I arrived in Denver after an exhausting 12 hour drive. I made contact with my cousin Irene and her husband Ken and they invited me to stay at their house. I humbly accepted and made my way there. Their son Chris was there so I got to meet him for the first time. Chris has red hair like me so you know he is a great guy. They fixed a wonderful dinner and we sat around and talked and laughed on their patio on a gorgeous Denver night. They still looked the same as the last time I saw them 9 years ago. It was good to see them again as they are so much fun and such nice people. I stayed around the house the next day except to get my oil changed in the camper and to visit Arrowhead golf course with Irene to see the incredible rock formations on the course. That night I went to see my other cousin Kae and her husband Skip and their 2 children Natalie (9) and Nicholas (7). Kae hasn't changed a bit either since I saw her 9 years ago and their children are adorable. Natalie reminds me so much of Kae when she was her age. I am now Natalie and Nicholas' favorite since I took them on a motorcycle ride around the block. We had a great time visiting and they fed me a great dinner. I got the kids all wound up and left which is my favorite thing to do.
The next day I rode to the Rocky Mountain National Park and rode the Ridge Line road which goes up over 12000 feet. It was a great day and I got an early start so I could beat the traffic. I first stopped in Grand Lake to check out Irene & Ken's cottage there. Grand Lake is a quaint little town with an old style saloon and various shops and restaurants. There cottage was only 2 blocks from the town and was the perfect little getaway home. I made my way into the park and was rewarded with beautiful mountain and valley scenery. After going over the top I saw 2 huge bull elk at about 11,400 feet just laying down resting. I was able to walk fairly close and get some good pictures. It was the first bull elk I had seen on my trip so I was happy to finally see some. I made my way back to town via a small town which is famous for the hotel where the movie The Shining was filmed. I forgot all about it being there so I just drove by without stopping. I guess I will have to come back at a later date so I can do that. I got home and rested a bit before everyone else came back. I took everyone out to dinner and we had a great time telling stories and laughing like the old days. Tomorrow I leave for Ouray in Southwest Colorado for a couple of days so I said my final goodbyes to Kae and her family and we went back to Irene's where I got to spend a little time with her other son Mark who was in town. Mark is in college and is a delightful person. I wish I could have met their daughter Kellie but she lives out of town and my cousin Peggy who lives in town but was busy. I will definitely come back again one day so maybe I can see them then. It's nice to have such wonderful family members in a great destination like this who are so gracious and willing to open their homes and lives to me. It's a shame life is such that the cousins can't all get together more often because we always have so much fun. It was a great visit and Denver is now a place that I want to visit again and real soon.
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