Got up early the next morning and watched a 90 car freight train go by. Then we headed to Laramie, stopped to walk a wildlife trail but only saw a couple of chickadees and a magpie. Down the road a bit was an enclosed field with a sign that said “do not feed or touch the animals”. It turns out the animals in question were two bison, grazing nearby and ignoring us completely. We got to Laramie soon after and had burgers at Born in a Barn (a cowboy themed lunch spot right at the edge of town) and watched another a long train go by, this one right in front of our parking space.
We got to Loveland later that afternoon and spent a few days with our friends Diane and Jim Kristoff and their cocker Buffy. Highlights included:
- Birding all day Tuesday with Diane and seeing a golden eagle being harassed by two peregrine falcons. Also counted about 150 western grebes on a reservoir and 12 or so bushtits in a stand of rabbit brush. Went out to dinner where Ron tried bison steak. He was unimpressed.
- Ron’s Wednesday fishing expedition with Jim on the Poudre River; he caught three trout (and released them, of course). He also got a good look at an American Dipper. When it first hopped out of the water he thought it was a fish jumping, but when it landed on a rock just across the stream he realized it was actually the bird. And meanwhile, while birding with Diane, I got to see another golden eagle flying only about 50 feet above us.
- Thursday we drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park. The weather forced us to turn around before reaching the Alpine Center at the top. Not only was the wind blowing fiercely – gusts about 30 – 40 mph, we estimated – but it poured rain on and off as we ascended. When we noticed a few snowflakes mixed in, we decided to turn around and go back. Took a couple of side trips on the way down, including a parking-lot picnic in Hidden Lake picnic area while the rain pelted the car, a quick look at Bear Lake and a walk to Sprague Lake where we nearly got blown over by the wind. We stopped (along with a dozen other cars) to gawk and take pictures of a huge elk bull and his harem of 18 cows.
- We said goodbye early Friday morning. Diane had to take Jim to Denver to catch a plane to visit his parents in Pennsylvania and we needed to do some shopping before getting back on the road. We let Buffy out and locked up before heading out about 8:30 am. Had a little breakfast in Mimi’s Café (where we’d eaten the night before) and hit the Skechers outlet to replace Ron’s falling-apart canvas slip-ons.
We camped for the night at Juniper Breaks CG in Pueblo Lake SP just outside of the city of Pueblo. It was 84°F when we pulled in at 4:30 but the wind kicked up when the sun started to go down – gusts up to 50 mph according to the weather app – and the temperature dropped 20+ degrees in a matter of minutes. The van rocked and rolled for a couple of hours but we felt cozy and safe inside. We’re heading to see the Great Sand Dunes in a day or two, before driving south into New Mexico.
The Ultimate Road Trip 