Mills Lake

With the girls all back in school, there is a bit of an adjustment to a new routine. I feel lonely for a few days.  Mark was nice enough to take a day off and go hiking with me.  

We went to Rocky Mountain National Park to spend the day.

We took the shuttle and hiked to Mills Lake. It was busier than I expected it to be. It's always pretty busy in RMNP but being a weekday at the end of August, it took me by surprise. Along the trail we met this little guy. There were several of them throughout our hike and they were not scared off by humans. One of them even nibbled at Marks finger.

 It was a good amount of uphill and the elevation was a butt kicker!

 We were greeted by this scene once we arrived at the lake.

 We snacked a little and then Mark decided he really needed to throw his line. He caught a few little Rainbows and Brookies.

 On our way back down we stopped at Alberta Falls.

After our hike we grabbed a bite in Estes Park. We debated on getting a burger at Penelope's .. ."The Best Burger in Town". Instead we stopped at a roadside drive inn that we had wanted to try. Big mistake ... To make up for a disappointing lunch we went to one of the many ice cream shops. I decided to try a flavor totally different than I normally would. Oreo Cheesecake was not so good:(

The food might have been less than satisfying, but the day was not a loss. I enjoyed my date very much!