Arriving at Estes Park (A)
Park Place Campground (J)
Karin & her Cabin (J)
Jon, Brian, Anne, Don, Karin & Carol (The Waiter)
Estes Park from the Tram (D)
Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, CO (D)
Karin, Carol & Jon (A)
Brian & Karin (J)
The Park (A)
Our 1996 Trip Across the USA Page 21
Back to Jon Vermilye's Photo & Trip Page
A note on Photographs - All of us are taking pictures - I'll do my best to give photo credits with an initial, but if I miss one be sure to let me know! J = Jon, D = Don, A = Anne & C = Carol. You can usually tell Anne's - her camera puts the date on the image! Also, most of the images are scans of old & faded prints, so the quality may not be all that hot.
July 17 - Estes Park, CO (257mi)
We continued on towards Estes Park, starting on US 50, CO 115, I 25 & CO 119 passing through Colorado Springs, Denver, and Boulder. Again, some beautiful roads (well, with the exception of I 25.) Estes Park is a town built in a flat area surrounded by mountains (that is the definition of a "park.") A pretty town, although much of it is a bit over touristy. We looked for campgrounds & decided to stay two days at the Park Place Campground just outside town. An interesting place. The tent sites are up a very steep hill - Don stopped on the way up & I had to put my bumper against his to let him start going again (Yoda is a standard.) Anyhow, a nice pair of campsites (Sites 15 & 16) with the bathrooms a little downhill from us. After setting up we drove to Karin & Brian's. Karin is working with Habitat for Humanity as a Vista Volunteer for a year. She is living in a cabin, which sounds kind of rustic - unfortunately, its not. We went out for dinner at Tony's Pizza, sat around & talked, and headed back to the campsite for the night.
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Arriving at Estes Park (A) |
Park Place Campground (J) |
Karin & her Cabin (J) |
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Jon, Brian, Anne, Don, Karin & Carol (The Waiter) |
Estes Park from the Tram (D) |
Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, CO (D) |
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Karin, Carol & Jon (A) |
Brian & Karin (J) |
The Park (A) |
July 18 - Estes Park & Rocky Mountain National Park (30mi)
Brian is a tram guide so we took a trip to the top. The view is great, although a bit windy. Part of Estes Park's fame comes from the Stanley Hotel. Stephen King stayed in room 217 at the hotel on night prior to the closing for the season, resulting in the idea for his novel "The Shining". The hotel was used as the location for the TV Mini-series "The Shining", but not for the movie.
We spent the morning wandering around the town, checking out the many small shops. That afternoon we drove to the Rocky Mountain National Park and took a short hike to the Alluvial Fan, a field of boulders & cascades created when the moraine holding back Lawn Lake broke, releasing 29 million gallons of water.
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The Alluvial Fan, Rocky Mountain National Park (D) |
Jon, Karin, Don & Carol (A) |
We returned to Estes Park in time to pick up Brian
from work & headed out to dinner at the Grubsteak. Tomorrow we are heading
to Leadville!
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This page is maintained by: vermilye@oswego.edu
Last Update:
March 21, 2012