Monday, June 27, 2016

Bill Tries a New Look and More Family Comes to Colorado

As planned, much of the weekend is spent at home. With a fishing spot just out our front door, where else would we go?

Spruce Lake RV Park is by far the busiest place we've ever stayed. Even more so than state parks along the beach. All of the 100+ sites are full, the group picnic area is packed each night, all the cabins have families, dozens of children in the swimming pool and playground, and campers talk loudly to each other from everywhere in the park. It is more like summer camp than an RV park. 

Bill learns from the hosts that there is a family reunion here - 60 people! That makes sense. They're a big group who all know each other :-) Evenings and nights are still quiet so that's a plus.  

I venture through town for groceries on Saturday morning. With two events - The Westerniers and The Midsummer Scandinavian Festival - it is wall-to-wall people. Young traffic "enforcers" help keep cars and pedestrians moving at each signal. Given the huge numbers, the chaos is pretty organized!

Around mid-day Bill calls me to come outside. I see that he is now wearing a new shiny "head piece". He's done a masterful job of embedding two hooks of a treble-hook into his scalp. His idea that I'm going to pull it out with pliers is optimistic and unrealistic - we're going to urgent care. Not only do I not laugh (out loud), but I don't take a photo. I regret the latter greatly :-)

Everyone at urgent care has fun with their "patient" and of course have stories of much more "impressive" fish hook incidents that have walked in.


Evidence after the fact
Last week my "almost" daughter Megan contacted me about being in Fort Collins this weekend. While we are making plans to meet, their hosts tell her they want to take them to the Scandinavian Festival in Estes Park! So she and husband Chris, and their friends, come to us :-)

Street vendors and large crowds are not something that Bill enjoys so he drops me off and comes back for more fishing. The previous day's medical emergency has not scared him off!

The festival is very popular and all the pastry, clothing, art, textiles, and pottery vendors are doing a brisk business. There is a Saab club and I'm so sorry I forget to get a pic of the cute little cars. 


Lots of folks enjoy the festival
Interesting old structure on the hill overlooking the park
I've never seen a Maypole with the cross beam. Covered in flowers and vines, it is impressive.
We make our way to the center where all-day entertainment is scheduled. Megan refers to their friends Daven and Wendy as "The Vikings" - and at over 6' each, they wear their heritage well. Naturally we are seated in time to see the Viking battle event. A well trained group from Denver demonstrate hand-to-hand fighting with different weapons, including spears and axe. 





We stay to see the "peek-a-boo" dance (very fun), and then head across the street for lunch. We enjoy catching up at Casa Grande - another restaurant with a lovely view. They have to get to the airport so all too soon we say our good-byes. How fun to meet up in this beautiful place!


My Megan
Chris, Megan, Wendy, Daven and Alaric
Having fun with Mommy
Pam assures me that the best view of all Starbucks is here in Estes Park - a must see! Of course I must check this out and provide photographic proof.  She's right, this is definitely the nicest setting of any store I've been too. 


River front coffee
Here ya go Pam!
Bill picks me up (this is definitely the way to visit downtown in these crowds), and we're back to our lakefront home.

Monday we are heading back down to warmer temps, and out of Colorado for now. Estes Park is definitely one of the most beautiful places we've stayed. It is an expensive area, but it helps to know that a portion of the higher taxes go to the national park. We will be back - perhaps in May or September in an effort to avoid some of the crowds.




23 comments:

  1. I've never commented and come to your blog via Bayfield Bunch but I just have to say how much I enjoyed your post about Estes Park. We have a tiny second home there and I just can't wait to get back. Our almost daily walk takes us down the River Walk to Starbucks and those outside tables. Yes, it's crowded during the summer months and takes a bit of patience to drive from place to place but it's not too bad. The winter months are quite mild compared to our homestate of Iowa and it's very beautiful, quiet, and peaceful there in Estes Park and RMNP. And of course, autumn is stunning! Maybe you'll get to return for another visit.

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    1. Thanks for commenting, and I'm glad you enjoyed this post. Your second home is in a most beautiful place - I can only imagine the autumn colors! As busy as it is there, I'm still impressed by how smoothly everything responds to the crowds. We will definitely be back!

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  2. Estes Park is a fun place...I sure hope to get back there one day!

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    1. It really is a great place. Even with all the people it's one of our very favorites so far.

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  3. We only drove through Estes Park once on a day trip from the other side of the mountains and it was CRAZY busy (on a weekday). From my experience anywhere you go in CO in the summer is super busy because that is their short window of awesome weather. BUT, I did feel that staying in Grand Lake (on the West side of RMNP) was less hectic than Estes Park...plus we had moose in our RV park ;-)

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    1. I was very tempted to follow your route and check out Grand Lake, but I didn't think I could handle the even higher elevations :-( I think next time we'll have to check it out - I did pretty well in the 8300' for those four days! Moose is at the top of my "have to see" list so I'm very envious.

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  4. The Scandinavian Festival looks like fun! Steve says Bill should be wearing a hat when he fishes to avoid such catastrophes! He speaks from experience! How nice to have family come visit you!

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    1. He even has a "fishing" hat that he wore all last summer......I'm thinking he may pull it out of the cupboard now :-)

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  5. Poor Bill! Too bad we all weren't around to "show" our sympathy. You know we would have been so supportive:) The head look good now. At least he finally caught the big one...haha!

    Isn't that a nice Starbucks patio! Our very first day we had a beautiful mule deer in the meadow across from the water, as well. John says his favorite is the one in Sedona that over looks some red rocks. That one is awesome, too.

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    1. Yes, it would have been even better with more supporters!! Sedona and Estes Park do have that "everywhere is a good view" going for them. How lucky we are to see so many of them :-)))))

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  6. OUCH!! Lol I hope Bill is going to duck next time he casts out.. Great photos. It almost looks like the Ren Fare in Irwindale.

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    1. I'm thinking a hat :-) It was a very small festival, but lots of fun activities and plenty of folks in period and national attire.

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  7. Yikes...that sounds painful. Glad to hear you put some reason into the situation and opted for urgent care. Glad to hear he's back in the boat again. Hard to keep a good man down.

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    1. It was buried so deep in the scalp there was no way either of us was getting it out! I suppose it's a good thing he didn't have hair or he'd really have a reminder left behind :-)

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  8. Dave one time caught his fishing partner in the lip while they were out on a lake fishing. Urgent care was probably the best place for him, I sure wouldn't have tried to pull it out. Takes a lot more than that to keep a fisherman off the water. Love RMNP but haven't been in a number of years, my first visit was back in '76 when my folks took us on a camping trip out there. Now my brother and our son live in CO but we haven't been back in a few years.

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    1. Ouch - that really had to hurt!! I've only been in CO once before, and definitely want to go back again. It is such a pretty state.

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  9. OMG poor Bill!!! That must have been painful. (But I must admit I laughed when you said that you wished you had gotten a "before" pic. :-)) Glad he got right back in the saddle. Estes Park looks like a lot of fun—I haven't been there in a million years and it's on our list—but based on your experience, we'll wait until fall.

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    1. The shiny lure made it even funnier :-) We'll come back, but I'm already glad to "spread out" here in Wyoming!

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  10. I really am sympathetic but I laughed when I read this. Hope you gave his sore head some sweet kisses. I had no idea fishing was such a dangerous sport. I'm with Bill on crowds but love Renaissance festivals and this Scandinavian festival looks like lots if fun.

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    1. He didn't get much sympathy elsewhere :-) The couple who brought Megan and Chris are both Scandinavian and said most everything done at the festival was authentic.

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  11. I really am sympathetic but I laughed when I read this. Hope you gave his sore head some sweet kisses. I had no idea fishing was such a dangerous sport. I'm with Bill on crowds but love Renaissance festivals and this Scandinavian festival looks like lots if fun.

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  12. Poor Bill. How does this happen? And yet he goes back for more. Looks like a fun festival to share with family. But I wouldn't like to drive among the crowds. Nice to have a driver option. Love that "Seattle" coffee place with a view. I haven't been to Rocky Mt NP in 40 years and it was the first park I fell in love with.

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    1. I can see why you fell in love, it is certainly spectacular. I feel like we didn't give it enough time with the heat and crowds. Hope to get back when neither are an issue. Oh yes, he definitely keeps going back :-))))

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