July 9

Number of miles traveled: 237
Start: 8:46a MDT - Fort Collins, CO
Finish: 12:20a MDT - Silverthorne, CO
Stops: Rocky Mountain National Park (Estes Park, CO), Pearl Street Mall (Boulder, CO), Coors Field (Denver, CO)

It had been 7 years since I had last been in Ft. Collins. And I realize towns and colleges must change. But, for cripe sakes, you got rid of the bowling alley in the student union?!? If I was having a particularly bad day, nothing cheered me up more than walking to the union and bowling a game. And now it's gone. Craig did get a kick out of the ID Office's sample ID card with the picture of the student being a Ram sock puppet. At least it's now in the Union. When I was a student, it was next to a dorm, which was convienent if you lived in the dorm area, but a fifteen minute walk if you didn't.

After going up the US-34 trail, we arrived at Rocky Mountain National Park. Pictures cannot describe how beautiful this place is. When bowling didn't cure the depression, a trip to RMNP did, which was free if it was after Labor Day or before Memorial Day. There really wasn't any wildlife since they had a few coyotes the day before, but a manic bird almost landed on my head before flopping to his/her death an hour later. Since I have heard no media reports, I'll assume the bird came back negative for both Chronic Wasting and West Nile. After the bird incident, we went up Trail Ridge starting at about 7,500 feet up until about 11,000, saw some snow, and went back down.

The mascots that Craig bought along the trip enjoy the view at 8,500 feet. From left (I think): Old Miss Rebel, Virginia Cavalier, Wake Forest Demon Deacon, Arkansas Razorback, Craig's Prairie Dog, Northwestern Wildcat, Dwight's Prairie Dog, (I don't know), Bernie Brewer, Cam The Ram

Nobody told me I was allowed to drive up the mountains.

Snow. In July. Just 36 hours later we would be in tempreatures exceeding 100 F. Missed by camera, me hitting Craig with a snowball.

Before the Rockies game, we made a side trip to Boulder. The passengers were quite surpirsed of the number of stores that purveyed liquor. Well, if you lived in a facist state, you'd need to be pretty drunk. After witnessing a shopping mall decay from the inside, we went on to Denver and Coors Field. The freebie this night was a purple Santa hat from DirecTV and Soundtrack (a local electronics chain). The group (sans me) tried the Ballpark Sushi, while I enjoyed a chicken sandwich so bland it was probably cooked by John Tesh himself. The Rockies won the game 11-7, although it did not feature a grand slam home run nor an ejection, breaking our streak at three. After the game, we headed up the mountains, only to hear of some interesting news just short of the Eisenhower Tunnel.

Poor Dinger. He doesn't know about that weird history teacher from Michigan.

Although the media would like you to think Randall Simon did it, this picture may shock you.

Since we were on the road and unable to get a picture, Dwight renacts his hearing of the news of Randall Simon's Whacking Day.