Flash Fiction # 616 -- Real life vacation/4

 It is not unusual to see small herds of Elk within a few minutes of entering the park, especially if you head toward the alluvial fan area.  Here, pebbles, rocks, and boulders mark the path of a massive flood on July 31, 1976. 144 people died as the water rushed through the narrow passage.

The weather is changeable.  We've been to the park on hot, dry days and in snow and sleet.  We've driven past high snow-capped mountains, and years where the same area is a lush carpet of green. Part of the joy is being surprised by the changes.

 

 

Flash Fiction #615 -- Real life vacation/3

 Loveland to Estes Park is a beautiful preview of what you will find in Rocky Mountain National Park.  Rental cabins offer a place to stay and rest. A few houses are sometimes tucked into corners below the towering rocks.  It looks precarious, but it would lure me to live there.

The air tastes fresh and filled with the scent of pines. Coming into Estes Park is a surprise appearing suddenly around a curve. The pretty town has everything a tourist could want.

But we are close now.  No time for sightseeing here!  Rocky Mountain National Park is 17 miles away.

 

 

Flash Fiction # 614 -- Real life vacation/2

 Head south from historic Scottsbluff, a landmark for those who crossed the land in wagons.  The terrain reminds me of the southwest -- and then opens into more prairie. Before long, we reach the Pawnee National Grasslands at the Colorado border.  At the end of the road, we turn west.

Mountains come into view as distant cloud-like images.  It is summer, so sunset is a long way off.  From Loveland, the foothills appear to be more prominent than the mountains behind. After a few curves, hillsides rise out of nowhere, and you see now why they won the name Rocky Mountains.

Flash Fiction # 613 -- Real life vacation/1

(For the next few weeks, I plan to post drabbles and pictures from trips to Rocky Mountain National Park. I hope you enjoy them.  I'll be back to fiction in about 2 months. The pictures are from 2017 and 2019.)

We live in the extreme northeast corner of Nebraska. Getting from here to Rocky Mountain National Park is an adventure.  We go there every few years, and we've found the best way to make a quick, two-day trip.

We leave at about 3 AM and head west, driving through areas we know well while it is still dark.   West, west, south, west -- somewhere around Alliance it is sunrise.   We head through the remarkable Sandhill country and sometimes all the way to lovely Scottsbluff .

Then straight south to the Colorado border. We've been on the road for at least twelve hours.