Rocky Mountain National Park:

Today we were supposed to head towards Fort Collins as we had tour reservations at the New Belgium Brewery. But, we loved the Rocky Mountain National Park so much that we decided to have breakfast in the park. We grabbed some donuts and coffee at the Donut Haus (where the original owner sadly became allergic to flour and had to sell his business) and drove back into the park. We pulled off at a random viewpoint and ate our breakfast on a rock outcrop while listening to elk and shooing off chipmunks who wanted to steal our donuts. Since we were already in the park, we decided we should check out the Alluvial Fan which is where a lake broke through and carried huge boulders down the mountain. And then we just kept driving, not being able to break ourselves away from the beauty of this national park. We ended up on the Old Fall River Road which is a tiny dirt road that winds it way to visitor center. I initially had my doubts, but I assure you that even a 2 wheel, 4 cylinder car can make it to the top without any trouble. Just don’t let your eyes wander to the magnificent views for too long. There are many pull offs along the way where you can stop to ogle at the views. We did a quick “hike” at some of the stops, and although our jaunts were never more than ~15 minutes, you could have gone much further.

 

 

New Belgium Brewery:

After we made it to the top, Nisheet made a phone call and was informed that were 2 openings for the last tour of the day at the New Belgium Brewery! Wohoo!  We said a tearful goodbye to our new favorite national park and set off on our way to Fort Collins. And on our way to the brewery, we finally saw bighorned sheep!! We rounded a bend in the road, and they were right there jumping/climbing down the sheer rocks at the edge of the road. So cool!

 

The New Belgium Brewery tour was well worth pulling ourselves from the park. You of course get several samples along the way and the guides are super friendly and willing to take 100 pictures of you without the slightest grumble. One thing that pleasantly struck me is how environmentally friendly the brewery is. #1 – Employees get company bikes. #2 – They encourage green thinking on the tour. #3 – They discuss the importance of diverting waste and reducing water consumption at the brewery.