Colorful Colorado

After a nine hour drive through the desolate Wyoming, where it took 25 minutes for an order of chicken nuggets, we were rewarded by the Eco- friendly town of Fort Collins. The clean streets are lined with popular bike paths and breweries filled with pooches! Bea would have loved it!

The New Belgium Brewery looked and felt like a lodge and boy was it packed. Just down the road we passed another brewery and chose the third, one of my favorites, Fort Collins Brewing. Had delightful samples, bacon covered pretzels and corn waffles with pulled pork, yum!

I did notice however that the friendliness of the Coloradians is not up to snuff with the warm, chatty people we have encountered so far though the USA.

On our ride to Rocky Mountain Nat. Park we drive along a cabin lined river. It has been the most inhabited wilderness encountered so far. Made a coffee stop in Estes Park, another adorable park town, to find out the back of the shop a scenic river. Love!

Had our first wait to enter a park, oh the popular Rocky Mount. The landscape is strewn with granite boulders, living up to its name.

Hiked to Alberta Falls and Bear Lake.

Enjoyed some BBQ chicken and corn in the cob by fire.

This morning we headed to yet another biome, the tundra! It required a lot of uphill, 12,000 feet elevation, and some scary view points.

Took another ranger walk to appreciate the diversity in the plant life. In one square foot there can be up to 27 different plants!

We got lucky and saw a tamingran, looks like a pigeon, but well adapted to the windy and snowy conditions of the Never Summer Mountains. 

Even these Kromholt pines get wind burn (the dried part on the top).

We continued on a couple hikes on the mission to find a moose.

Unfortunately this is the only one we found.