One of the benefits of Kathy being retired and living in the RV is we can just go. No yard, no house, no pool to take care of. An opportunity to “just go” presented itself last week, so we did just that.
My employer likes to spend his summers in Colorado to get away from the Texas heat. He had just returned to Texas after Labor Day, but his cars were still up in Colorado (he returned in his private jet). The opportunity was this; fly to Colorado and drive back to Texas in one of the two cars that was left up there. We even had our choice of vehicles; an Escalade or an Aston Martin. Talk about choices!
Kathy and I jumped at the chance when it was offered on a Tuesday to drive the cars home that Saturday. Since I would be driving all day Saturday on company time, I traded that for a day off on Friday. We flew up Thursday evening after work, landing at Eagle/Vail airport. Since Friday was our day off, we got up early, had a nice breakfast and headed out. We decided the Aston Martin would be the most fun in the mountains. We drove to the Rocky Mountain National Park. It took about two hours to get there. Once we entered the park, we put the top down, and enjoyed the great weather, beautiful scenery, and spectacular vistas the national park has to offer. There’s nothing like touring those winding mountains road in a top-of-the-line convertible sports car!
Big Horn Sheep
We spotted some Big Horn Sheep beside the road. These were Kathy’s first time to see them in the wild. She was surprised at how big they were! We got some great photos.
We continued on through the park, and decided to go to Estes Park for lunch. We spent about an hour and a half in Estes Park, and had a pretty good lunch at Chelito’s Mexican Restaurant right in the center of town. They serve authentic Mexican food, not Tex-Mex, at a great price. Estes Park is a great little town!
We headed back to RMNP after lunch, and made our way to Bear Lake. A short hike around the lake, some pictures and time was running out. It was getting late in the afternoon and we needed to get back to Eagle/Vail airport to pick up another colleague who would be driving the other vehicle back.
The drive back was about 3 hours long; mountain roads, winding, curves, and lots of fun. Although it was not long, it was a great day and we made the most of it.
The next morning we loaded up the Escalade, gave the keys to the Aston Martin to my colleague and headed back to Texas. A 14 hour drive for an 8 hour day in some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. I think it was a good trade!