No pictures along the way today. We got home at 6:00, unloaded the car, and relaxed for the evening with ice cream for desert on my birthday.
So ends another great trip, but I have to say that after seeing the destruction of lives and property caused by the fires in Colorado, some of which were intentionally set, our hearts go out to the people who have lost their homes and more. We wish all of those in the area of the fires the best of luck. And to the woman who was seen setting fires in the Colorado Springs area: I hope you get trapped in your own fire and burn to a slow death!
Our Aliner friends, Jim and Jan, were camped in Mueller State Park, on the other side of the mountain from Doug and Carol's, so we all met at Bronco Billy's in Cripple Creek for breakfast. I popped for breakfast. It's the least I could do for our good friends.
After breakfast Jim & Jan followed us back to Doug & Carol's to visit for a while. About 11:00, we left, leading Jim & Jan to where Rt. 67 goes south from Divide back to their campground. We headed on into Woodland Park, then took Rt. 67 north, 126, 85, C-470, then I-70 thru Denver until we were able to get onto U.S. Rt. 36, our favorite route between Springfield and Colorado.
We drove 393 miles to camp at Prairie Dog State Park, just west of Norton, KS. It was hot, but the humidity was still low. We cranked up the A/C and got a good night's sleep.
We spent the day visiting with Doug & Carol, our old friends who used to live in Decatur. They have a new dog, Paco, who is really docile and well behaved for being only 6 months old.
Last year Doug & Carol built a new 2 1/2 car garage and converted the old attached garage to a living room. The old living room is now a dining room. You can see the new garage in yesterday's pictures. The new living room has the stone chimney on the outside wall.
Today, I took some pictures of the inside of the new living room. Enjoy!
We had to take a different route than usual to get to Doug & Carol's because of the Waldo Canyon fire along route 24 between Colorado Springs and Woodland Park. Doug & Carol's house is about 23 miles southwest of Woodland Park, north of Cripple Creek.
The day was uneventful until we came to a "Y" in the road. Both were dirt roads. One had a sign on it that sort of peaked my curiosity. So, after consulting with the bar tender in the tavern near the "Y", that's the road we took. The other one was three times longer and ended up on the same paved road, but it wasn't quite as treacherous.
We made it to Doug & Carol's without incident, and the three miles of dirt road was thrilling.
Since the road from the Moraine Campground area to Bear Lake will be under construction for the next three years, they are running a shuttle to minimize traffic. So we took the scenic bus ride to the lake and walked the short, easy trail around the lake. Most of the pictures in this post were taken as we walked around the lake, with a few at the end of the day.
With the temperatures near 100 degrees, I took the vent covers off the fridge to get more air circulation to cool it off. Then we started making plans to travel to higher altitudes for cooler weather.
We drove to the Alluvial Fan on the Old Falls River Road, then kept going up to the visitors center on the one-way dirt road. Lots of pictures, so I'll let you look. Oh, An alluvial fan is a fan-shaped deposit formed where a fast flowing stream flattens, slows, and spreads typically at the exit of a canyon onto a flatter plain. Enjoy!
P.S. I forgot to mention that when we tried to get back to the campground, we were turned back by police due to a fire that started on the edge of Estes Park. We were able to get into Estes Park and go to McDonald's to use the Wi-Fi to keep tabs on the fire. After a few hours, we were allowed back into the campground, but not before the fire had destroyed 21 homes. It was started by one of those home owners burning trash!
