We headed out of our campsite early to return the motorcycle in Sturgis, South Dakota. This morning’s ride seemed even better than when we picked it up the morning before. After we returned it, we headed to Devils Tower, where we saw the bear carved stump, according to legend.
We drove south through the eastern part of Wyoming, where the wind gusts reached 50+ mph, which shook our car left and right during the drive. After about 6 hours of driving, we finally reached Colorado. We explored the city of Boulder, stopping at Snarfburger for an early dinner, Pearl Street, and nearby Lefthand Brewing Company.
Snarfburger was a tiny little hut near University of Colorado, but don’t let its size fool you. Their burgers were so delicious..actually everything was great, from the french fries to their custard (we topped ours with Oreos)! After a long drive, this meal was just what we needed!
After dinner, we headed to our campsite in Rocky Mountain National Park. As we quickly ascended up the mountain, we really felt the change in elevation. With the amazing views came higher elevation, and our campsite in Moraine Park was at 8,140 ft above sea level!! It was pretty amazing to see the snow-capped mountains in the middle of July!
We got to our campground aroun 8PM and we were greeted by the park ranger who gave us the rundown on the dangers of campfire and the recent black bear activity…GREAT! At this point in our trip, we’ve gotten into a routine of setting up camp, so we’re usually ready for the night within a few minutes! We made a campfire, which was really nice especially on this chilly night in the mountains!
While we were watching the fire go down, I swear I heard a bear growl, and that was my cue head to the tent and go to bed..Joey stayed up for a bit longer to make sure the fire was completely out. While we were inside the tent getting ready for bed, we heard another growl!! We quickly turned off our lanterns, and knew that we should call it a night!