Anyway, we now are set to go to Colorado for a week this summer. I haven't been there in...hmm...something like thirty years, so this will be fun. I love the mountains. Not as much as I love the ocean, but close. We'll be spending part of our time there in Rocky Mountain National Park, so I thought I should do a little reading on the park.
Being safety conscious, I decided to see what were the dangers in the park. Here's are the things they tell me I should be concerned about:
- -Burned areas, falling trees
- -Mountain weather, hypothermia, snow and ice fields (not too big of concern in July)
- -High elevation, mountain climbing
- -Lightning
- -Wildfires
- -Wildlife - lions and tigers and bears...well, not the tigers
- -Streams, lakes, waterfalls (we're from Minnesota, we have all those things here, too)
- -Avalanche (hmm, don't have these in Minnesota!)
- -Giardia (I drink unfiltered lake water in the BWCA, not overly concerned over this)
- -Plague
WHOA! Wait just one minute? Did I just read the plague? As in the bubonic plague? Why yes. Yes, I did! Well, this is just sounding like a really welcoming place, isn't it? Turns out the plague is endemic to Rocky Mountain National Park. Who knew?
But the list goes on...
- -Colorado Tick Fever
- -Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
- -Hantavirus
Oh boy, hantavirus! That sounds like a fun one too! Actually, no one has gotten it in RMNP, but the deer mice there carry it. Well, I guess this means we won't be kissing any rodents on our vacation!
I'm sure we'll have a great time....if we make it back alive.....
What roads are you guys taking??? Are you headed South then West then South again???
ReplyDeleteDown to Des Moines, the across to Omaha to Lincoln and away we go to Estes Park. We're spending a night in Nebraska on the way out and another on the way home.
DeleteBtw, is this Vicki? If it is, so sad we won't be driving by your place :(
DeleteHi there, great blog! I came across it recently and have been enjoying reading through it! Your family look like you have lots of fun adventures!
ReplyDeleteI don't suppose you would be interested in sharing your blog over on Glipho? We're a new social blogging site with an active community of creative bloggers- I know they would love to read your stories here! If you fancy, come say hello over at http://glipho.com and see what you think. You can import posts over from this existing blog to Glipho too- It's quite handy!
Thanks for your time, and the entertaining blog. I look forward to reading more from you!
All the best,
Teo