Refrigerator In, off to Estes Park!!

A lot has happened in the last ten days we will try to hit the highlights.  We are now down to less than two weeks to work here at Horsetooth Mountain.  The refrigerator is in hooked up and bolted down, OH YEA.  It was not an easy task after ripping out the old one, rebuilding the cabinet, hours of research on the new one, removing passenger seat and grab handles we still had to get the new one delivered and through the door.  The delivery guys showed up Friday and like a whirlwind they flew in and out in less than 15 minutes.  Now, I had to sign that they may damage the motorhome, they may damage the refrig, that they didn't drop it before they took it in.  They won't level it because it is in a motorhome and lastly they wouldn't hook up the water because it is plastic. But, They did get it in.  And we were happy.  It took several more days to get it bolted down and the water line hooked up.  The job is now complete.

 

All the food loaded from
the small frig.
Now I can shop

In, leveled and anchored
down...we are ready to move again!

 

  

 

A visit to Estes Park

   We finally took a day and went up to Estes Park Wednesday.   It was a very nice day and we enjoyed it immensely.  we visited the other county park(Hermit) it is a really nice campground spread out over the mountain top a about 9000ft.  We were pleasantly surprised we how well we did at the high elevation.  We had lunch at the Pie Shop in down town Estes it was ok.  Took a drive out route 7 towards Longs Peak and stopped at several interesting spots.  We headed back down around 3 o'clock but had to stop at this little coffee/rock shop we spent an hour walking around drinking a coffee and finally left around 4.

Turkey's at the Hermit Park
Camp Ground in
Estes Park, CO.

Beautiful Window in this
Old Stone Church just outside of Estes Park, CO.

 

Long's Peak, still snow
on the Mountain Top!!

Stopped to get pics on the way
down from Estes.

Found this mountain
stream as well!

 

   We have been slowly packing, cleaning up and generally get ready to leave.  A person just forgets how much stuff needs to be packed/rearranged after a four month stay.  The dust is still terrible and now we are getting a thick haze from the forest fires out west.  We are getting excited to be done and move on.  The first stop will be Golden to spend a good weekend with Shari and family.  After that we are not sure where we are heading.  We would like to be back in PA. by the middle of October if not earlier but who knows.

 

   Back on campground duty Thursday.  Brad worked the campground and Diane went to town for groceries.  Friday we were busy with almost 40 check ins and check outs.  We did manage breakfast on the grill and steak and mushrooms for dinner.  Saturday was a another busy day Diane worked the booth, Brad the park and in between Shari and family stopped in for lunch during a break in McKayden's soccer games. 

 

    The rangers made a huge budget error so they let all the seasonal rangers go and cut the gate attendants hours to less than half.   That is good for us, Diane is home today and has just one more day to work, now she can help with the camp hosting again.  Matt stopped up today after McKayden's last soccer game to pick up his canoe and the fire wood we collected.  The wood was more than he thought as we filled up his truck completely.  Chicken wraps for dinner tonight and then shopping tomorrow for Lynne's visit this coming week. 

 

Brad, Diane and Rudy

Ready for the refrigerator!!

Friday we were back on duty and it was Larry and Sue's last full day with us.   It was so sad as we watched them carefully pack the last of their belongs.  It was a very busy day with a lot of campers checking in and out.  One exciting thing, we saw a mother bear with two cubs just across the inlet from us.  The head rangers stopped over to see Larry and Sue before they left and to check with us for the up coming schedule.  We will work Thursday thru Sunday and the rangers will do Mon, Tue Wed.   We had our last happy hour  which ended with hugs and handshakes. 

 

Saturday I had campground host duty while Diane worked the gate house. Larry and Sue headed out around 10 am heading to Colorado Springs for there first stop.  Their site looks so odd all cleaned up and empty.  I was to busy with the work, so not much time was spent on the cabinet wood.  I'll have to get at it tomorrow.

Sunday was very busy day at the lake for Diane at the gate house with her second highest total.  A really nice morning so after walking Rudy and a couple cups of coffee, I put the first coat of finish on the trim pieces.  I tried to put the second coat of finish on this afternoon with 90 degrees and a strong wind it dried so fast you can see the brush strokes.  So I'll have to sand it down again and try Monday morning to put the last coat of finish on.

 

Just waiting for the new
refrigerator!!

Monday after putting the last coat of finish on the trim we went to look at the frig, it is a dent and scratch model and it looked good.  The soonest we could get it delivered is on Friday, so we got that scheduled.  We had lunch at a little Mexican place, tried the taco's, they were OK but we don't need to go back.  When we got back I began working full speed getting the cabinet ready for the frig.   By the days end it is almost back together just some finishing touches tomorrow.

 

Tuesday the cabinet is finished and we now removed the passenger seat so the frig will fit in the door.  So we put the seat where the dog kennel was, the kennel where our shoes and wine was stored, that stuff went on top of the removed seat.  But now we can only open the tiny frig door half way.  You must get on your knees lean over sideways to get stuff in and out of the frig.  The good news is, we only have to survive until Friday.

A lot of wood gathered
over the summer!!

Wednesday, Shari texted to say the older girls will be up later tonight to camp for the night and then her and the rest of the kids will be up Thursday for lunch and to pick up the fire wood that we have collected over the summer.  Diane spent most of the day in town trying to find ham slices or a store that would cut slices from a ham.  About 3 hours later, and no luck she changed the Thursday menu and bought some marinated Tri-Tips.  So a search of All Recipes and we decided we would have wraps.  It has been a long day, this AM we got a call from Ellen, John isn't doing well at all, and it just kind of soured the whole day, but we pushed on.  The kids finally got here about 8:00, set up camp and provided for themselves.  We did have the Rangers remind that to make sure the fire was out before they went to bed, and by 10:00 we both we in bed and asleep.....no noise from the girls

 

Brad, Diane and Rudy

The return and exdious

Monday our first day off and we were too tired to go anywhere.  So much for being off, we had about 5 customers before 10:00, but then the gate house was nice enough to run interference for the rest of the day.  It was about 90 degrees so we decided on some water fun.  We had bought a tube and since

Our daily morning
visitor!!

then have found 3 more, so Brad and I each hopped in a tube and went for about a 1.5 hour float, that cooled us off.  When we were done and let Rudy out, he decided to go roll in something that looked like grease, so next was his bath.  Now the poor thing doesn't like water at all, so it was a lot of fun trying to bathe him, but we won and he got clean.  We had planned on chicken for dinner, but as hot as it was, we each just had a sausage and called it a night.  Not a bad day, and only about 10 people stopped by.

Tuesday morning the ranger stopped in to borrow the golf cart, so I let him know we had a camper that didn't pay last night, so off he went in his truck to get them.  We pulled in the kayak and rinsed the leaves and dirt out of that, then got cleaned up and into town for breakfast and a quick trip to the store.  Matt, Shari and the kids are coming up this evening, so needed some extra supplies for their visit.  We were just hanging out when a lady stopped in, they had lost a tow tube when their boat sank last night and wanted to know if it had been turned into us.  It hadn't, but we had heard about that on the radio and she said they were lucky, the was a huge yacht beside them and were able to pull the boat to the dock area where the crane was used to get it out of the water.  I guess you need to count your blessings any way that you can.  All was safe and nobody was hurt, so all is well for them.

 

The found Tubes are
put to good use!!

Wednesday, our last day off, Matt, Shari and the kids planned on coming up about 4:00 for some play time and dinner.  We headed into town in the AM to grab some dinner food and get some beer for the cooler, then we headed back home to wait for the kids.  What a whirl-wind they cause, out of the car, into the Moho, swim-suits on and then into the water, where they stayed until dinner time.  After that we talked for a while and then about 9:00 they headed out.  They don't stay long, but I'll admit we were exhausted when they left. 

 

Well the best news from the last week, Larry and Sue got home on July 30, but we did the host job Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday so that we would have 4 days off together starting Aug. 3.  That worked well, Monday into town to order a new Frig. and the rest of the next couple of days was finishing the new cabinet for the new refrig.  This has consisted of ordering custom matched stains, lots of lists and trips to town, but now here it is Thursday, Brad thinks he has everything (ha ha), now to piece it all together and get the staining done.  We did take time to play in

He came into our Site for
and afternoon snack

the water a couple of times, just so we could say we had fun. 

 

Now for the bad news, we headed over to Larry and Sue's last night for our happy hour, when I commented on things being packed and away.  They proceeded to let us know that they are leaving Friday and aren't coming back, they've had enough fun.  Actually Sue has some health issues, so with that in mind, the tons of fun, and dusty conditions they were pushed over the edge.  It's about 10:00 and they are waiting for Pam, the volunteer coordinator, to sit and have a chat and break the bad news to her.  If we hadn't made a commitment to stay until after Labor day, I think we would be right behind them.....we'll just have to see how they handle this. 

 

Brad, Diane and Rudy