7/14/18 - Longmont, CO

When we camped here a couple of years ago we found out there was a huge farmers market in the parking lot of the fairgrounds on Saturday morning.  We went back to it today.  They also have a food court and we bought breakfast burritos and took them back to the Casita to eat.  I can’t wait to eat some of these ripe, beautiful veggies we bought.  Anne-Alex came to camp around noon and the three of us went to Rocky Mountain National Park.  Jim drove us up the one-way, narrow, winding dirt road to the Alpine Visitor Center.  When we got there, the temperature was 66 degrees, and there was still snow pack at the top.  Anne-Alex hiked the Alpine Ridge Trail.  Jim and I have done it before, but not this time.  The altitude really gets to me.  On the way back down we stopped to take pictures of Elk on the slopes.  People were walking out on the tundra (this is not allowed) and getting only feet away from wild animals that could hurt them.  Rangers had been there handing out tickets.  But when they left, it only started up again.  Sort of like the people in Alaska getting really close the bears and moose.  Stupid.  There was a really big elk with a great antler rack near the road.  The line of cars going by him and stopping to get a picture was really funny.  We were one of them when we finally made it to him.  On this part of the drive the temperature went down to 57 degrees.  After making more stops to look at the beautiful views that the park has, we stopped in Estes Park and had a beer at Rock Cut Brewing.  Then we had supper at a Mexican restaurant.  We got back to the Casita after 10 pm and Anne-Alex still had to drive home.