When I did some planning today I put together a map of the trip…. roughly 7,500 NM with about 280 gal fuel. It turns out to be quite a tour of the country.

This morning started off early with a walk/run in the park a block from Lee’s house. I ran down hill and huffed and puffed up hill. This high altitude is a bit tough for a week or so as one’s body adjusts to the higher altitude.

I saw this weird plant pod and brought one back to the house for Lee to identify. It is a yucka plant. I just loved getting up in the morning to 64 f temps and crisp cool air with wonderful new smells.

On the way up the mountain to the visitor center, we stopped for lunch in Estes at Lee’s favorite indian resturant. While it is good, I still think the Charleston has the best indian resturant I have ever eaten at…”The Bomba Bazar”on Rivers Ave.

The town is primarily a summer tourest destination. It has the renoun for being the first city in the world to have an all electric hotel built by Mr Stanley (of the stanley steamer fame). The Fall River flows though the center of town an there were 6 power plants (small hydro-electric) to tap the rivers power. The river is now beautifully landscaped with shops and restaurants in the center of town. .

This is a raptor sculpture right in the center of town. I guess I saw about 15 or so sculptures scattered around the town and park today mostly hidden away to be discovered by a intrepid visitors.

After leaving Estes, we proceed to a decommissioned early 1900s power generation plant (historic site) which displays the old generators which originally made this all electric town possible.

A 200 MW water generator….

The sights on the way up to the visitor center were stunning.

The visitor center is at 11,796 ft. Wow. In my plane I would be on O2 at this point as I like to stay focused flying and I find O2 helps. If I walked to fast or tried to do any climbing one gets quickly out of breath. The sight were stunning at the top and on the way back down the mountain.

Overall, I think I would like to visit Estes again. It is terrific little resort town that would warrant a return trip to spend days just driving around the park and hiking. There is so much to explore here. I have only shown a few of the 100 or so pictures and the sights were spectacular