10 replies to this topic

[mwilson]

Hmmm...let's just say this was a little break in our vacation. When we returned from our hike to Lake Isabelle on Wednesday and got some food out of the trunk, Ken discovered that the latch would not work. So since that time we had been driving around without our trunk locked. Fortunately, it would stay down when we were driving, and you really couldn't tell that it wasn't locked from just looking at it. The biggest problem was that at the campground you have to keep all of your food locked in your trunk because of bears, so all of our food had to be kept in our back seat once the latch broke and it was pretty much a pain in the rear. When we got back from Indian Peaks, Ken checked and found out that the closest VW dealer was in Greeley and that they could fix it on Friday at 1:00. This is the second time this has happened and both times it was when we in Estes Park.

Friday morning, we got up enjoyed some time around the campground, and I even put on some makeup for our big trip down the canyon and into the city! We went into to EP and stopped by Erik's gallery, but apparently he heard we were coming and decided not to come to work that day. We enjoyed looking at his beautiful images anyway, but we were sorry we didn't get a chance to see him.

When they took the car in, we took advantage of the free time making some phone calls and using their internet access to catch up on email, FB, and the Forums. Ken went to check on the car and came back with this lovely message, "The good news is that we'll be leaving soon, and the bad news is that they didn't have the part for the trunk." You can imagine how excited I was to discover that we had given up a perfectly beautiful day in the park for a useless trip to Greeley. Grrrrr! They did show Ken how to get the part off and we called back to Sioux Falls and when we got home the part was waiting for us. Guess what, the part was repairable, so now we have a spare. We hadn't eaten lunch and decided we would eat out when we returned to EP. Monica had warned me that if we wanted to eat at Smokin' Dave's that we should arrive plenty early or plan on a long wait. It was about 4:00 by the time we got back to Estes, so we went directly to Smokin' Dave's. There were already a lot of people there and by the time we left there was a line. We had a great dinner, but it's always too much food!

After we let our food settle a bit, we decided to take an evening stroll up to Alberta Falls. Since we usually opt for the fire trail when we are headed for some other destination, I'm not sure how long it had been since we had actually gone to the falls itself. It was a gorgeous evening and a good way to work off SOME of the calories consumed at Smokin' Dave's. The falls were beautiful and and spay felt good.


The color on this wall caught my eye as we headed back down the trail.


By the time we reached this point on the trail back down, a couple different groups stopped us to asked, "How much further?" That's always a hard question to answer since going down is so much quicker than going up. The trail would have been teeming with people during the day, but going up in the evening it was much less crowded.


When we were almost back to the trailhead, this pretty scene caught my eye. It's been my desktop on my laptop since we returned.


I guess any day that ends in the park can't be a total loss, but I probably could have a better way to spend a lot of it!

[Rhonda]

Very frustrating when a business messes you around like that. But at least it wasn't a lost day. I love that picture of Alberta Falls. Did you or Ken crawl down there and get that shot? Lovely evening hike.

[John]

Ooo la la! Love those photos!

[mistylady]

I love the one of the falls with all the water rushing down. Paul and I went to Alberta Falls during the STOMP. I have a picture of me standing right by the rock where all the water is now flowing. You couldn't even tell there was a falls there with all the snow on top. Great evening hike.

[Monica]

I can see why you made the last picture your desktop picture. It's gorgeous. Your Alberta Falls picture is also excellent.
I know you what you mean about the crowds. We went to see Alberta Falls in early morning this last trip and there was no one there. Evening sounds like a wonderful time.
Sorry about the wasted trip in Greeley, but as you said at least you got in the park later in the day.

[Scrapinator]

Great pictures. I know it was frustrating to lose a day, but Smokin' Dave's and a nice evening stroll, that almost made up for it, right? Love the second picture in particular -- what amazing colors!

[B-Jay]

You forgot to post some pictures of the Greeley VW dealer.

Going to Alberta Falls in the early evening was a good idea. I think the falls look so much prettier when there aren't crowds of people around.

B-Jay

[Qbert]

I like your pictures a lot, but I'm most impressed that you were able to get a little hike in after a Smokin Daves feast! They have to roll me out of that place.

[Twinebender]

Nice shots Marsha,
Now if you could just get the sounds and smells of RMNP to come through my screen along with the pictures.

[mwilson]

B-Jay, I intended to get a pic at the VW dealer, but I forgot. Q, we had to do something to work off that food, but I really wanted to just sit around. Sure glad we took in the falls though; it was such a nice time to go. Rick, you just got to go to the park. Didn't you save up those smells and sounds. Sure wish our time would have overlapped.

[Igloo Ed]

The run around from car mechanics is bad enough on a normal day but when on vacation... And then the part was repairable...
At least now Ken knows but what a way to get an education.
But, I'm glad you did have a good time while here and the weather was fabulous too.