After five weeks, I’ve come to the realization that about every 7-10 days we need some city time and, more importantly, some hotel time.  After Black Canyon, we headed to Denver for a great meal at Kona and a relaxing night in a hotel.  Then – on to Rocky Mountain National Park.  Sarah and I were just there in August so we didn’t feel pushed to see everything while we were there.  We drove the Trail Ridge Road from east to west, using the one-way gravel Old Fall River Road as our route to the Alpine Visitor Center.  We continued on almost to Grand Lake then turned around and drove the paved road all the way back.  On the way we saw this critter on the side of the road.  At first, he was laying flat on the edge of the road, looking like roadkill.  Then he popped up for Sarah to take this picture.

We saw two herds of elk on the drive as well as these two big guys.

As always, the drive was beautiful.  There was some snow in the high country and it was really WINDY!

No pictures but on our last full day of vacation – before we started the trek home  – we did a whitewater raft trip on the Cache la Poudre River out of Fort Collins.  We chose a trip with Class II and III rapids and kind of wish (well, Sarah wishes) we’d chosen the trip with Class IV rapids.  Still, it was a memorable way to wrap up a great trip!