So for Mother's day, we decided to drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park and enjoy some time together in the mountains. Usually we do this for my mom's birthday every year, but seeing as that was still going to be several months away and we wanted to go now...we packed a lunch and headed out. The drive we took was one similar to the enjoyable trip to Bear Lake with Danielle but instead of going up the mountain (where there was still snow) we stayed down in the valley. While driving down a long dirt road, trying to find a secluded picnic table to eat at, all hope seemed lost. Most picnic tables were taken and those ones that were empty were right smack dab next to a taken one.

In the hopes of finding one that others missed, we drove to the end of the road (where the trail head began) and had to turn around, we were out of luck and it looked like we were going to have to eat next to someone else. So, we headed back in the other direction. Somehow someone spotted a picnic table hidden in a fenced off area (some parts of the park have high fenced areas that keep the deer away from certain tree populations that are declining because the deer really like rubbing their antlers on them). Of course with the gate and everything surrounding it...the area looked like it would be an off limits place...or like the entrance to Jurassic Park.






The eating area was like the tiny space between the outside world, and the dinosaurs (a.k.a. death). Within that space I was surprised to find a variety of birds which I took the time to photograph. Not only was there a cute little duck couple, but I was pleased to find some of the angry birds in their natural habitat (a safe and pig free environment).








These pictures are amazing shots (if I do say so myself) and they were definitely hard to get. I found that the angry birds were rather flighty and grumpy little feathered tennis balls. I had to go to great lengths to get a good shot which meant sacrificing my good pants to the mud gods, but it was worth it.


All and all, the limbo of Jurassic park was a good place to chow down and take pictures of the native fowl. We left some bacon behind on a rock for the angry birds, we figured they would enjoy a good snack. It was then that we moved from our space in limbo into the actual park where the dinosaurs were sure to roam free. We followed the river into uncharted lands and I again took the time to capture some beautiful images.









During our travels we came across a female elk that had wandered away from it's family. I was worried about her getting eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex but she soon dashed off into the trees where she would be safe. We really only ran into one dinosaur during our hike and luckily he was friends with the angry birds who had grown fond of us because of the bacon we left behind.


So we left some more bacon and a hunk of green ham (we ate all the eggs) to make the angry birds happy and to show our gratitude to the dinosaur (I think it was called a Yoshisaurus or something)  for not eating us, then we headed back home. It was a pretty great adventure and a pretty awesome Mother's day.

So...how was your last trip to the mountains?



P.S. I also took lots of video during this hike which will be included in my next video for Danielle so keep your eyes peeled for that...well not literally peeled because that's painful and it would make you go blind which would mean you couldn't watch the video anyway...keep them figuratively peeled.