Beautiful Day in Rocky

Wayne, Mom and I spent a beautiful sunny afternoon yesterday in Rocky Mountain National Park viewing the area around the Alluvial Fan. The road into the area has been damaged by the recent flood, cutting off access to Endovalley Picnic Area and Old Fall River Road. Much of the foot path has been washed away leaving chunks of asphalt amid the boulders. It is fascinating to see what the power of water can do!

Regaining Equilibrium

Wayne and I just returned from a visit with our family in Nebraska. It was a wonderful way to clear our minds and regain our equilibrium. Our agenda included: grandsons' soccer and football games; time at the cabin on the river where we watched a Nebraska football game; a quick trip to Iowa to meet with the farm renters and have lunch with Wayne's sister and brother-in-law; time spent with our children and grandchildren. The only downside to the trip was the extra travel time (two days instead of one each way) over the flood related detours.

It's good to be home once again and gratifying to see how Estes Park is recovering. The town and related agencies post daily updates on their restoration progress. Upper Thompson Sanitation District (UTSD) continues to make repairs to the sewers and has brought a few more homes back online. It will be awhile before our home is declared "flush worthy." In the meantime, our newly purchased indoor, portable, flushable, toilet is a welcome change from the Porta-Potty down the road.

I never thought I'd post a photo of a toilet!

The Colorado Department of Transportation is making steady progress on the temporary roads. After seeing numerous photos of the damage, I find it remarkable that they expect to have passable roads by December 1. The town is full of huge trucks and road building equipment.

Below are a variety of images showing roads into and out of Estes Park that are under repair.

Winter Preview

We woke up this morning to a beautiful preview of winter. It won't last ... warmer temperatures will move in this week-end. Our aspen trees, as usual, don't know it's time to turn gold. They are always the last to don their autumn foliage. The 4 X 4 fence post on the left of the aspen was attacked by a frustrated bull elk dislodging it from the ground and leaving it tilted.

Recovery and Rebuilding

Neighborhood Port-A-Johns

It's been three weeks since the Great Flood of 2013 and our days have been filled dealing with the aftermath. We've left crisis mode behind and we're now in recovery and rebuilding mode. The town and state governments have been hard at work repairing our infrastructure. Estes Park has lost homes, businesses, bridges, roads, and sewers. The smaller surrounding communities of Glen Haven, Lyons, and Pinewood Springs have also been devastated.

A large portion of the town, including our home, is in the NFZ (no flush zone) because sewers were washed away along with the roads. The town is working on a temporary fix for this situation until permanent sewers can be installed. In the meantime, the town has placed Port-A-Johns every block or so throughout the NFZ. Wayne and I have been using our camper loo but beginning today we're using the Port-A-John down the street because we've had to winterize the camper. Cold weather and snow are moving in tonight.

Our most pressing problem is the loss of four critical roads into and out of Estes Park, leaving only one roundabout route, much of which is a narrow gravel road. Taking this route has added several hours to our trips to the valley.

I'm proud of the way Estes Park is coping with the situation and proud of the positive attitudes of its citizens. The new motto is "We're Mountain Strong."