So I guess its that time again. Time for the great getaway. Time to get in the car and drive endless hours to some predetermined area and just get away from it all. And this year with all that has been going on with our animals (the loss of 2 beloved pets within a month and a half and the addition of our adorable kitten), the house (new siding and new roofing plus some interior work), mandatory overtime, on top of being sick in the middle of summer for almost a month, we really needed a break. So this year we chose Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Now since this is one of our vacations, of course there were other stops along the way.
Day 1 was an early start we left home around 3:30am and headed southwest. Destination Scottsbluff Nebraska. The early morning drive was pretty uneventful except for the live version of frogger we ended up in. Thankfully I would like to report that yes Kermie did make it, although it was close. Our first and well basically only stop of the day was at Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park. Although it was a bit out of the way, it was definitely worth it. They have a building they call Hubbard Rhino Barn where they are still digging up fossils. Now these are not dinosaur fossils rather they are fossils of mammals from about 11 - 12 million years ago. I had no idea there were elephants, camels, and rhinos living here in what is now Nebraska. But they have full skeletal fossils of them. Hard to argue with that. While we were walking around the grounds in the heat (it was in the mid 90s) we saw a very cute little lizard. We also drove past Chimney Rock on the way to our hotel. Finally we made it to Scottsbluff, our home for the next 3 nights. My butt was never so happy to be out of the car.
Day 2 we traveled a whole whopping 7 miles to our destination. Scottsbluff National Monument was a nice place to visit. Upon our arrival, there was a very faint rainbow over the bluffs, a pretty cool sight to see. Too bad it wasn't brighter, but beggars can't be choosers. Once inside you can drive up onto the bluff, or you can as we did take a shuttle up to the top and then take the walking trail 1.6 miles down back to the car. It was pretty cool, we were the only ones on the mini bus, so we talked to our driver a bit. Turns out he had a good friend from Minnesota and spent a lot of time in the Sturgis area of South Dakota. It was also his last weekend of service before he retired. He gave us lots of tips of where to go and seemed impressed that we already had all but one of them on our itinerary. Turns out that one of the nearby towns was having a hot air balloon fest this weekend and so we saw a couple of balloons while we were up at the top of the bluff. We heard through the grape vine that the balloons got a delayed start because of the brief shower that we had in the morning, and all in all only a few balloons launched and of those only 1 had a good flight while the others didn't make it very far. So we got lucky to be up there when they did launch and saw the one make it pretty far. Up at the top there are walking paths that we walked on. We were warned about rattlesnakes and told to walk in the middle of the path, but unfortunately we didn't see any. We went down to an overlook where we met some people from only about a half an hour from Scottsbluff that wanted me to take a picture of them. In return they took our picture. While talking to them turns out she had been to Minnesota before and in fact had been to see the Worlds Largest Twine Ball, which is about 10 miles north of where we live. Small world huh? So we finally started to hike down the trail back to the visitors center. We were told it takes about 40 minutes. We know better that that. With all the frequent photo stops it pretty much took us 2 hours. It was pretty cool, there were some times I had trouble with my extreme fear of heights, but not too bad. We saw a Magpie fairly close up and a cute little toad as well. There was a tunnel that we got to walk through and there was a really nice cool breeze coming through the tunnel which felt really good on this hot hot day. Just as we entered the tunnel some guy came up behind us and was just going to pass us, but with the echo and all, it really sounded like it was coming from the rock itself, so I was startled and thought for sure the tunnel was haunted. There were so many people hiking up the trail and even those who were in good shape could barely breath. Did they not do their research and know about the shuttle? I know I would not have wanted to walk up that trail. Lots of these people were only wearing flip-flops too. Ouch.
Day 3 we traveled about an hour away from our hotel to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. This was a nice little park out in the boondocks. There are absolutely no services there, and that included my cell service. In the entire county there isn't even a gas station. Yikes. As long as you are prepared, full gas tank and beverages and snacks you will be fine. We started out with the longest trail first. 2.7 miles took you out to Carnegie and University hills where all the fossils were found. Along the path we saw a snake. Aaron yelled rattlesnake and grabbed my shoulder to hold me back. I already saw it and said yes I see it, but I don't think its a rattlesnake. It wasn't it was a bull snake, but still a good find. We also saw a rabbit up on Carnegie Hill. After a short snack and rehydration break (although it was supposed to be cooler, it wasn't really noticable) we tackled the second shorter trail. This was a better trail in our opinion. Here you actually got to see daemonelix (fossilized burrows of ancient beaver that were in the shape of cork screws). These were pretty cool to see. We also got to see 3 really cute horned lizards. They blend in with the terrain and are only able to be seen if they move. We also saw a very tiny snake but it moved too fast to be photographed. Then were were ready to come back to the hotel.
Day 4 was a travel day. We left Scottsbluff and headed to Wyoming out to Fort Laramie. On our way out of town we noticed that they finally got the balloons launched and saw about 10 flying. It was neat to see. We arrived at Fort Laramie around 9am and at the time were pretty much the only ones there. It was nice and quiet. Even a couple of rabbits came out to greet us. After watching the informational video we set out walking the grounds. Gradually we noticed we were no longer alone. Eventually 3 buses of German tourists joined us at the Fort. So much for seeing any more wildlife. It was still and interesting place to visit. After walking around the fort we found we still had some time before we had to leave for Estes Park, so we decided to check out the Oregon Ruts and Registry Cliffs. First up was the ruts. Not knowing what to expect, I was amazed how clear and deep the ruts were. There was a huge depression cut into the rock where thousands of wagons and oxen traveled out to the west. It really was amazing to see and really hit home just how hard these emigrants had to work for a new life. Not like today where they expect everything handed to them on a silver platter. Many of these emigrants had to abandon everything they had and leave their friends and family. Many of them lost their lives and were buried right there on the Oregon Trail. Its impossible for us to even imagine how difficult this life must have been. Then we headed over to Registry Cliffs. This is where hundreds of emigrants carved their names into the sandstone cliffs. It was neat to see all the different names and where they came from. Then it was time to head to Estes Park. Once we got to Loveland we headed into the mountains to Estes Park. The road here was intense for those of us who are used to relatively flat landscape. I was white knuckled and nauseated just sitting in the car. It sure was pretty though.
Day 5 we finally arrived at Rocky Mountain National Park. We got up early in hopes of beating the crowds. It seemed to work because we were able to enjoy a leisurely stroll around Bear Lake with minimal people around. By the time we finished walking around the lake the masses were starting to head in. On the way up to Bear Lake, we saw a couple of Moose along the road side. This was definitely on my wishlist for this park. Then we walked around Sprague Lake. Here there were more birds to be seen. We even got to see another of my wishlist items, a Mountain Chickadee. Then we stopped at the Nature Trail at the Moraine Park Visitor Center. This was a great place to view birds. There were lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers and Mountain Chickadees. We also had a great view to overlook the Elk in the meadow below. To top it off there was the cutest chipmunk hanging out in the parking lot. He was almost tame. Its really too bad, because he associates people with food and in the long run is really harming his health. After that we headed up to the top of the world. We decided to go as far as the Alpine Visitor Center and work our way back to the entrance of the park. This drive really tested my nerves and I spent much of it with my eyes closed and with a tight grasp on both the door handle and my seatbelt. Once we got up there I did calm down a bit. We were able to enjoy some shopping and a bit of lunch at the top of the mountain. Then we were ready to work our way down. I was a bit calmer on the way down even able to snap a few pics while heading back down. We decided to take a short alpine hike at the Toll Memorial pullout. Here we got to see 2 more of my wishlist items, Yellow-bellied marmots and Pikas. It was such a thrill to see both of them even though they were quite a ways off. We also got to see Mule deer and Wild turkey.
Day 6 we returned to Rocky Mountain National Park. We got an early start again and headed out over to the West side of the park, where supposedly the moose tended to hang out, but that meant going up to the Alpine tundra and back down over the mountain. Since I had done this side before I was able to look around a little more and loosen the grip on my seatbelt. Once again I was even able to snap a few quick pics along the way. The other side of the mountain was easier to travel down, so I was able to keep looking around. Today there were Big Horn Sheep lounging about near the Alpine Visitors center. They were pretty much the last of the things on my wish list, so I'd say we did pretty good here. Once on the other side of the mountain we decided to go to the Coyote Valley and walk the trail there first. Here we were hoping to see some Moose or Elk but no luck. It was still a nice walk and relatively quiet at least to start out. There were some birds and squirrels seen along this trail. From here we went to the Holzwarth Historic Site and walked around a bit. Then we went to the Beaver Ponds. Again no Moose. Looks like we are getting skunked today. Oh well. Then it was time to go back over the top of the mountain. This time we stopped at the Lava Cliffs and Rainbow Curve. Here we saw lots of little chipmunks that were really tame and just running along the top of the ledge. We also saw some Clark's Nutcrackers and Steller's Jays. We ended our day at Sheep Lakes and the Alluvial Fan. It was a good but tiring day.
Day 7, my least favorite type of day, traveling day. Hauled butt from Estes Park to Lincoln Nebraska. It was a eight hour drive and we lost an hour due to changing time zones. I think it is hilarious when you come up on a car that looks like no one is driving because the either the driver is very short or they are slouched down in the seat. It got a bit hairy when the sky got dark and a bit ominous. Good thing we joined the modern era and now have a phone that can pick up satellite. The amazing thing is it knows where you are even when/if you do not! It sure does beat the local radio stations. Hello, announcer dude, I'm not from here. I do not know what county I am in, or what county I'm headed to. Little help you are.
Day 8, last day of the trip. It's September 11, and the 14th anniversary of 9/11. It was pretty cool when we left our hotel at around 8am saw a rainbow over the interstate. Our destination to day was Omaha and the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. I have been wanting to go here for as long as I can remember. It is home to the largest indoor desert in the world, which is located inside the world's largest glazed geodesic dome. Very cool. It was a very nice zoo and I'm so glad I got to go there, the only thing is it is under construction right now so some of the animals are off exhibit. Guess I'll just have to go back sometime so I can see the new African exhibits. We stayed there until 3pm and then headed for home. Another 5 hours and we would be home. Along the way we saw a fox, deer, and a raccoon. Nearing home we saw a very pretty sunset. It was the perfect ending to a perfect trip.