Fort Collins Day 2

<-- My favorite 'flower' picture of the day, but it's really a weed!

This seems like ages ago, even though it was only four days ago! First of all, we loved Ft. Collins. It would be an awesome place to live, and we were very impressed by the city. It's clean, beautiful, and progressive.

After taking a little swim at the hotel, we left to spend the afternoon at Rocky Mountain National Park. We started off in the visitor center, where they gave L a cool little Junior Ranger Book. Among other things, the book had pictures of all the animals that could be seen in the park. She also had a little Rocky Mountain wildlife books, which could be used to identify all of the plants/trees, birds, mammals, insects, etc. We started out with a hike around Bear Lake. L carried her books and a pen and was ready to start checking off wildlife.

She was determined to spot a bear while hiking around Bear Lake. She sat patiently and watched the mountainside for the longest, certain that she would be able to spot a bear if she stayed and watched long enough.

We spent the day hiking and drove up to the highest point in the park. I can't explain what happened to me while driving the long arduous narrow road up to the very top. Maybe it was flashbacks to the nightmarish days I spent driving up and and down every flipping narrow, dirt road on every mountain from WI to CA and back. I just know that when we were driving up those shoulder-free roads with nothing between us and plunging to our death several thousand feet below, I was scared. I HATE being fearful and have conquered my fear of heights, so I was not prepared to feel such panic on the drive up. I just kept thinking...if M just sneezed, or miscalculated a turn by a tiny bit...It was horrible. It made it worse for him, because normally he is the one who is nervous in those situations and I am fine, but having me next to him, nearly crapping myself, was getting to him. I was finally able to pull myself together, because I didn't want L to be nervous or worried.

The scenery was beautiful, though. We lucked out by hitting peak bloom time for the gorgeous alpines at the upper elevations. We did not get to see any bears, which really bummed L out. We did however get lucky and get to see some bighorn sheep and elk.

When we reached the top, there was a little cafe that sold overpriced sandwiches. They had only one veggie sandwich left, so M & L split it. We drove just a little way down and stopped by a herd of male elk near the road. We were able to get right near them and ate our lunch, took pics, and watched them for a long time. It was incredible to be that close to them for so long. They are just beautiful. I wanted to go up and hug them, but I restrained myself. We got a lot of good pictures though.

<-- a little elk souvenir

We then met our friends, Lori, Tom, Clover, and Jason, at a veg restaurant in downtown Ft. Collins. We loved all of the food at Tasty Harmony! Clover kept us all entertained with her excessive cuteness. We wandered around the very cool and super clean downtown area and got these hoho cupcakes that were to die for! They were made by Water Course bakery in Denver. I am in love with these cupcakes and will really miss not being able to get them in WI.

They had these dancing fountains downtown that L and other children were playing in. It was very cool. We hung out downtown until it started to sprinkle, and we were all tired and ready for bed. We went back to our hotel and tried to get some rest before heading out to Denver for another full day of activities (and driving).