Colorado - Day 2

Day 2 began a little slowly as both of us were pretty TIRED. Susan did a little morning yoga with all the big windows open and looking out at the trees and rocks. Me? Well, I rested while she did yoga. After yoga (and showers) we headed into town to Kind Coffee for Mocha's, bagels and some day planning time. As Susan mentioned, the plus to getting a late start is not having to wait too long for Laura's candy shop to open. (Hmmm...there may be a theme here: Mike + Susan + Colorado = Candy Stores). This has become tradition for us. We stop in when they open for toffee and brett bars, or as we like to call it, second breakfast.

Basically we spent the first half of the day visiting the shops to see what fun new things were available this year. Most of the stores stay the same and there weren't too many surprises. We did see some neat tree sculptures in one shop that we both really liked. Now we're trying to decide if there is somewhere in the house one would work.

We thought we might try to get to the other side of the park this trip (Grand Lake), but the trail ridge road is already closed for the winter. From what we were told, the area over there isn't in good shape. Apparently there is a beetle that is killing the pine trees. And, they're spreading to this side of the park. There isn't much that can be done to stop them. The park service is trying to use insecticide to slow them and protect some of the trees. The park needs a brutally cold winter to help kill them off. Unfortunately, the winters have been getting warmer the last 10 years or so. Not good.

We had a nice afternoon in the park. We drove up to to Bear Lake trailhead (9475 feet) and walked the loop around the lake. (It always amazes me to think when were hiking here we're about 8,000 feet hight than our house!) The weather at the lake was cold and windy. OK, it was actually very cold and windy. Still, the sun was shining and we had blue skies. We also took a trip around Sprague Lake - this is where we watched a marmot playing in the water last year; one of my favorite memories of the park. There was ice forming on the lake, and yet there was a fisherman wading in to enjoy some late afternoon fishing!?

We headed back to the condo for a glass of wine in front of the fire. Then, dinner at Smokin' Dave's BBQ & Taphouse. This is one of our favorites places in Estes Park. Good food and feels like a good mix of locals and people like us.

We finished the day back at the condo reading and relaxing. This is good stuff.