But first we had to get from the southwest corner of Rocky Mountain National Park (Grand Lake) to the northeast corner (Estes Park) and the most direct way to do this is to drive Trail Ridge Road - which is apparently the highest paved road in the US. After filling up on gas (very important when driving a gas guzzling tank) we were on our way. We were really talking up the chances of spotting wildlife to the kids since I'd read in the guidebooks that if we were going to see wildlife anywhere, THIS would be it. I forced them to keep their blinds up and look out the window every now and then. "Kids, watch out for wildlife!" was our mantra at that point. We were usually met by eye rolls and groans.
As we drove the road began winding a bit. We began spotting snow covered peaks in the distance and I was excited about the views we would have. Then the curves in the road got curvier and narrower and then downright hair-pinny. The guard rails were not reassuring as they were rather short and seemed to be constructed of wood. As the passenger on the side of the road where the road dropped away, this did not sit well with me. I found myself gripping the seat, digging my nails into my hands and slowly grinding my teeth.
We climbed and climbed and climbed. Ears started popping, kids started complaining, John was looking a bit pale and sickly. We'd underestimated the effects of the higher altitude and by the time we got to the Alpine lodge at the very top we were ready to get the hell out of the RV. The air is definitely thinner at 12,000 feet above sea level. Any thoughts of hiking or even walking a little bit to check out the views went out the window. We took our picture at a scenic overlook, bought a few souvenirs and decided we'd had enough of feeling winded and nauseous and that it was time to descend. Don't get me wrong, the views were breathtaking - in more ways than one. But we were done.
As we descended the other side of the mountain we could not believe how jam-packed all the pull-off areas were. Cars, RVs and motorcycles were parking every which way and there was no way we were going to fight for a parking spot so we just continued on. We gave up on seeing wildlife despite all the signs that warned of various animal crossings and by the time we were halfway down the kids had plugged themselves back in to their devices and tuned us out. We were ready for some food and Colorado brew and more breathable altitudes.
As luck would have it my childhood friend Ulana happens to live in Colorado and also happened to be in the Estes area hiking with her daughter, so after multiple calls and texts in a poor cell reception area we finally agreed to meet at the Estes Brewery. But first we had to drive through Estes itself which was crammed with weekend visitors; cars, motorcycles, the occasional RV, pedestrians crawling the streets - it was a virtual game of Frogger to get through the little town. We finally made it to the brewery, created a parking space for the RV, sat down to lunch with Ulana and enjoyed some brews and burgers while we caught up. It was great to see a familiar face and a huge relief to be only a few thousand feet above sea level.
Then it was time to continue on to that night's destination: Gering, Nebraska, home to a place called Scottsbluff which has some historical significance to the Oregon Trail and also home to a convenient RV park that only cost $24/night. We found ourselves driving out of the town of Estes and along a winding river through some deep gorges and valleys. We thought we had been finished with the crazy roads but we were wrong. It seemed to take forever to wind our way out of there and I found myself longing for the straight open roads that had taken up the first half of our trip.
We finally made it out of the mountains and onto a major highway out of Colorado. We rejoiced when we crossed into Wyoming and stopped at the welcome center, an impressive building with free coffee and lots of exhibits on all the wonderful things Wyoming has to offer. Unfortunately we were just passing through the southeast corner of the state, so that welcome center was pretty much our taste of Wyoming. All John really cared about was that they had free coffee, a precious commodity on a long drive.
We blinked and we found ourselves out of Wyoming and in Nebraska, where the landscape immediately turned into endless cornfields. This would pretty much be our view for a large part of the rest of the trip. We finally pulled into Gering, Nebraska and into the RV park, which to our surprise was actually very nice. The cheap price and some questionable TripAdvisor reviews had made us a little leery, but we found ourselves parked on a nice paved site (after parking on uneven gravel/dirt for the last few stops, this was a treat!) with a huge grassy area in the middle of the sites.
We also had a view of Scotts Bluff Monument the signficance of which I'm still not completely clear on. When I went up to the little window to pay for the night a group of old-timers was sitting outside the office in folding chairs like they were having a little meeting or something. It seemed very peaceful and homey. I immediately got out my beach chair and stretched out in it, drink in hand and found myself wishing we could just stay in Nebraska for a few days.
But no! Mount Rushmore awaited so we called it a night and went to bed.
Next: Mount Rushmore drive-by, bikers galore and some lands that are bad.
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