Loveland, CO

Sep 01   Thornton - Loveland, CO     58 miles

What a long, depressing day. It looks like the radiator is leaking. Joe called Ford and got a referral for Ford in Longmont. We went 1 day early and was going to drop off the RV for an early Wednesday appointment. When we got there, they told us they don't fix motorhomes. The guy that Joe talked to (3 times) was a new person and didn't know any better. What a big mess up! Joe got on the phone and called several different places. Finally got this guy named Eddie at Stan's Auto located in Loveland. He can do the job but not until next week. We drove farther north to Loveland and found Stan's Auto. We talked to Eddie and made arrangements for hopefully, next Tuesday. Meanwhile, we can camp behind their garage. Not the best site but free.

Can't grumble...it's free

Sep 02

So looks like we're stuck in Loveland, CO for a while. We went to camping world and got some stuff to fix little things in the RV, like my drawer that always come out when we're driving. Also got some brackets so Joe could fix our dining bench that was loose.

When we got back, Eddie told us he checked our radiator and found the problem. The bad news is it's going to cost over $2000 and he can't work on it til next Tuesday because Monday is Labor Day.

Sep 03  Rocky Mountain National Park

I guess if we're going to get stuck, Loveland is not a bad place to be. Rocky Mountain National Park is about 30 miles away but it's a real winding road through the mountains so it takes about 45 minutes to get there.

Elk in the pasture

Bear Lake

 Lots of elk and squirrels. We did a couple of hikes. A short one around Bear Lake, really nice. Then went on another hike that was uphill about 1/2 mile to Nymph Lake, then continued uphill another 1/2 mile more to Dream Lake. Was worth it, so gorgeous. There was another lake we could hike to but the weather was pretty bad with dark clouds and thunder also got pretty cold. Joe was anxious to get down the mountain before we got drenched. When we got in the car the temperature was 52 degrees.

The uphill trail

Joe pointing to the black clouds

Dream Lake

Nymph Lake

Sep 04

We slept in this morning. I think we were both exhausted from our hike yesterday. We went out for a late breakfast and ran some errands. We went to the visitors center and got a lot of good info on things to do in Loveland.

Sep 05   Rocky Mountain National Park

We're still camping out behind the garage at Stan's Auto. I feel like to freakin junkyard dog.

Driving the Trail Ridge Road

We took a ride out to RMNP and drove the Trail Ridge Road. This is America's highest, continuous paved road. While most mountain highways are built through valleys and canyons, Trail Ridge Road follows an old Ute Indian trail along the mountaintops. Trail Ridge Road is well maintained but contains many curves and switchbacks and is often narrow with no guardrails or shoulders.

No guardrails...a long way down

Big horn sheep on the side of the road

Joe acting like he's not cold

We went as far as Alpine Visitors Center. I wanted to go on the Alpine Ridge Trail, a steep climb that reaches more than 12,000 ft but when we got there it was 46 degrees! We weren't prepared for that so no hiking.

Beautiful views on Trail Ridge Road

Sprague Lake

Then we drove to Sprague Lake and hiked around the lake. Only about 1 mile but felt good to stretch our legs after the long ride up Trail Ridge Road. The temperature was better, about 65 degrees.





After leaving RMNP, I wanted to walk around Estes Park but it was so crowded. It's Labor Day weekend and it seems like everyone's out here. Back in Loveland, it was about 90 degrees. Big difference from the top of the mountain.

Sep 06

I gave the RV a good cleaning this morning. Then after lunch we moved to La Quinta Inn & Suites. We'll be staying here for 3 nights. The RV is supposed to get fixed on Tuesday. Hopefully, we can move on to Nebraska on Wednesday morning.

After we checked in I did 4 batches of laundry. Only had 1 washer and 1 dryer but the washer was free and the dryer was $1.00, pretty good deal.

Sep 07

We went to the Outlets at Loveland today. I thought would have lots of sales because it is Labor Day weekend but was junk. We did manage to buy a few things.

 We had a late lunch at Cracker Barrel. This was a first for us. I don't know why we never went to a Cracker Barrel, this restaurant is awesome! Joe had the french dip and I had pot roast....so ono. The dessert menu looked so good we had to try some. I had the pumpkin/custard with ginger snaps dessert and Joe had the Coca cola chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream. Wow....we were in heaven.


When we got back to La Quinta we went swimming in the indoor pool to work off some of our lunch. Was real nice because nobody else was there. We spent over an hour in the pool and hot tub.

Sep 08

We spent the morning at the Benson Sculpture Garden. It provides a beautiful and unique outdoor setting for showcasing sculpture since 1985. Currently there are 148 pieces of beautiful bronze sculpture on permanent display, each telling a unique story. We spent a lot of time here and walked over 2 miles.

After all that walking we worked up an appetite, so off we went to Cracker Barrel. Meatloaf was the lunch special today so we both tried it....so good!

Relaxing after lunch in front of Cracker Barrel

So appropriate

Eddie from the garage called late this afternoon. The RV should be done by mid day tomorrow.

At last, we can start rolling again.