* Also Aunt Pearl’s 90th birthday, our 17th anniversary, and Grandson Tom and Celia’s unofficial 3rd anniversary . . .

February 16

[Pulling up stakes in Westminster, on the road to Estes Park with an interim stop in Boulder . . . ]

[Boulder, we are here!]

[Specifically, the uber cool Pearl Street Mall . . . ]

[It was quite chilly in the morning . . . ]

[The Super finds a friend.  They are the Colorado Buffaloes, after all . . . ]

[Thought I’d check in to see how my tavern was doing . . . ]

[Karen and Cam arrived the previous night and now joined us here . . . ]

[Let’s drive up Flagstaff Mountain to see what we can see . . . ]

[Oh, so that’s what we can see!]

[Boulder and environs . . . ]

[The artsy shot . . . ]

[We’re looking for the football stadium . . . ]

[I don’t see it?]

[Still don’t?]

[We’re all looking for it . . . ]

[Artsy shot #2 . . . ]

[Karen was the only one of the group capable of climbing to such heights!]

[Whoa, Boulder is waaaaay down there now . . . ]

[Back down now (obviously) to the admonition of just “Be yourself.”]

[The U of Colorado bookstore, just because . . . ]

[Always pushing the limits . . . ]

[Decisions, decisions . . . ]

[Back to my tavern for lunch . . . ]

[“Grilling” the maitre d’ on all the particulars . . . ]

[Dessert?  Already?]

[Mmmmmmmmmm . . . ]

[If you already own a tavern, you may as well have a “way” as well . . . ]

[I’ve never noticed any of these around Minnesota?]

[On to Estes Park, the ultimate destination of the trip . . . ]

[Lake Estes, a 185 acre reservoir . . . ]

[Where the Super and I stayed . . . ]

[This must have been at our place of fine dining . . . ]

February 17

[And this is where Karen and Cam stayed . . . ]

[The Appenzell Inn . . . ]

[It was a cute suite . . . ]

[With Cam driving, it was off to the Fall River Area of Rocky Mountain National Park . . . ]

[Just before arriving at the park entrance . . . ]

[Elk!]

[Getting “high” in Colorado . . . ]

[Oy, the views . . . ]

[On a perfect day to do so . . . ]

[With a beautiful high sky . . . ]

[Artsy shot #3 . . . ]

[Here’s Cam, the world’s #1 complainer about winter and cold weather.  Living in Mounds View, Minnesota, he “escapes” to Florida whenever he can.  On this day, the temperature was in the 30’s with strong winds.  His problem is he doesn’t understand the concept of jackets or coats when the weather gets colder?]

[See, Karen wears a coat!]

[Selfies and non-selfies abound . . . ]

[Hi, kids!]

[I can’t see a thing?]

[This is as close to the ridge as we’re getting . . . ]

[I still can’t see . . . ]

[What am I aiming at?]

[Danger, danger!  Our driver decided to take us on a road we were warned was icy . . . ]

[OK, it appears we’re past the danger . . . ]

[Pull off for deer sightings . . . ]

[Your basic Rocky Mountain High . . . ]

[Trending down hill now . . . ]

[Horseshoe Park . . . ]

[The Super loves mooses!]

[Cool cloud . . . ]

[A noted historical feature of Estes Park.  The Stanley Hotel is a 142-room Colonial Revival hotel. Approximately five miles from the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, the Stanley offers panoramic views of Lake Estes, the Rockies and especially Long’s Peak.  It was built by Freelan Oscar Stanley of Stanley Steamer fame and opened on July 4, 1909, catering to the American upper class at the turn of the century.  The hotel and its surrounding structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The Stanley Hotel hosted the horror novelist Stephen King, serving as inspiration for the Overlook Hotel in his 1977 bestseller The Shining and its 1980 film adaptation of the same name, as well as the location for the 1997 miniseries.  (Wikipedia)]

[Let’s do a self-guided tour . . . ]

[The view from the hotel . . . ]

[Looking toward Lake Estes . . . ]

[And the other direction . . . ]

[Cam still sans coat . . . ]

[Hi!  Let’s sit in the sun!]

[Inside, lest you couldn’t tell . . . ]

[With a Stanley Steamer . . . ]

[Nice view from the porch . . . ]

[Why, yes . . . ]

[We did take the old elevator.]

[And now on to the main event, Auntie Pearl’s 90th birthday party!  Pearl lives in Loveland, and the par-tay was hosted by her son John and daughter-in-law Lisa, i.e., our cousins, in Estes Park.]

[You can’t tell all the players without a scorecard . . . and I don’t have a scorecard.]

[Artsy shot #4?  Aunt Pearl with her longtime friend, tennis and golf partnet, Jan, and Jan’s granddaughter Pearl, who was named after our Pearl.  Or something like that . . . ]

[The family did a video, including stills and videos, for the occasion – here the Helena, Montana Wahlers (Brenda and Eric) weigh in . . . ]

[And then some group photos after the “movie” . . . ]

[Is it time for birthday cake?]

[The anticipation mounts . . . ]

[IT IS!]

[Auntie Pearl, with help from her namesake, blew out the candles . . . ]

[We did it!]

[Pearl with her 5 boys, l-r:  John, Eric, Jim, Ted, and Tim (standing) . . . ]

[And with two of her larger nephews . . . ]

[John memorializes the occasion . . . ]

[With the Mounds View Oberts, who get to see the Colorado family on occasion because Karen’s firm, The Cuningham Group, has a regional office in Denver . . . ]

[With Jim . . . ]

[And Eric . . . ]

[The view from John and Lisa’s deck.  It was great to get together with family, if only for a couple of hours.  Because the Wahlers are from Loveland and the Oberts from Alexandria, we never got much chance for get togethers over the now many years.]

[So, we said our good-byes.  And thanks to Lisa and John for hosting . . . ]

[And one last wildlife sighting on the way back . . . ]

[Pearl was Dad’s 4 years younger sister . . . ]

[Pearl said Dad didn’t much care for her when they were kids – probably because he lost his preeminence . . . ]

[And both with their mom, my Grandma Evelyn.]

I can’t understand why men make all this fuss about Everest — it’s only a mountain.  ~  Junko Tabei, first woman to climb Everest

Up Next:  Workin’ on it . . .