My parents came to visit us at Jellystone! They arrived on Monday and have been sightseeing around the area. The next day they went to Rocky Mountain National Park and drove through the whole park and took lots of pictures. As it turns out, they picked the best day to go -- it snowed up there the next day! Wednesday around here was cool and rainy most of the day. The mountaintops in RMNP were covered in new snow. Today we had thunder snow, which if you have never experienced is pretty amazing. This was while the sun was shining, too! In the picture above the snow flakes are falling around us, but you can't really see them.
We drove in to Estes Park and toured the Stanley Hotel, which is where the movie The Shining was filmed. The owner was the brother of the Stanley who invented the Stanley Steamer. There was a Stanley Steamer in the lobby of the hotel. It's a beautiful, big old hotel, that was built in 1909. The snow came and went all day.
Mom & Darrell leave tomorrow to head to Bennett, Colorado, to see Gary & Barb. It's been fun to have them here and I hope they have enjoyed the little cabin they have stayed in at our park.
The campground gets very busy starting tomorrow -- after all, Memorial Day is the beginning of the camping season! We are "sold out" for the three-day weekend!
I'm very proud to say that my son, Brett, is going through commencement this afternoon for a Bachelors Degree in Liberal Arts. Way to go Brett!
Can you guess who is portraying Yogi Bear?
Jellystone Camp Resort officially opened last Friday, May 11th, to snow, cold, and a foggy, cool Saturday. Today was somewhat better, the sun actually arrived for a couple of hours. It was a whirlwind two days and things will calm down now for a couple of days until we start all over again next Friday! We are enjoying ourselves and our new "job." Hope everyone is well and enjoying their weekend!
Mother Nature decided to surprise us with a snowstorm. The snow started yesterday evening and continued through the night. This photo was taken a couple of minutes ago when I took Ziva outside (she was not impressed with the snow). It's still snowing and the prediction is for snow the rest of today!
Hard to believe that last Friday we were working outside getting the campground ready for opening day this coming Friday in our shirt sleeves. Even the snow plows are already out and about!
There is a herd of about 30 elk that wander through the campground on a daily basis. They get pretty close to the campers, too! These two were nibbling on the grass in an empty campsite. Right across the road is a nice meadow that we see them roaming around. The second picture is where our camper is parked for the summer. We face West looking out over the meadow and highway.
This coming week starts our full schedule and we officially open on Friday for Mother's Day Weekend! Stay tuned! You might see Yogi Bear make an appearance here on the blog!
Yesterday I decided to take my first hike on one of the hiking trails at Jellystone Park. This trail feeds into a Forest Service road and climbs up the mountainside. I didn't go up that far, still adjusting to the altitude. The views were awesome! I will keep attempting to climb all the way to the top of the mountain. Here's a picture of the view where I turned around.
I found a local yarn store in Estes Park and went there yesterday afternoon to check it out. They have lots of interesting things and will be having classes, but I imagine our summer will be busy enough up here that I won't have time to go play.
There is a lake in downtown Estes Park (called Lake Estes) that I will have to get pictures of to send. There's a four-mile walking/bike path around the lake and fishermen everywhere. We're about 5-1/2 miles outside of Estes Park on Highway 36. Lots of elk, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and soon campers!
Wayne and I arrived at our home/job for the summer - Jellystone of Estes Park. The views are gorgeous!
We met Shelly & Rick Spear, the owners, and their two kids, Ellie (age 8) and JJ (age 6). We have a few days to get used to the 8300 ft elevation and check out our surroundings before we start working. We are the first set of the Workampers to arrive, three more pairs are coming in later this week. We will post more so keep watching!
This morning Wayne and I took a drive to Pikes Peak. It was amazing! The weather was 60 degrees when we left Colorado Springs and 36 when we reached the summit. The road is paved the whole way to the top now. There were a few people up there, but not too many.
The views were great. Ziva was a big hit with the people up there. We even saw the Manitou Springs and Pikes Peak cog railway at the top. The wind wasn't blowing and it was a delightful up there. I was a little white knuckled on the drive up (I am not crazy about heights -- guardrails are my friends), but the trip back down wasn't too bad.
Tomorrow we head to Estes Park and start our summer adventure. I will keep you updated and post pictures. Cell phone coverage will only be available if we drive into town, so email will be the best way to keep in touch!
