Day 55 - Smokin' Dave

We headed to another road trail that shoots off of Trail Ridge Road called Old Falls Trail. It’s a 9-mile dirt one-way road that winds its way from the bottom of the mountain up to the Alpine Visitors Center at around 12,000+ feet. It was a beautiful ride that was scary high at times looking over the edge of the road.

Once we reached the Visitors Center we walked the Alpine Trail that is right behind the center. It’s 1/2 mile of steps all the way up to the top of a mountain at 12,700 feet. Quite a view. We saw an interesting sign about Trail Ridge, the road that runs through the park. From the sign: “Freezing temperatures, strong winds, summer snowstorms, and the need to protect the fragile tundra made road-building difficult along Trail Ridge. Construction began in 1926 (our note: the park has 265,769 acres). Crews could only work during the warmest four months of the year. Completed in 1932, Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous paved road in North America, reaching 12,183 feet. Every fall the road closes for the season. In the spring, road crews take

six weeks to reopen the highway, plowing through drifts that can be 35 feet tall. Even in the summer, snow can fall at any time and temporarily close the road.” Amazing!!

We went back into Estes Park for a late lunch. We ate at Dave’s Smokin’ BBQ. Great choice. Reminded us of Park Side Eatery in Saratoga Springs. There was a 30 minute wait for a table so we decided to eat at the bar. Dave’s smoke their own meat. The waiter told us that they smoke 800# of brisket and pull pork every day for 17 hours. Pat had the smoked brisket Reuben with sweet potato fries and cole slaw. Tim had Dave’s 2 meat special - smoked brisket and pulled pork with rice & beans, cole slaw and corn bread. It was outstanding.

We walked around town for a while to burn some calories! Nice town. Decent size with some nice shops.

Back to the Airstream. We sat outside by the creek that runs behind our lot. Relaxing!! We head out tomorrow for Colorado Springs.