This watercolor sketch was created during “happy hour” at Site 106 of the Winding River Resort, just south of the west exit of Rocky Mountain National Park. Corrie and I really enjoyed our stay at this campground. It was the ideal spot to pitch our tent after a long, exciting, but tiring week of high-altitude hiking and trekking. The view from our site was gorgeous. Sitting at our picnic table, we were able to gaze across an idyllic farm scene of grazing horses and bathing ducks, with the Rockies serving as a backdrop. This campground was significantly less crowded than the one we’d stayed at the other two nights, so we felt like we had the view all to ourselves.
We didn’t realize this at check-in, but included in our stay was a complimentary wake-up call. At 6am, just before we’d set our watch alarms, two giant moose came clip-clopping by our tent! They were less than 20 feet away! I quietly crept out of my sleeping bag to get a closer look…you can see photos of the “morning moose” here and here.