Denver and the Rockies - Day Two - Part Two

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After the Trail Ride we stopped for lunch in Estes Park and then headed for Trail Ridge Road for a drive through the Rocky Mountains. Trail Ridge Road is possibly one of the most spectacular drives you will ever take - it is the highest (12,000 ft ) continuous highway in the US, and takes you way above the tree line to see sweeping panoramas of the Rocky Mountain National Park. We went from a temperature of about 72 to 34 in less than an hour driving up to the Alpine Visitor Center. Along the way we drove through a forest of evergreens, through flower covered meadows of the tundra, glacial landscapes, lava cliffs, a view of Never Summer Mountain Range, Longs Peak and more. We saw elk and marmots, and one of the prettiest rainbows I've ever seen. We even got snowed on. It was very windy and cold up there and Taylor wasn't really prepared so she finally gave in and took my little red jacket - who cares that it was 3 inches short on her.



Again our time was too short.
We were disappointed that the Alpine Center was as far as we could go. We had wanted to cross the Continential Divide and reach Grand Lake before heading back but the sun was setting and we had to get back to Denver.
On the way out Taylor and I wanted to make one more stop. We had seen a small Aspen forest along a little creek when we first entered the trail and we wanted to take some photos before leaving the area. Taylor said she could live back there. It was very peaceful.

I was the designated driver for the trip back to Denver and I needed a cup of coffee. It was the perfect way to end the day in Estes Park. We stopped at a cute little coffee shop called, KIND coffee. Nice comfy chairs to sit in and rest for a minute or two before driving back to Denver. An extra bonus was a nice comment on the feather necklace I was wearing. In fact she wanted my shop information and said she would be in contact because she knew just the person she wanted to buy it for. yay!

The drive back was wonderful. I didn't have anyone on my tail end trying to make me go faster - the only thing in the rear view mirror was a gorgeous sunset.