November 2015

Posted on November 15, 2015 by Judith Wencel

I initially thought Estes Park was pretty much a summer place but we are discovering that every single season is wonderful here! The mountains are just beautiful dressed in green, brown or white and there’s always plenty to do.

There’s been a lot of progress along the creek behind our houses. The 2013 flood relocated the creek about 40 feet further from the house so now we have a bigger “back yard.” The temporary sewer pipe is gone and the creekbed has been cleaned up and planted.

We took our usual walk around Lily Lake (and the trail that goes a little above) and the views on this crystal-clear day were beautiful. The freezing of the lake had created some beautiful designs.

We hear the path to town is due to begin reconstruction this summer and we will be thrilled to have that back. And we’re delighted with the new chairs that swivel in toward the fireplace or out toward the view.

July/August 2015 Adventures

Posted on August 23, 2015 by Judith Wencel

Once again we have been taken by what a great spot this is for spending time with family and friends! In addition to our daughters, we were thrilled to be joined by a niece and her fiancé, who live in Paris. It’s a true testament to the awesomeness of Estes Park that they enjoyed themselves so much. With three generations here at the same time we used both indoor living areas (upstairs and downstairs) and the three outdoor areas (deck, lower porch and front porch) to their fullest more than usual.

More coloring

We didn’t realize we had such a nice dancing area…

Near dinnertime

Watching the hummingbirds

Learning how to use binoculars

Sharing binoculars with Papi

Binoculars

Games on the table

Helping clean off the water after a rain

The temperatures and weather allowed us to have most of our lunches and dinners on the deck. The quality of ingredients at the local Safeway are surprisingly good and we had some old favorites as well as trying some new things. Pasta and baked goods don’t do as well in the mountains but plenty of other things work just great, especially on the grill. We discovered that risotto behaves very nicely at altitude and pizza on the grill is AWESOME.

Leftovers on the deck

Shrimp curry with cilantro

Learning how to make pizza dough

Teamwork – the pizzas are ready for the grill

Checking the pizzas

This one was so good

And this one

This one was SO good!

A superb Mexican lunch (a touch windy on the deck)

We had to refill the hummingbird feeder almost every day! It was such fun to watch those miraculous creatures. 🙂

Our hikes were mostly to old favorites (Lily Lake, Gem Lake, Lawn Lake up to where it crosses the creek) and some of the group went cycling most days. Joe brought his ukelele on their trip so we were serenaded several times at home AND on one of our hikes. 🙂 Lots of people on the trail commented that they loved it as they passed by.

We love games and we played lots of them (Word Thief, Sorry, Carcassonne, Catan, cards, Midnight Party).

The view toward Longs Peak from the deck makes a great backdrop for pics.

Construction on Fish Creek Road is proceeding! We had a great time checking on the machines and workers every day. It’s fascinating to watch those guys do what they do (and we are so grateful they are fixing Fish Creek Road!). The creek and walking/cycling path to town should be starting in the spring of 2016.