We woke up at 9:00 and took advantage of the motel breakfast enjoying some cereal, bagels, fruit, coffee and doughnut. We packed up and hit the road just as the maid was coming in to clean the room at 11:00. Not an early start but we were both wiped from the previous days activities.
The GPS took us north to Longs Peak campground through beautiful mountain roads of Arapaho National Forest past Blackhawk and Nederland to just south of Estes Park where the campground was. We pulled in a couldn't believe our luck finding an open tent-site immediately. I had thought it may be difficult due to it being Friday and nearly 1:00 when we arrived but it wasn't. We reserved two nights and set up camp. The ranger in charge of the park was an elderly man who talked non-stop and I think had a crush on Samanta. I tried not to be rude but the guy just wouldn't let us go about our business... After we were set up we decided to go to Estes Park where Samanta wanted to find some Colorado stickers for her collection (ok for mine too) and we both wanted to check out the Stanley, the hotel used in the Shining movie.
In Estes Park we stopped at Safeway and picked up some supplies, including some dessert and then at the hardware store where I finally purchased a hatchet (yay!) and some firewood. Next stop was the Stanley.
The Stanley was a beautiful historical hotel. It was a bit smaller than we expected and they charged us $10 to look around (they gave us $5 back in the form of a food voucher) and there was a lot less Shining references than I expected. They also didn't let me come in with my axe (kidding!). We also learned it was where they filmed many scenes from Dumb and Dumber. We walked around the small tourist area and front lawn and listened to a fiddler on the front balcony before departing after about an hour there.
Our final stop of Estes Park was at the RMNP entrance station to pick up some knick knacks for ourselves and family. We headed back to the campground, Sam mentioned it was her favorite of all the towns we had been to thus far. I couldn't help but agree.
Back at the campground we had a dinner of rice and beans and went to bed. We were planning on waking up at 2:30 am to start our Longs Peak hike.
 |
| Enjoying my lunch in hammock at Longs Peak campground |
 |
| The Stanley |
 |
| The Stanley model used in The Shining |
 |
| The Stanley entrance |
 |
| Sam and I behind The Stanley |
Comments
Post a Comment