If we’re not gonna be where you wanna be, we should at least enjoy it!!!!!
We have moved from Riverview RV Park in Loveland, CO to the Fort Collins/Lakeside KOA. It’s a lovely park with nice wide sites, each with a stone patio, wrought iron table and chairs, fire ring and grill! There is all the usually amenities that go with a KOA – mini golf, pool, horseshoes, playground, etc. My favorite though is the tree lined path that goes all the way around the lake! There are benches to sit on, shade everywhere, exercise pads and animals painted on the stumps of trees along the way! We are planning on staying here most of the winter months. (Ed. Note – Who the hell deliberately WINTERS in Colorado?!?!?!?!)
It really is a great town!!!
The great thing about being in Fort Collins is the number of restaurants to visit, plenty of shopping and 4 yarn shops within a 15-minute drive! I visited all of them last year and have already been back to one of them! Can’t wait to visit the others 😊.
Now THIS is what we moved to Colorado for!!!!
However, I have to tell you of our FANTASTIC day last Saturday! It is the middle of Elk rutting season and they congregate in the town of Estes Park every year. We headed that way pretty early (for me anyway) around 7:30 am. (Ed. Note – 2 hours later than I normally get up!!!) As we were going through Big Thompson River Canyon, about 5 minutes from Riverview, we noticed several cars pulled over on the side of the road. When you’re around areas with wildlife viewing, it always pays to stop when you see people on the side of the road, especially when they’re looking up! We pulled over and looked up and saw Big Horn Sheep! The hubs and I had looked and hoped to see some of these animals last year but never did, so this was a true pleasure. (Ed. Note – It truly was!!!) The sheep blended in well with the side of the canyon as we watched them jump from ridge to ridge. At first, we only noticed about 3 or 4 but as they continued to move around, we realized there were at least 10 and maybe more. I told the hubs that no wonder we had never seen them before on this drive because I was always looking up on the top of the ridge, NOT on the side and they are different shades of tan and I thought they’d be white. Don’t ask me why – it makes perfectly good sense that they would be tan to blend in with the canyon. It was an extraordinary thing to see! I have videos, it’s not the same but I hope you enjoy!
After our sheep viewing, we continued on down Highway 34 into Estes Park. As we passed a 2-story lodge coming into the city, we saw ELK! The elk were in the courtyard area of a lodge with a small pond in the middle. It was on the wrong side of the road for us to stop right then, so we continued on to the Donut Haus for a quick donut (or two) and came back toward the lodge. (Ed. Note – The donuts were delicious!!!) We parked in the Visitor’s Center’s parking lot and walked back up the block to the lodge. There were other people there watching the small herd of females and calves and at least 4 bulls. We sat on a low stone wall inside the lodge courtyard and were mesmerized. We didn’t have to wait long to figure out who the “harem” belonged to, as a bull would wander through the group of females and bugle towards the other bulls to “keep away”. He would gather any females that strayed with a slow walk toward them and then quicken his steps as they moved closer to the other bulls. He actually chased the other bulls further away – one even jumped the fence into an adjacent field! The females didn’t seem too impressed by the bulls, but were certainly skittish enough to move away when he came near. We didn’t see any rutting, but definitely some smelling and licking… (Ed. Note – Definitely NSFW!!!!!!!!) (I had to ask Google what that meant…)
After about 30 minutes of watching, we took off for a little window shopping. It was so nice, most of the shops had not yet opened so the sidewalks were pretty clear of people and we could wander at a leisurely pace in the cool mountain air 😊. It has been my favorite day in Colorado since we’ve been back.