Friday July 16, 2010

Woke up and hung out while Ange and Damian went out on their bikes. Then we went to New Belgium Brewery (Newbelgium.com) for a tour. The tour was amazing, it was nice to see a company that has actually committed to “going green.” This company has so many perks for just being an employee including: stock ownership, free bike program, and free weekly twelve pack. I bought a cool shirt on my way out and “borrowed” a cool New Belgium glass which shattered right after I left the parking lot :(. After the tour, we ate at Big Al’s a cheap burger joint, but it was actually really good. We also enjoyed some more beers at the Town Pump because their happy hour is so generous. After the pub we searched for a liquor store and made it back home to soak in the jacuzzi.


*Area 1 of the Brewery


*People from all over the Country have come here, including CT!


*Energy efficient fermenter called "Merlin" because it works magic for the company

Thursday July 15, 2010

Left Estes Park this morning and stopped at Lake Estes again for a 7 mile bike ride. After that headed out to Fort Collins. Our Rv spot has a jacuzzi and it also has a nearby trail which leads into town. We went into town on bikes about a 5 mile bike in and took a look around town. We stopped at a small pub called the Town Pump which was small but had all the local microbrews. We watched the Tour and then headed to Coopersmith’s Pub and Brewery for some Lunch and nice beer. After eating it was time to go home, and the bike ride felt pretty awful. After a shower and a breather I went to explore the nearby lake. It was truly a long day, all that is left is a soak in the jacuzzi.


*Getting attacked at Lake Estes


*Our RV spot in Lakeside KOA-Fort Collins


*Battled a horse in town, didn't even break a sweat


CooperSmith's Brewery


*Cool Beer Glasses+Damian

Wednesday July 14, 2010

Woke up and went to Lake Estes. Hung out there and caught up on some tanning, also did a few pushups. We also took the dogs to a dog park which had a Newfoundland Dog Club present. Later me and Damian took a bike ride around the lake on Ange’s bike and got caught up in a rain storm. When I finally got dry, we brought Lola to the Vet because she hasn’t been feeling well. Lola got some medication and we then went back to the Lake. Ange and Damian went kayaking while I just relaxed and enjoyed a book, “The Passage.” When we got back to the RV park we went back to the Rocky Mountain Inn again for some food. It was busier than last night but just as good. Then we played some horseshoes and I got my ass handed to me by Ange.

Tuesday July 13, 2010

Went for a hike to Flat Top Mountain. It was an intense 3 hour hike up. We started at Bear Lake and pretty much just went straight up from there. It took us about 2 hours to get past the tree line and it started to get windy. Wet got about .5 mile away from the top when all of a sudden some dark clouds rolled in. We felt some hail and decided to go back down a little and wait it out, but after about 10 minutes it just got worse so we had to call it quits. It took only an hour to get back to Bear Lake and by then a thunderstorm had rolled in and we scrambled for the bus. Of course when we were back to normal elevation...whatever that means..the weather was actually very nice and sunny. We are planning to eat at Rock Inn Mountain Tavern which according to Yelp has phenomenal garlic stuffed dates wrapped in bacon. If that can’t fill my belly after a hike, I’m not sure what can.


*Great view hiking up to Flat Top, still under the tree line




*Snow seen on the side of a mountain





*Bad weather rolls in with only .5m left :(


*Weather is nice back at Bear Lake-go figure. Apparently Estes Park gets a 10-15 min shower everyday.

Monday July 12, 2010

Lola had a long night again but I must have been deep asleep not to notice. Took the dogs for a walk this morning and mailed out some postcards. Took the RV into Downtown Estes. Had a really mediocre lunch at The Wild Rose Restaurant, Yelp said to avoid it but we didn’t see the clues in time. To make up for it I bought some cookies, and after felt guilty so we went on a swim and had a workout at this YMCA type place. From downtown you can see the Outlook Hotel which Stephen King stayed at and had the idea for his book “The Shining.” There is a really uncanny resemblance to the hotel in the movie but less creepy. Did some shopping at “Safeway” a local grocery store, and I guess you can buy lottery tickets here through vending machines, its pretty crazy.
Went to the jacuzzi to try to “recover” before tomorrow’s big hike, everyone in there was from Austin, TX, one person was from Los Angeles but moved to Austin. Its insane the amount of people that come to this RV park from Texas, just to get out of their state they have to drive like 15 hours. Now gonna lay low, drink some Izze’s and watch Breaking Bad before bed.


*Outlook Hotel

Sunday July 11, 2010

After a night of Lola pooing, it was time for some Rocky Mountain hiking. We began our journey by biking uphill to the State Park. From there we took two shuttles to arrive at the base of the mountain to start our climb to the top of Sky Pond. It took a few hours to get to the top, the last few yards were the hardest because to get to the lake, you had to climb up a small waterfall, talk about dangerous. It was a lot easier time walking downhill however, it started to rain for about 15 minutes making conditions “sucky.”

Sky Pond Hike Statistics:
Difficulty moderate
Distance 4.6 miles one-way
Starting Elevation 9240 feet
Ending Elevation 10900 feet
Elevation Change 1660 feet


*Hike up to Sky Pond


*Picture of Alberta Falls-near Bear Lake-on the way to Sky Pond



*Beautiful Lake on the way to Sky Pond


*only way up to the pond is to climb a waterfall


*totally worth the hike up

Friday July 9-Saturday July 10-Estes Park

Friday July 9, 2010

Took the bikes into town this morning, did some window shopping while passing about 3 bike shops. Stopped for lunch at this place called “Salt” and had some white wine and a pulled pork sandwich. Our server looked “funkylicious” she was something out of that Austin Powers movie. We then went to see if Ange’s bike was finished getting tuned up but it still wasn’t done so we explored this small park down the road, and then stopped back at this tavern we went to earlier for a few beers. We then headed back to the hotel for some billiards, beer, and grub, then some swimming/drinking. We had “Sunshine Ale” with lemon, was really really goood.

Saturday July 10, 2010

Went to a farmers market in town and had a ton of delicious samples ranging from nuts to yoghurt to dips. After all the samples I had a corn tamale and also some random spanish fried cakes with corn and cheese and pork, black beans, and cheese. We got some food for the future since we will not be around populated towns for much longer.

Went to the North Boulder Classic Bike Race which was in North Boulder Park. Was a nice race, lasting about an hour. After the race we did some last minute shopping and headed to Estes Park in the Rocky Mountain National Forest. Its a small RV camp with shuttles running to all the hike sites. We are planning on cooking some dinner now and then there are some random activities that the camp site offers.


*Bike race we went to.


*The Rv spot in Estes Park


*Beware of Texans at this RV spot

Wednesday July 7 (cont.)- Thursday July 8

The flight to Pittsburg was good, turns out Pittsburg has nothing to offer except golf courses and heavy industrial zoning. I really can’t imagine why anyone would come here, but maybe i’m missing something. The flight was about 10 minutes ahead of schedule, so now i’m scouting out the airport for a bar. 3 hours should be enough time to get my blood alcohol level back to something acceptable.

Flight to Denver went well, we passed a patch of bad weather but not too much turbulence. The airport was very confusing, had to take a subway to get to the baggage claim. Then the airport randomly switched where our bags went, and by the time I found my bag I had just barely made the shuttle. The shuttle took about an hour to get to the Outlook Hotel in Boulder. I met up with Ange and Damian, Lola and Ellsworth. We walked to a pub and had a few rounds of delicious beers and some real good burgers. Apparently the altitude gets you drunk quicker if you aren’t used to it, so when we got home just passed out.

Thursday July 8, 2010

Went out to have some waffles at the hotel dining area, then headed off in the RV to walk around Boulder. Went to a bicycle shop and then a small coffee shop which had amazing espresso. For lunch we went to a tavern, had delicious sandwiches and beer. Basically just walked around more and did some shopping for random needs. The dogs farts are really bad. Going out for some beers in a little bit then to the White Buffalo concert.


*White Buffalo in Concert


*Smart Asses at the Coffee shop we went to


Got to the White Buffalo concert and had a beer at Abo’s pizza across the way from the theatre. The show was good, and White Buffalo rocked the house. Had a bunch of beers at the show and then walked back to the hotel (harder than it sounds).

My Colorado Trip: Wednesday July 7, 2010

Bradley Airport- straightened out the mess with my online check in, turns out i’m flying U.S Airways to Pittsburg, then United from Pit to Colorado. Also my last minute packing made me overlook the fact I had a knife stored in my backpack. It was a awkward conversation with homeland security to say the least. Now i’m just waiting for my flight to arrive at the terminal, will update again later.


*My small ass flight to Pittsburg, felt like the President on this tiny 50 person jet.


*Got some cool shots of the Great Lakes, they are so damn big.