park at 11,000 feet, we saw numerous places we hadn't seen before, including these scenes from near the beautiful, crystal-clear waters of Bear Lake:









Sandy, Joy and Glenn at the Alpine Visitor Center at the top of RMNP


We also enjoyed a very entertaining western show at the Lazy B Chuckwagon in Estes Park. This was a talented troupe who were great musicians and who kept us laughing throughout:



Our good time was well worth the small price for the dinner and show, and we highly recommend it if you are in the area.

This post serves as a nice follow-on to the previous one, where I discussed friendships, old and new. We know that Joy and Glenn, while actually new friends, are already forever ones. And so it goes with this lifestyle. That's why we always close our posts with these thoughts:


Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; 
please forgive me if I don't appreciate it each day as I should.

You don't stop playing when you get old; you get old when you stop playing.

10 comments:

  1. I saw on news today that Colorado Springs had 4 inch hail storm. Sure glad you guys moved North, the weather is very wacky this year. Very nice to have a guide as there is a lot to see in that area.

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    1. I know; we were glad we moved to Estes. We had quite a few days in CS when some significant storms developed.

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  2. I am stuck here in the sweltering northeast working on a construction project and you're flaunting photos of Bear Lake, my most favorite spot in all of Rocky Mountain National Park. You should be ashamed of yourself, Mike! Seriously, your weather looks and sounds gorgeous, and you and Sandy appear to be having just too much fun on your play dates with Joy and Glenn. Good for you - enjoy every minute!

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    1. Ah Mary, so sorry about your plight. I'm trying very hard to relate, but it's not easy. And yes, we're having a grand time with nice people who seem to tolerate us. We are indeed blessed.

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  3. What a fun time meeting up with people and having your own tour guide.

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    1. I'm grateful that neither you nor I seem to have a shortage of friends, George. How lucky we are!

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  4. What a beautiful location! I wouldn't want to leave. We have made so many new friends since we started RVing, but we all have that commonality making it easy to build new friendships. I'm glad you found that in your your new found friends!

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    1. Hi, Cheri! It is a great life, isn't it? Thank you for your kind comment.

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  5. I visited Estes Park once many years ago and have always wanted to see it again as an RVer. Summer has to be the best time. We have other plans for next year already, but maybe the year after that. My only concern is that Craig has been slightly sensitive to altitude in the past and I wonder if it will be worse with age. We shall see.

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    1. Hi, Merikay! I do hope Craig doesn't have an issue here, because it is such a beautiful place. Perhaps spending a few days at the elevation of the town (7500 ft) would prepare him for the trek to the top, which is at 11,000. That seemed to work for us.

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