Weather is fine and sunny again, high 20's (degC). The sun is strong enough to sting our sunburnt faces.
Today's destination was the fun tourist town of Estes Park, at the eastern gate to the Rocky Mountain National Park.
A few slow risers this morning; delays packing the bag and a good dose of whinging, but we got away from our hotel near the airport by about 11am and headed west toward the mountains. The in-car GPS was set and we drove off. Front seat passenger was tense, barking instructions/warnings and she reported a sore arm after 10miles from gripping the doorhandle so hard!
Nice views of the Rockies foothills from the highway on the way out of town and after about an hour we arrived at the wierd town of Central City. This is a historical gold & silver-mining town in the foothills, which now survives almost entirely as a casino/gaming town. We were there during the day, so there was almost no-one in sight (I'm sure it lights up at night, though), so we had a quick wander around then returned to the Suburban to keep heading north toward Estes Park.
More windy roads, steep climbs and descents and great views across valleys and mounts with wide swathes of green-and-gold as the birches showed their autumn colours amongst the pines.
A familar voice from the back seat started asking about food over and over and over, so we broke out our "roadie" snacks to keep Tom quiet so we could continue into Estes Park in peace. Lunch done (it's become our main meal of the day), we drove out to the National Park visitors centre to get our bearings, grab a map for tomorrow and buy some souvenirs. Then back to town for an ice-cream at the Sundae Saloon; Jo's ONLY memory of Estes Park from our visit 8yrs ago. Fun shop; cowboy style; great ice-cream and funny photos.
Checked into our hotel; very nice; two-story; two bathrooms. Kids cooled off in the heated pool and jacuzzi, Jo & I drove looking for a Pie Shop we found online (but no longer exists) and we ended up at Safeway to grab some bagels, peanut paste and chocolate mousse for dinner.
Still no notable traffic infringements (touch wood). Off through the high country over the continental divide tomorrow, hoping to see some remnant icy spots and some cold weather. Destination Breckenridge ski resort town (Tom has already been online researching Mountain Bike Hire places in Breckenridge).
We've added some more photos to our album, so follow the link on the right and scroll down.
Luv from The Schueys ;-)
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