Go West Old Man – Estes Park With The Brown’s – 2012

One of Bob and Lea Ann Brown's (Cooking On The Ranch) favorite places to visit is The Rocky Mountain National Park, located a couple of hours northwest of Denver, and she has posted a few times about their visits to a cabin they like.  I was beyond elated when she suggested, back during the summer, that we all go up there and spend the night during our Denver visit, especially considering she had to take vacation from work to do this with people she’d never met. 

We drove north to Loveland, CO then west to Estes Park, following the Big Thompson River through its canyon – click here for some shots of it - mine didn't tun out.  Check this out for what happened in 1976 when a storm dumped a foot of water on the canyon in a short period of time.

Then we stopped at the Viestenz-Smith Mountain Park, which was a green oasis in the dry, brown countryside with the river flowing beside it and nice picnicking facilities. 

Lea Ann and Bob immediately began unloading the trunk and we soon had a picnic lunch spread out before us including cheeses, salami, olives, crackers and apples – it was perfect. 

Lea Ann tossed some enticement fruit on the ground and this is her taking a photo of the Stellers Jay she lured in.

We continued our scenic drive with stops at the Colorado Cherry Company and the Glen Haven General Store, famous for their cinnamon rolls.

In early afternoon, we arrived at the Sunnyside Knoll Resort just a short distance from the entrance to the RMNP.  The cabin is actually a duplex which worked perfectly for us, especially since they accepted pets.

After settling in, Bob suggested we go for a drive in the park and look for some wildlife.  It didn’t take long to find elk – this first guy was lying in the trees while the second fellow was herding a couple of females down the mountain toward the valley pasture.

Were the elk easy to find you ask?  We shot this young guy while sitting in the car as he crossed the road.

I didn’t have the lens to reach out and get some of the grazing herds but some folks had them a foot long and on a tripod – keep an eye on Lea Ann’s blog as she had a longer lens than mine and may post some.  Here are some shots of the meadows and mountains, including a little smoky haze.

At happy hour we headed back to the cabin for a little wine and conversation.

I just love this next shot.as Bob appears to be explaining how IT IS to Bev while Lea Ann checks his facts on her IPad J 

After a little libation, Lea Ann served us a shrimp cocktail with a very unique cocktail sauce which will be a must-try when we get home (LA correct me if this isn’t it, same for the posole) followed by a delicious posole which cooked in the crockpot from meat she had roasted at home.  After that, we just waddled off to bed – what a great day it was.

I'm now responding to your comments and photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

9/20/12 event date