Driving into Estes Park on the back roads allowed us to see gorgeous scenery! This was a new route for us, having driven through Denver last year. This year we took I-70 south of Denver to some back roads and the breathtaking views began! Grade signs about being careful with braking so we don’t lose them added to the heart stopping delight of driving towards those rugged mountain peaks that abounded in the distance. We took a steep downward exit to get to the first back road that bordered a rapidly flowing stream spilling over rocks and stones, twisting and turning through the mountains. We got to drive through a couple of tunnels through mountains to the delight of the kids! We arrived at our campground in the early afternoon and we anxiously got out to unload everything into our cabin…and it was hot! Wait…Colorado Springs was a bit cooler than this! I knew a few weeks earlier a heat wave had gone through parts of Colorado, near 100 degrees, reminiscent of typical Texas summers. I’m not sure what the temperature was, but in this high altitude, I felt a different heat since we were closer to the sun. Actually it was probably due to the drier climate, although everyone kept saying it was a humid summer. Well, it was a lot drier than where I came from, but a bit warmer too! We unloaded, ate lunch outside the cabin, then headed to Rocky Mountain National Park, a couple of miles away, to buy our week pass. Then we went to the gift store to hang out and to continue getting adjusted to the altitude…I suffer from altitude sickness. While there, I told the rangers about how hot I was now that I had arrived from Texas and they were shocked! I told them we had had so much rain (only 2 full weeks of sunshine) that our temps rarely got over the 80’s and were often in the 70’s. I just had to tease them about this! They assured me it still cools off at night and especially at the higher elevations! Great!! That’s what I came for! Before long, I looked out the window and saw it pouring rain on a perfectly sunny day! Hey, I thought it only did that back home! Well, we just had to hang out at the park store a little longer as I chatted with the ranger about Texas. He loves my hometown and the little town we ate pastries from the German bakery, Fredericksburg. He had just been there a month earlier during one of our deluges. I told him this year one of my goals was to be able to name the mountains so he showed me some great resources. After some shopping we finally left and the rain had stopped. A beautiful rainbow was between us and Estes Park and the temps had dropped considerably! Ahhhhhhhh, refreshing!