We got out of bed at 6:00 and it was partly cloudy — good for moose photography. I had a glass of Coca Cola Classic because I was out of instant coffee. J started a mug of tea steeping and we left in the Jeep at 6:20.

We headed towards Cameron Pass to photograph moose and I had Clif Bars for breakfast. We stopped in the Colorado State Forest State Park to photograph a young bull moose (below left) and cow (below right) that were feeding in the willows close to each other. After a while, the bull approached the cow to see if she was ready to mate. She didn't want anything to do with him and chased him off. I don't think he'll have much of a chance mating this year, but you have to admire the guy for trying.


We continued heading up towards Cameron Pass and stopped to photograph a moose cow with calf just before reaching the top. It was the cow with the runt calf, and I was able to get a decent image of the two together (left).

We went up and over Cameron Pass to look for some larger bulls, and in particular The Big Guy. We didn't see any, so we just headed back.

We returned to the RV around 8:00. We prepped the RV to move then hooked up the Jeep after getting on the road by our boondocking spot. We got underway around 8:55.
I listened to an episode of Car Talk as we headed back east on CO-14 over Cameron Pass and then down the scenic Poudre Canyon. Then I started to listen to a second episode of Car Talk.

We went to the Schrader's gas station in Fort Collins around 10:50 to dump and to take on fresh water and propane. Then we took the RV to a flat parking area nearby so I could take a shower and go online. We left on foot around 12:25 to go to the Jeep that we had left at Schrader's.

We met up with J's daughter E at the Chocolate Cafe in Old Town Fort Collins around 12:35 to have lunch to celebrate J's birthday (early). I had an Italian Panini (Layers of ham, Genoa salami, pepperoni, pepper rings and provolone cheese grilled on Italian Bread) and J had a Spinach Quiche. Because this was a celebratory lunch at a place known for their desserts, we had dessert. I had a slice of Dark Chocolate Pecan Pie and J had a slice of Carrot Cake that she shared with E. Everything was delicious and we had a great time visiting with E. We left around 2:35 and returned to the RV. We drove the two vehicles seperately and ...

Went to the Loaf 'N Jug to fill up the RV at $2.599/gal w/our 3¢ discount. Then we hooked up the Jeep to tow and got underway around 3:20.

We got on I-25 southbound and I listened to the rest of the episode of Car Talk. Traffic slowed way down, practically to a stop, just north of E-470 due to an accident in the northbound lane. There was an overturned pickup truck in the middle of the road and also a small sedan that looked like it had been being towed but broke loose. We didn't have to slow down long, but the northbound traffic was backed up for miles. We reached the Denver Metro area just in time for rush hour traffic and it was slow going: 5-15 mph (8-24 kph).

We went to J's father's, F's, place around 5:30 so J could drop off and pick up some of her things. He invited us to dinner, so we left in his car and ...

We went to a Rumbi Island Grill for dinner. It was the first time I've ever been to one (it's a small chain with locations in Utah, Arizona, and Colorado), and I was impressed. Because J and I had had a large lunch, we split a Chicken Combo with Spicy Teriyaki Sauce and Brown Rice. The sauce had a nice kick to it and the brown rice (that J requested) was actually good. The grains were like actual grains of rice instead of the particles that I was familiar with from the brown rice we have in the RV. Plus, the flavor was actually good. Maybe we just need to get some better brown rice for the RV.

We returned to F's and J put away and retrieved her things, and we left around 7:15.

We stopped at my storage unit so I could pick up my Epson R2880 printer and some Epson Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster (formerly Epson Premium Luster).

We stopped at a Subway in Parker so J could pick up some subs for DilK (J's Daughter-in-law K) and the grandkids while I unhooked the Jeep.

We went to J&DilK's (J's Son J and Daughter-in-law K) around 8:15 to drop off the subs, visit a bit, and pick up some packages that we had had sent there. GS (granddaughter S, age 3) wasn't hungry, and she had me hold her upside down by the ankles and give her a ride on my shoulders.

We reached our home away from home in Parker, at K2's, and were were leveled and hooked up to electricity by about 9:00. I processed four images for the blog and started to work up a blog entry before going to bed.