This morning we got up earlier than yesterday and started to break down our campsite before we went hiking at Bear Lake. While my water for coffee was heating to a boil we got everything put away in the truck except the bed and the tent. Another excellent cup of coffee for my morning drive up the mountain to Bear Lake, but once we got to the parking lot at the top it was full. There is a cool shuttle bus that takes hikers to various trailheads, but I get very motion sick on buses. We decided instead to stop at one of the smaller trailheads along the way from our campsite up to the top of the road.
We pulled into Sprague Lake picnic area and were excited to see a short walkway circling the 13 acre lake. We very much enjoyed our walk around the lake and took in the Bob Ross- esque views of Hallett Peak and the surrounding peaks. A deer even joined us on the path for a few moments.
After our short hike, we finished up our campsite and headed to Estes Park for a nice brunch. We chose
Claire's on the Park and had no wait for a lovely outdoor table. Dean went out of his comfort zone and ordered the Cuban Benedict (and loved it!) and I stuck with a reliable favorite of Blueberry Lemon Pancakes.
On the way down from Estes Park, it started to rain and continued for most of the day off and on. We made a quick stop in Boulder at
Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins. I found one of my favorite yarns, Chalet, in a couple of colors and decided they would make a great hat this winter.Then we tried the coffee at Cafe Sole. It was excellent.
On the road again we had to make a pit stop in Conifer, CO to get gas. As we were exiting town, I noticed a knit store in one of the little shopping centers. We made a u turn and visited
Knit Knook. I chatted with the owner while she prepped a lovely cup of Red Rooibus for me and picked out a couple of specialty size circular needles and local made stitch markers. Absolutely adorable little shop!
When we finally reached Salida, we got checked into our AirBnB in the back of
Howl Mercantile and Coffee. Kimi was an excellent host! We wondered around Salida visiting the Arkansas River and picking places to check out Saturday morning. Dinner was at Great Wall. The service was ok but the food was excellent. Then we had dessert at Here's the Scoop.(The blackberry ice cream was to die for!)
Tomorrow its off to Moab!
What We Learned: Today we learned that there is a
whitewater slalom course on the river at Salida, CO. We had been down to the Arkansas River the last time we were in Salida in 2010, but had not seen the course. This time the kayak course was set up, and a person was even training for kayaking by repeatedly rolling over underneath the water and back up a full 360 degrees. Whitewater slalom is definitely fun to watch, especially come time for the summer Olympics.
For the day we drove 212.8 miles and saw license plates from 43 states and British Columbia
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