A Viking Get-A-Way In Colorado
A Viking Get-A-Way In Colorado
Submitted by
Sam and Suzie Shoults
Greetings! Suzie and I had a great time at the Scandinavian Festival in Estes Park, Colorado this last weekend.
We arrived on Friday and went directly to the marina and launched the Yrsa on Lake Estes. We had a few Viking reenactors from the Fjellborg Vikings join us out on the lake and had a great time sailing. Lodin and Bryce the Younger were on hand to row. The wind was high and we rowed to the far Western side of the lake before sailing quickly back across to the marina. We had so much fun we did it twice. We were video taped for the local TV station to use to drum up more interest for the festival on Saturday and Sunday and many visitors told us they had seen the TV spot. Here is a link to that video they aired Friday and Saturday night.
We set up Friday evening in the park for the fest. The festival opened at 10 am and we had loads of visitors and had a great time talking with them. There were combat demonstrations, woodworking, tablet weaving, leather shoe making, copper wire weaving, and pewter casting. Yrsa sat in the center of the camp and drew a crowd of onlookers throughout the day.
After the festival Saturday evening we went down to the lake with a full crew of Vikings and sailed again for a few hours. We had a great time and took some nice pics. I like the pictures with the mountains behind the Yrsa.
After the festival ended on Sunday night Suzie and I got a hotel room to rest up for the next day. We played tourist for the day and went up and saw the hotel where “The Shining” was filmed. We visited the lodge on the hill that was burned long ago and is a shell balanced on the crest. Then we drove to the Rocky Mountain National Park and toured the park. We drove up to the Bear Lake area and hiked the trails up into the mountains. We went up high enough to find snow drifts so Suzie could make a snow ball. (No, she did not throw it at me). We saw the Falls, Glacier Gorge, and several of the upper mountain lakes.
And of course we were watched by one of Odin’s Ravens throughout the day at we hiked the mountain trails. He didn’t say much, but appeared very interested in what we were doing there.
We got home Tuesday evening and unpacked to make sure everything is dry and clean and ready for the next trip. Thanks to the Fjellborg Vikings for being great hosts. We really enjoyed ourselves.
