A Morning of Frustration but Wonderful Afternoon and Evening!

We started the day with a relaxing early morning.  We read in bed and only got up at 7:45.  Ken went to the office to extend our time here while I showered and then the frustrations began.  The lady in the office knew nothing about us possibly wanting to extend our time or anything being "blocked out" for us.  She did feel badly about the situation but someone had reserved our site starting today for 1 week.  So we had to move, again!!!!  She was kind and offered us a site that backs up to the river for no additional charge and we can be there until at least Monday.  So, we packed things up and moved to a nicer site.  That was a plus!

Then I realized that we were not able to make calls.  We had some bars, but neither of our phones would dial out!  So, we got in the car and drove over the bridge at the entrance and bingo, we could make a call.  I left a message for Amber, our service tech here and to Sam in Tampa.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to reach either one of them.  So we went back to Waldo and relaxed sitting by the river drinking chai and tea trying to get rid of some of our stress and frustrations!

We made breakfast, cleaned up, packed our lunch, and decided it would be best to drive to the Lazydays here to try to get some information and clarity on what we need to be doing.  During the drive, Ernie called to get an update on our Waldo situation.  It was so good for Ken to be able to talk about it and they had a great conversation with lots of laughter! 

I am going to make this explanation as simple as possible.  After talking to Amber and her manager, they have no desire to do the repairs.  They say we need to go back to Tampa.  They insinuated that Sam wasn't cooperating.  We found that hard to believe.  So as we left and drove towards Estes Park and I talked with Samantha.  She has been very cooperative, but Amber and her manager have not.  Sam could not get the necessary paperwork she needed.  Sam was totally frustrated and feeling terrible for us so she took it to the "head guy" at Tampa Lazydays and he was contacting Denver.  She asked us to give her another hour to see what would happen.  Here is the bottom line.  When Sam called us back she said Denver would do the work, but not sure how long it would take.  Tampa was willing to put us in a Hotel for 2 nights.  We asked for 10 minutes to talk it over and the end result - Ken and I decided not having a slide for this trip is a definite inconvenience, but at least that is the known and we can deal with it.  The unknown of how long the repair will take, when they can get all the parts, and when they can actually begin the work made our choice easy.  We will leave Waldo in Tampa the end of November and they will do the repairs and be finished when we return the end of the year.  We felt much better when the decision was actually made.  We have a great time so far on this trip and having made this decision will only enhance it!

We spent from 1:30 to 6:15 in Rocky Mountain National Park.  We stopped at the Moraine Park Discovery Center and enjoyed a 1 hour walk and lecture with Peter, one of the Park Rangers.  He did a great job and asked the 6 of us many questions regarding our feelings on some of the things that happen in National Parks - should they save old buildings on the land that have historic value or should they be torn down and go back to natural wilderness?  Should there be more signage to help people find things in the Park or does that take away from nature?  Should there be more campgrounds, parking lots, and chains and better walkways on some of the trails so more folks would be able to take the tougher hikes?  All very good questions and thought provoking. 

What a view driving towards Estes Park!

Majestic and more snow on the mountaintop since yesterday!

Peter is beginning his lecture and hike!

Not a bad backdrop!

One of the cabins they have preserved, but you can not
go inside!

Our 1st elk!

From there we drove to the Moraine Meadow where every evening between 4 and 6 you often see herds of elk come to the meadow to eat and since it is "rut" season the males do their thing including their bugle sounds to let the other elk know who is "boss".  We did see our 1st elk while with the Park Ranger but after spending 2 hours parked by the meadow with lots of other cars, we only saw 4 female elk and 4 males.  None of the large herds showed up this evening which is very unusual this time of year!

Lots of people parked by the meadow to see the elk.

A view of the meadow!

2 of the females!

Making the bugle sound!

They are magnificent creature!

We left the park and headed back to the Campground.  We were told there is a certain place along Route 34 where you often see the big horned sheep on the rugged mountain landscape.  Sure enough, we got to an area where numerous cars were parked along the road and people were taking pictures.  So, we stopped and got some great photos of 5 big horned sheep.  Ken was so excited.

Thesebig horned sheep are magnificent too!

Amazing how "sure footed" they are on the rocky terrain!

Love driving through the gorge on the way back to the CG -

Arrived at the campground by 7:30 and it was time to work on the blog and download photos.  Bless his heart, Ken packed our lunches for tomorrow because we want to head into the park by 6:45 to go to an area where you sometimes see moose.  We also want to do some hiking.  I did talk to Cindy and Noela this afternoon to bring them up to date on our Waldo saga. 

Ken and I feel so much better that we came to a decision about Waldo's repairs. We are looking forward to the remainder of this wonderful trip and hopefully with no surprises!