Wednesday, August 7, 2019 - Loveland Breakfast Club; Back at Bentley; Backroads--Buckhorn Drive, Masonville, Highway 14; Campfire

Wednesday, August 7, 2019 - Loveland Breakfast Club; Backroads--Buckhorn Drive, Masonville, Highway 14; Walking the Trail; Planes Planes and More Planes; Campfire

This morning while checking my email I had one from Escapees Mail Service with our new address.  I had two items I was waiting to mail, knowing the address would be here soon, so I had both ready in no time.  Now comes the real work - making sure everything is changed within the next three months. 

Dean loves to have breakfast out, so I suggested we try the Loveland Breakfast Club which is just a short distance from the park.  It had great reviews...let's hope we agree!

We soon arrived and selected from the Over 55 Menu - love these prices!  I had two pieces of french toast that was delicious, and I would put it fairly high on my list for this dish.  Dean chose egg, bacon and potatoes, and a piece of sourdough bread.  He wasn't quite as happy with his - mostly due to the potatoes.  Hash browns are his favorite.  He said the potatoes tasted like sliced baked potato that had barely hit the grill - and possibly just sitting in a container to serve as needed.  He did like the sourdough bread though.  

Dean has been looking at the map and suggested a drive through the countryside, so after a quick stop at the RV, we headed out on Buckhorn Drive towards Masonville (where we happened to see their Post Office along the road.  We made a quick stop to mail those letters I mentioned earlier.)  What a beautiful drive this was.  The scenery and rock formations seemed to change every few miles and we thoroughly enjoyed our day here.

There were many beautiful homes (and a few older cabins) scattered throughout the area.  

We were surprised when a sign just back around this corner said "Tunnel Ahead".  Fortunately, it was just a short drive through.

After awhile we transitioned to Highway 14 that led us back through Fort Collins.  Along the way was the Cache la Poudre River.  There are several companies that utilize the river for white water rafting.  Right now the water isn't real high but it is moving along very well.  We really enjoyed our stop along the river to watch as several rafts came down the river.

While we were there a bus pulled up.  The driver said you sure are a long way from Kansas.  Would you believe he was originally from Wichita?  He and his wife moved here after he retired from Boeing.  We had such a nice visit with him before he had to move on to the next check point for his group.

Several miles downstream there was a nice park, so we pulled in and walked down to the river.

There were many people enjoying floating in the water upstream and in this area.  The water is about 50 degrees - much too cold for me!

Near Fort Collins.  Such a beautiful backdrop!

It was pretty late when we returned, so the fillets we had planned for tonight will wait until tomorrow, and we settled for a hot dog!   (psst!  followed by ice cream with strawberries) Afterwards we walked the entire north portion of the trail along the lake.

As we were walking to the paved path - there is a small dirt path from our section of the park to reach the paved area.

This is near the end of the path.  It is just a short distance from the marina.

Across the lake is Northern Colorado Regional Airport where we watched planes fly in all evening - most of them within 5-10 minutes of each other.  I loved watching them. 

Our sunset for the evening.

One of the planes coming in.

Isn't this beautiful?

Tonight, Dean got out his Father's Day present out and used the flame genie for the first time.  It was still a little warm, but it was a nice ending to a great day.

Happy Guy!

Happy Lady!

Another wonderful day in Colorado.  This definitely could be a favorite place to visit.  God has created the most beautiful scenery and we are so thankful to have the opportunity to see it.

Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - Loveland VIC; Trail Along the Big Thompson River; Driving to Estes Park

Tuesday, August 6, 2019 - Loveland VIC;  Trail Along the Big Thompson River; Driving to Estes Park

We did quite a bit of sightseeing today, starting at the Loveland Visitor Information Center where a very nice lady assisted and provided us with information.  We picked up guides to Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park.  They are small but packed with some great information and a nice map.

The VIC is a beautifully landscaped.  

You will see "hearts" around town like this one

You will see lavendar plants in many areas of town.

Loveland is known for their sculpture art and you can find it in many places around town...even in individual yards.  Just outside of the VIC is a small sculpture park around a small pond, so we took a quick walk around it.  Here are a few pictures:

There are hundreds of locked keys with notes written on them attached to the large LOVE sign.  It can be seen from nearby Hwy 24.

This was an interesting sculpture with explanation.

Hopefully you can read the center plaque for more information.

Everyone driving by the VIC can see this large LOVE sign.

From there we drove to Old Town Loveland, but we were not that impressed.  We aren't in to visiting many stores (unless we have a specific need) and eating is okay, but we are really trying to stick to our budget.  There are other places we want to focus our funds this month so we are eating at Bentley or bringing it with us for now.  Centennial Park wasn't too far from there.  It is adjacent to the Big Thompson River which comes down the mountains and flows into Loveland.  It wasn't anything special but it has a really nice walking/biking trail adjacent to a very nice park.

Interesting information about monarch butterflies.  I would love to have a butterfly garden someday.

This is the walkway along the Big Thompson River.  We enjoyed the walk, but much of the path was blocked by vegetation.  

After stopping at Bentley to eat lunch we decided to drive over to Estes Park for the rest of the day.  What a beautiful view we had as we took Hwy 34.  Not too far into the park the cliff type mountains rose high above us.  After a couple of turns, there was a place to pull off.  A couple on a motorcycle were parked in front of us.  I noticed the Missouri tag and asked where they were from.  Shawnee and Kansas City.  What a small world.  There were a couple of guys fishing there as well and it was fun watching them.

Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) is just beautiful.  I'm including a few of the many, many pictures I took here.  

The famous Stanley Hotel - it's interesting that we seem to be following things about Stephen King.  He based a novel on this hotel.  I've never read one of his books - not my type.  We saw his home in Bangor Maine, and visited their cemetery - another site he used in one of his books.

We stopped at the Fall River Visitor Center where we obtained information on places to visit, time frames for driving to certain locations, best places to see wildlife, etc.  For today we chose to drive Horseshoe Park Road to Alluval Fan (a water fall) on the way to Ypsilon Lake.  We decided we would hike to the waterfall since it was a short distance.  We could immediately tell we needed to get back to walking everyday.  As it ended up, we turned around before we reached it after meeting a couple who had never heard of it.  We thought we were in the wrong place, but after checking our map again, that was the trail, so we'll try it again when we return in several days.  We also decided we need to keep our hiking shoes and walking sticks in the truck for future outings.  We definitely will want them if we do any more hiking.

Dean headed up the Alluvah Falls trail.

Dean would really like to take a horesback ride through the mountains.  I've never had much luck being on a horse, but I might try it for him.

Beautiful vistas everywhere you turn.

We love these water pictures!

It was getting late, so we headed back to Bentley where we ate the rest of the taco salad I made last night.  

The sunset tonight wasn't quite as good as Monday's but it was still nice to look at.  We also went a bit further on the walking path this evening.  It feels good to get up and move.

As we walked along the trail near the lake - I loved the way the sun brightened these trees.

Taken while we were on the walking trail.

From our site.

Another beautiful day in Loveland, Colorado.  Thanks for following along.  

Monday, August 5, 2019 - Boyd Lake State Park in Loveland, Colorado

Monday, August 5, 2019 - Boyd Lake State Park in Loveland, Colorado

The last thing Dean told me before we went to bed - don't forget the alarm clock is not on Mountain Time.  Okay, thanks! I said.

I woke up at 5:00am, hopped up and went down to make the coffee.  While waiting I picked up my phone - what?  it's only 4am.  Oh well, I was awake now, so I enjoyed the quiet time and my coffee.  It was my early morning stuper that did it!

Surprisingly, the park internet was working great this morning, so I was able to do a little work on the blog before we ate breakfast and readied Bentley for our move.  It was 9:41am when we left Seibert, CO and headed on northwest to Boyd State Lake in Loveland, CO.  Even though the drive took us near Denver, we were happy with the roads that routed us away from the city itself.

A few pictures we took on the drive today:

Such a great way to "announce" your community.

Interesting setup?

Wow!

Beautiful colors.

An old farmstead.

I loved watching the planes fly into Denver Intl Airport - it was perfect to help the time pass as we watched them as we traveled west to I-25, then north for several miles before passing the airport.  One after the other.

We are beginning to see the mountains!

It was an easy drive to Boyd Lake State Park once we arrived in Loveland, CO.  We quickly found our site and pulled in at 1:17pm.  There were several loops; our site is in Loop D.  Each site was "banana shaped" - a big curve you pull into and park on the pavement.  Our door and outside seating is facing the Rocky Mountains and the sunsets...and no one is parked beside us!  Wonderful!  (We have discovered whoever plotted this has provided almost every site with a great view of the western view to enjoy the beauty of sunsets over the Rockies!)

In no time we were set up and settled in for four days.  We were looking forward to getting out and seeing the area - a place we have never visited before.

We ate our lunch on the road, so once we were set up I wanted to find a grocery store for a few things we needed.  After searching nearby stores, I checked to see if any of them were included in the Dillon's reward program and found King Sooper was included.  Since it is less than three miles away, that is a bonus.  

We headed that way and of course as we arrived, the famous Colorado afternoon rains chose that time to welcome us.  Fortunately, we had an umbrella and we pushed through.  We were there for close to 45 minutes.  I had a list, but with any new store it takes a little longer to find things.  I don't mind looking, however,after the first 15 minutes or so, I think Dean was ready to go.  It was a very busy store.  Best yet I saved several dollars with my Dillon's card.

Clouds building - looks like we might have some rain!  Yep, we sure did - but our umbrella saved us!

On our way back to the park, we saw this guy on a wake board.  By the way they are on Horseshoe Lake.  For those of you who don't know, there is a Horseshoe Lake just east of our hometown of Oswego, too.

After we had everything put away I made a taco salad for our dinner then we headed outside.  The park has a wonderful paved walking/biking path along the lake, so while the sunset was beginning to show off - we decided to walk part of it.

Sunset behind Bentley

Walking along the lake.

These pictures were taken while we were walking along the lake.

A close up of the beautiful sunset!  

I thought the previous picture was going to be it - but after we returned to our campsite, we enjoyed the afterglow!  We love our spot here in Boyd Lake State Park!

Thanks so much for following along!  We are so thankful for the opportunity to enjoy God's beauty, no matter where we are.