Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Sunday we left the Grand Tetons National Park and headed towards Colorado. We drove over a snowy pass (and the Continental Divide) and spent the night in Rawlins, Wyoming. From there we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park just east of Estes Park, Colorado. We spent two nights in the campground inside the park.

While there we did some hiking and driving around – it was beautiful – fresh snow on the mountain tops. It is so different from Washington state. In Washington if a mountain is 14,000 feet high it has snow on it year around. But because Colorado is a lot more arid almost all of the snow melts off the mountains during the summer. We saw lots of elk. They were everywhere. It's the mating season so lots of bugling by the male elk.

We also had a little adventure with our cat, Buddy. Every morning Buddy lays in wait by the slider door that separates the bedroom from the living room. As soon as the slider is opened he runs into the bedroom and jumps on the bed. He usually stays there for 10 – 15 minutes getting a long petting and chin scratch. This did not happen on Tuesday morning. Nope – Buddy was by the recliner and wouldn’t move. We thought he was playing with a ping pong ball that had gotten under the chair. He kept sticking his paw under the chair and trying to get something out. So, Connie got down on the floor and looked under the chair and saw a mouse!! No wonder it had Buddy’s attention. So, Bob got out of bed and we started trying to get the mouse. We tipped the chair over and it ran under the next recliner. We tipped over that chair and it ran behind the couch. We opened up the hide-a-bed and it ran to the corner. All this time we’re trying to help Buddy catch the mouse. It ran behind his cat box and we moved the cat box. Buddy tried to get it but it ran back under the recliner!! At this point, Bob went and got a mouse trap and loaded it with peanut butter. We headed out for a drive through the park and came back about 4 hours later. No mouse in the trap and Buddy still laying in wait by the recliner. So, we got smarter. We put towels down in front of the couch so that the mouse couldn’t run under there. We tipped over the first recliner and out ran the mouse to under the 2nd recliner. We tipped over the 2nd recliner and he ran behind a container we have in the corner. We moved the container and he started for the couch again. Bob stomped on the mouse and that was the end that mouse. But, at least Buddy let us know there was a mouse in the trailer.

Today, Wednesday, we drove south to just east of Bolder, Colorado to a state park where we're staying for 2 nights. We're then headed to Colorado Springs to stay at the RV park in the Air Force Academy.