Estes Park has been busy lately

I get home from getting my truck fixed yesterday and notice there are a bunch of cop cars and SUVs just a couple houses down from the Rock Inn and my street. I pull up to my cottage, where another government SUV is parked outside next door. My arrival was greeted by two unhappy and heavily armed men that were standing on either side of my neighbor's cabin, looking down into the creek area and sortof "junkyard" area that is behind my place on the other side of the drainage. These men were sporting bullet proof vests and semi-automatic rifles. Hmmm.

Ends up they had the whole area - from highway 66 just down from the Rock, down the next sidestreet where the junkyard area is, and my place was on the perimeter on the other side - surrounded by sheriffs and marshalls. I asked the guy closest to my place, apparently a "Sheriff Negotiator" according to his vest, what was going on. Well there's been a fugitive on the loose that busted out of some prison in Washington and, lucky me, they think he's been hiding out in the cars/campers/junk that is just down behind my place about 200 feet. Nice. Another sheriff suggested we stay indoors until they knew for sure what was going on.

Of course, I had left my place unlocked because well that's just what we do up here sometimes. Not like I have anything worth stealing... But I never counted on a potential "armed and dangerous" fugitive being lose. I opened my bedroom and bathroom doors cautiously, and timidly peeked up in my loft... just to be sure, ya know. ;)

They were out there for a while but they think they missed him and he fled the area again. Darn. A cute officer came to my place and gave me a card, telling me to report anything suspicious, and offering up a compliment to my handsome dog. "At least you have a dog to protect you if anything happens." To which I replied, "Are you freaking kidding me?? He's nothing but a big chicken!"

In the meantime, across town there were multiple drug busts. Yes, this all happened yesterday. They were busted for a cocaine ring. Thank god, get that horrible stuff out of here. This weekend there was also a bust for a suspected meth lab (apparently that's big up here in the mountains... which is funny, since it's mostly retired old people and stoners, who aren't into that kind of thing... guess it's the creepy "other" locals that don't hang out in the nice restaurants or the national park??)

 

Ready to roll, right outside my bedroom window

Going to New Mexico tomorrow is sounding better and better. ;)