North Platte to Grand Lake

This country has some amazing beauty! Our drive today has totally opposite scenery from yesterday. We were in the Plains for just a little while before entering the buttes and foothills of the mountains. The kids were hilarious and their underwhelming response to the view until we hit the big time mountains. Then they were as in awe (for a while anyway) as Jeff and I were.


As we left the Plains and all the cornfields, we started to see oil rigs along the side of the road.

We got off the Interstate in Crook, CO and started following a state highway that paralleled some train tracks. Imagine Jeff's excitement when a train came by as we were driving.

Our first view of the mountains. The kids said, "That's not that big!" Just wait, boys...

We stopped at the Colorado Welcome Center for lunch. Great view of the mountains here in Fort Collins. We are getting closer!

By now, the kids are fully impressed as we make our way up, up, up. 

Everywhere an animal was grazing, cars pulled over along the side of the road or slowed way down. We snagged this picture out the truck window.

We stopped at one of the viewing centers and got this amazing view.

Birds and chipmunks (or maybe they are ground squirrels) were eating cheetos out of peoples' hands. The people were holding cheetos up in the air and these birds were swooping to grab them right out of their raised hands. Cool, but definitely not good for these poor birds.

This little guy did not hold still but I got him while he was munching a cheeto with his back turned.

We kept going higher and higher. I leaned in to the middle of the vehicle to "help" us stay away from the edge. The boys thought that was pretty funny.

Up above the treeline, there were only small plants and there were signs everywhere to stay on the path because it takes decades for the ground to recover from human disturbance. Many people at the viewing sights ignored the signs. Bad tourists!

This is a marmot. He was sunning himself on the rocks. The temperature up here was about 55 degrees, over 30 degrees cooler than it was before we drove in to the mountains. Quite a difference!

It feels like we are at the very top of the world. This sunbeam was very bright.

This is one of the least scary parts of the road. Many times, there wasn't even a shoulder or stone wall next to the road and it went straight down!

We got to Grand Lake about 5 pm. We are still over 8000 feet above sea level. Look what is resting in the shade in the campsite across from us!! What a welcome to a great campground!

This campground is one to stay at if you are ever in the area near Grand Lake. Here is the sunset view from our campsite.

Obligatory flower picture. You will be seeing many more over the next days and week.