Blogs from Colorado, United States, North America - page 2

Today had a lot of driving, but the rewards were great! The Sand Dunes were amazing! As always, the photos do not capture the immensity or what it is like to be there.... read more

Tuesday morning we returned to Manitou Springs to see the Manitou Springs Cliff Dwellings. The cliff dwellings were moved to this alcove location in Manitou Springs from McElmo Canyon in 1907. (There is continued dispute about how accurate the reconstruction is, but if one is not going to Mesa Verde, this is a good alternative.) The dwellings are very interesting to visit and they do give one an idea of how the Pueblo peoples lived in the 12th century. They are fairly well interpreted. In addition, there are beds of plants used by the Pueblos and other Native Americans placed around the dwellings and these are excellently interpreted. Down from the cliff dwellings are a gift shop and museum building. The museum has a number of displays on Pueblo daily life and material culture. The museum ... read more

Driving from Cheyenne to Colorado Springs on I-25 took about three and a half hours. We stayed in Colorado Springs on Sunday night. Colorado Springs is right at the foot of the Rocky Mountains and close to Pikes Peak. Our objective was to travel to the summit of Pikes Peak, 14,115 feet (4302 m), on Monday. Pikes Peak is a poplar destination which one can ascend by train, by road or by hiking. The Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway was our choice. (It is a popular one. We made reservation long in advance).The cog railway is similar to the mountain railways in Switzerland and very much like the Pilatusbahn we rode in 2019. But the summit of Pikes Peak is more than twice as high as Pilatus and the base, at Manitou Springs, is much ... read more

Saturday began by meeting Drew downtown for brunch at Snooze. It was one of several restaurants in the historic district where people were having breakfast. After breakfast, Drew had a number of errands to attend to before the evening concert. Susan and I struck out on our sightseeing. First stop was the Colorado State University campus. The land grant university was founded in 1870 as the Colorado Agricultural school. The main campus centers around The Oval, laid out in 1909, and its several academic buildings in the Italian Renaissance style. We parked and walked over to the Lory Plaza, the core of the modern campus. The Natural Resources building has a display of Colorado rocks, which make for a good introduction to Colorado geography. In the Lory Student Center is the bookstore, the place to find ... read more

Arriving in Fort Collins in the mid-afternoon we checked into our hotel, the Hampton Inn. Hampton Inn is a bit of a distance from the downtown. I learned it is in an area of Fort Collins that was once an independent town, Harmony, Colorado. Nothing of Harmony is left except the old town cemetery. The rest has been completely built over by recent construction. We had dinner down the street at La Buena Vida Mexica restaurant. The Chicken Enchiladas with Mole were the best! After dinner we took a drive downtown. There are lovely storefronts and commercial blocks in the thriving historic district. A look at photos at the National Register of Historic Places entry for the Fort Collins historic district shows that much renewal and revival has taken place since the mid-1970s. Money has been ... read more