It was 25°F (-4°C) when we got out of bed around 7:45. I did some computer work, then went outside to clean the snow off the roof of the RV so we could get some solar-electric power while we were parked in the morning. There wasn't much snow, and a lot of it had melted when it first started falling, so the roof of the RV was mostly covered by a layer of bumpy ice. I had to use an ice scraper to clean off the solar-electric panels. The icy snow had collected on the bare deciduous trees, and they were beautiful. We left in the Jeep with E too around 9:15.

We dropped E off at The Armstrong Hotel in Old Town Fort Collins for work, then we walked to the nearby FedEx place so J could send off a hard drive that she had just sold.

We went to Lucile's for breakfast. I was surprised that they didn't serve their New Orleans Style Coffee with Chicory like I had been drinking, and instead they served some other kind from a place in Boulder. I had Farmer's Eggs and J had a Cheese Omelet. It was nice to relax and enjoy the nice breakfast.

We returned to the RV around 10:35. I worked up a blog entry and we both used the free Wi-Fi connection. We left around 12:05 with J in the Jeep and me following in the RV.

We went to a Loaf N Jug to fill up the RV and Jeep at $2.239/gal with a 3¢ discount by using our King Soopers (Kroger) club card. We hooked up the Jeep to tow, and departed around 12:45.

I had some Clif Bars for lunch while driving.

We entered Rocky Mountain National Park through the Beaver Meadows Entrance Station, at 2:08, and there wasn't that much snow on the ground. We went directly to Moraine Park Campground and occupied Site 211 in the B Loop. It was the only loop open, and none of the sites were particularly good for solar-electric power. We were the only people in the campground, so it should be nice and quiet. :) I cleaned off the Jeep windows using some windshield washer fluid and our squeegee. The windows had gotten completely filthy after towing over the wet roads from the snow melt. We left around 3:10 in the Jeep.

We drove around the park to look for wildlife to photograph. There was a large herd of female and young male elk near Moraine Park, and all of the big bull elk were over at West Horseshoe Park. The term "park" is used in this part of the country to describe a flat valley among the mountains. You might be familiar with South Park, a huge flat valley just east of Fairplay (southwest of Denver and northwest of Colorado Springs). The sun had already gone behind the mountains by the time we found the bull elk, so we just watched for a while then headed back to the RV.

We returned to the RV around 4:20 and took a nap. I read through part of the November 2009 Outdoor Photographer. I was intrigued to see that Ian Plant, a photographer featured in that issue, uses a Nikon 14-24 on his Canon 5D Mk II. Back in November 2009, while looking at the Canon TS-E 17 and EF 14, I came across some reviews that said the Nikon AF-S Zoom Nikkor 14-24 f2.8G was a much better lens than those two Canon lenses, and a company called 16:9 makes an Nikon G to Canon EF Adaptor to allow Nikon G lenses to be used on Canon bodies. Not only is the Nikon 14-24 better glass, but it's cheaper than the Canon glass too! I really don't like my Canon EF 16-35 (Mk I) because it's too soft in the corners and has way too much color fringing, so I'm tempted to get the Nikon 14-24. The biggest "problem" with the Nikon 14-24 is that the front element bulges out a lot, so it's really not possible to use filters. (The Canon TS-E 17 and EF 14 have similar front elements.) Well, just before posting this blog entry, I read Ian Plant's review of the Nikon 14-24, and he shows how to mount 4-inch filters on such lenses. :) Hmmm — I might have to sell my clunky 16-35.

We had dinner around 6:45 of J's Pea Soup and five-cheese Texas Toast. J had made the pea soup on November 5, 2009 and had frozen some, and we ate that tonight.

After dinner, I had some Asbach Uralt while doing some computer work.