Wi-Fi in the Wilderness, part 2

So we hung out in Boulder Friday morning, then grabbed lunch at another of our favorite restaurants, Noodles & Co. Then we drove back up to Estes Park. We drove via a new route which took us through Boulder Canyon (with a cool stop at Boulder Falls). Then through Nederland, CO and up the "Peak to Peak Highway" to Estes Park, CO. Along the way we drove through some light snow. After arriving in Estes Park, we stopped by the Laundromat to dry a few of our clothes so that we could wear them over the next two days in the cold weather.

We drove back into Rocky Mountain National Park and stopped for a while to watch the Elk bugle and graze. Then we camped at Moraine Park - it stopped raining just as we were about to set up our tent. It was a nice last night in the National Park - clear and cold with a bright moon.

On Saturday, we decided to dayhike a short loop past Dream Lake, Lake Haiyaha, and Mills Lake. About 8 miles in all. It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. The only exception was the brief rain/sleet storm we encountered at Mills Lake. It seems like EVERY time we are there it rains or sleets on us. Something about the nature of the gorge it is located in.

After getting off of the trail, we drove up to the Weissman home for showers. After cleaning up, we hung out with their family (Wayne & Patti have 4 children, but Patti and their oldest daughter, Rachel were in Toronto where Rachel will be attending school this year). Joseph and I played guitar together while Avi looked on. Celia showed Elise her new room (she gets her own room now that Rachel has moved out). Then we drove down pole hill a bit to visit with our friends Hondo and Trish Winn. Hondo is also on staff with Ravencrest Chalet, in addition to being an avid outdoorsman and snowboarder. He proceeded to show me his new avalanche beacon he bought in preparation for his backcountry snowboarding adventures while Elise and Trish caught up on each others' lives. We had actually ran into Trish earlier that morning when she was in the National Park hiking with a friend from her school (she is a teacher in Estes Park).

Then it was off to one of our favorite restaurants in Estes Park - Sweet Basilico Cafe. It's a tiny little Italian restaurant that serves incredible made from scratch food. It literally has only about 10 tables! So, needless to say, reservations are a must.

Sunday morning, I had breakfast with Wayne (Weissman) and his son Joseph, then as their family headed off to church, we packed up and took off for home. We had to make a quick stop at Safeway in Boulder for some Henry Weinhard's Root Beer, then over to Chipotle for a great big burrito. Then hit the highway. We arrived in OKC around 1:00 a.m., and went straight to bed.

We woke up the next morning to greet our girls who were very glad to see us. Then back home to Fayetteville. It wasn't exactly the trip that we had planned for a few weeks ago, but completely refreshing nonetheless. Even though we had to improvise a bit, we still had a terrific time.