An Afternoon of Wandering in Downtown Estes Park

Estes Park is a resort town and the gateway to
Rocky Mountain National Park.
What does every resort town in America have?
Great fudge shops! This window has caramel apples for fall.

And 27 T-shirts shops, all of which stay in business.

The hip thing to do in Colorado
is drive a Jeep and own a really big dog.

Typical Colorado architecture
Estes Park has 6,006 residents

A fun, tacky souvenir shop
that's been on this corner
longer than I've been alive -
if you're eight, you might want to go in
and get yourself a tomahawk.

If you're older, you might be interested in turquoise jewelry.

The Big Thompson River runs throughout downtown Estes.

This beautiful child was
enjoying the river with her grandparents.

Nothing roused this big elk,
not even a nearby skateboarder.
Notice that he's lost half his rack in a fight.

Elk are everywhere in Estes Park.
Even downtown!
If Macinac Island calls their tourists
"fudgies" for their love of candy shops,
Estes Park calls their tourists "elkaholics."

The beginning of wisdom

is when you haven't seen your Mom for a couple months and right away she feeds you a beautiful lunch on her porch accompanied by the sunshine and mountains and you don't take it for granted.

Teaching English to Zombies

In honor of Halloween today, I'm sharing a video created by The Language House in Prague, where TEFL students get to try their stuff on zombies rather than Czechs. Click on the title for a laugh.

I'll probably be continuing my twin postings on Colorado and the Czech Republic until I leave for Prague on November 5th.

A Spectacular Hike to Gem Lake

Do you need a break? Join me on a spectacular hike to Gem Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. The aspen trees are at their peak, and there is enough of a breeze so the leaves quake gently back and forth in the wind. It's not a long hike: about 1.7 miles one way. If we're quiet, we may see some wildlife.

The glorious aspens await you.

A view of Long's Peak, with Estes Park below it.
The locals like to come up here and watch the
fireworks on the 4th of July over Estes.

Elk scat

A beautiful side view of the mountain as we ascend.

Liquid gold

You can see why some people call this their church

Who saw who first?

The top of the mountain reveals Gem Lake

A beautiful spot for lunch

Expat Life: The Truth About Unpleasant Things

Before every grand adventure, somebody has got to make you doubt your decision. I don't actually doubt my decision to move to Prague, but this woman did made me laugh. Click on the title to hear her experiences.

10 Words of Survival Czech

Type "Czech" into YouTube and all sorts of useful things come up. Click on the title to become polite to 10 million new people.

Planning for Prague

I've had a fantastic time in Colorado this month enjoying the mountains and wildlife and my family. I'll try to do a few posts about this magnificent spot before I leave. But at the same time I'm enjoying this fabulous Western state, I've started to get excited about PRAHA!

I have purchased my plane ticket to Prague and I'm leaving November 5th! I was going to leave earlier and my mom said, "How can you bear to miss the election coverage?" She's right. I can't! I put it off to November 5th to at least get a full 24 hours of watching history being made.

How does anyone ever edit everything down to one or two bags when going overseas? It's impossible! Just in shoes alone, every woman must need one whole bag just for them.

This morning I spent rereading letters from my two Czech pen pal families that got me all excited to see the Czech Republic in the first place. How lovely to keep an enthusiasm for over 18 years! That's how long I've had this "thing" for the Czech Republic!

I'm off to find luggage!