Our campground while visiting the western part of Rocky Mountain National Park in September, Winding River, had a Grand Lake, Colorado address, but it was actually a few miles to town. Since we'd taken such a long hike the day before, our hiking muscles (and feet!) were ready for a something a little more relaxing, so we decided to hop on our Bike Fridays and pedal down to explore this cute lakefront town. A bonus of our ride was some gorgeous views of the aspens dressed in absolute peak foliage. If only the sky could have been blue for us too. Ah well, can't have everything. A double bonus was seeing a row of stopped cars up ahead at one point and realizing they were seeing elk off in the woods. Cool! We stopped for photos, of course. We love seeing these magnificent beasts. I didn't realize until I zoomed and cropped the photo that there were bait stations drawing them to this area. But no matter, it was great to see them. The road into town is a steep downhill; our campground was at 8650', so we'd be doing some climbing to get back. The main downtown street in Grand Lake is so charming, and after descending the hill into town, it's nice and flat so makes for great cruising on a bicycle or walking up and down and window shopping. What do you wanna bet there are fewer cars once the leaves have all fallen? We sniffed out this bakery using Barry's finely tuned baked goods radar! They even had a bike rack for us. So many yummy choices! Since we're often on the move or boondocking without electricity, baking isn't something that happens very often in Pearl, so it's nice to make an occasional bakery run to restock our goodie stores -- these are great for our longer bike rides and hikes. Instead of Dairy Queen, in Grand Lake we have Dairy King. Too bad it had closed for the season. With the warm temperatures on this day, a cone would have been a nice treat. Re-entering the park, we stopped for a sign photo, and a friendly tourist offered to take our photo. He did a great job! A final stop at the western Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) Visitor Center for a magnet for our board, and then a quick ride back to our campground 1.5 miles down a side road completed this short but sweet ride. Stay tuned for our drive through RMNP and more stunning fall foliage -- and some wildlife too!
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Emily & BarryWe're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base. After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible. Archives
July 2019
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