http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , United States , Colorado en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:05:41 BST Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:05:41 BST Day 16 July 19Bozeman to CasperBozeman with 38000 people is the largest city in Montana. Imagine that. Since we entered the US there have been lots of motorcycles everywhere. Wonder if it has something to do with Sturgis and the big motorcycle event they have. I loved driving through Big Sky Country. Everything was so wide open and you could see for miles. Everything looked very green so I http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Colorado-Springs/blog-304497.html Well after a few days in Texas we headed up to Fort Collins Co for 2 weeks so Cody could turn in his thesis and give his master's defense. Woo Hoo With only a few glitches during the 2 weeks he now has completed his masters. We were grateful to our friends Chad and Jen Grace who allowed us to stay at their house in Wellington while Cody worked. I also helped babysit Grace during the 2 wee http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/blog-304446.html This morning after fueling our bodies with breakfast at Silver Nugget we head for the fourwheel drive trails to Engineer Pass. With many of them still closed due to snow damage choices are limited. So we pick an old standby Mineral Pass Trail. This road is always bumpy with boulders and today is no exception. In addition avalanche debris litters the area. But soon the view changes from d http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Ouray/blog-304128.html Either this jet is flying way too low or a tree is covering up the pole that it is attached to. On the way to and from Colorado it was hard to ignore the train loads of coal heading south and trains of import containers heading north. The coal trains are about 100 cars long. Each ldquohopperrdquo as the cars are called holds 100 tons of coal. That will fuel a typical power plant for 20 min. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/blog-303999.html So here we are...it is our second day in Canon City and we have no idea upon waking what is happening with the RV so we waited with baited breathe to find out whether or not we would be able to make it to Arches National Park. Our experience in the waiting area at the RV shop was similar to the way I feel when I am at the doctors office...stressed out. What will the diagnosis be When will it b http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Colorado-Springs/blog-303865.html The photo of the river was taken from my truck as I was driving it across the Rio Grande River. In 2008 both banks are in Colorado. Had I made this crossing in 1844 I would have crossed from Texas into Mexico and back into Texas. I like the 1844 boundaries better. Here are a few photos at sunset from the cabin. The time has come to head home. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/blog-303590.html Todayrsquos adventure includes exploring the trails in Yankee Boy Basin and Imogene Pass high above Ouray Colorado. Our 4wheel drive friends Dave and Cindy plus their daughter Makenna have joined us in Ouray for two days of driving the old mining trails that meander through the San Juan Mountains.On the Yankee Boy Basin trail the jeeps lurch over rocky ground slowing down to inch along a http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Ouray/blog-302771.html We have been fishing several lakes in the Rio Grande watershed. Most are good producers of fish. We only kept one limit 4 each for consumption. Most days we stopped fishing when we reached a combined total caught and released of 30. The portabote performed well. It reached a top speed of 4.5 mph with two adults at 9000 feet above sea level. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/blog-302769.html Colorful flowers blaze in a bright morning sun while hummingbirds flit around the deck as we enjoy a breakfast of Southwestern eggs benedict at Leroux Creek Inn. Itrsquos hard to tear away from the beautiful scene to start the drive to Ouray Colorado and the next part of our adventure. Since we have all day to make the short drive Alan and I explore the portion of West Elk Loop that travels fr http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Crested-Butte/blog-301429.html Departed the cabin at 700AM with Harold and Deloris. Stopped at Lake City for gas. Traveled to Animas Forks via Cinnamon Pass a 4 wheel drive road. Lots of snow on the passes. Went into Silverton and watched the train come in. Had a picnic at the city park. Returned to Lake city over Engineer Pass another 4 wheel drive road. Got back to the cabin at 500 PM. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/blog-300775.html Saturday July 12 2008 Fort Collins COLeaving Rawlins today we plan to stop in Fort Collins CO. A friend of our son Megan Aaron lives there and we want to see her before heading home. Fort Collins is according to one report we heard recently the second most popular place to live in the country. On the way we spotted a Wind Energy Farm. This was a huge facility that seemed to go on fore http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Fort-Collins/blog-300353.html Truthfully we saw less of Denver than any other stop we have made so far. Next time we are in Denver we will have to explore all that it offers.Then we were on the road again this time for Grand Junction. Today was a mediumsized day of travel but Colorado certainly had a tremendous number of panoramas in store for us. All of a sudden I was singing old John Denver songs in my head. Leaving http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Grand-Junction/blog-300327.html Final thoughts on ColoradoSo... We got up fairly early but not as early as Rob and Helen who went to work har har fed ourselves read that as stole food and unpacked and repacked all our belongings in a more rational way. Rob arrived and dutifully took us to the airport regaling us on the way with anecdotes like 'an avalanche killed a skier there' and 'an avalanche killed another skier o http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Rocky-Mountains/blog-299888.html Wowtwo days in one place. We sure do love these little minvacations in the middle of our trip.Today I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting a new second cousin. I have to tell you that I am wonderfulsecondcousin rich. I spent the day with second cousin Joyce and we just family historied ourselves into a dither. I had read several family letters and captions to pictures that always describe http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Denver/blog-299869.html We woke up this morning after spending the night at a rest stop alongside a bunch of truckers. It was noisy with all the trucks running but we were tired. We picked Manitou Springs as a stop at the last minute on our way to Bryce Canyon and boy are we glad we did. We found a great little campground with a running stream behind us. We pulled in around 1pm hung around camp for a while and then http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Colorado-Springs/Garden-of-the-Gods/blog-299854.html Yesterday we left Gunnison Colorado and climbed and climbed up and over the Monarch Pass with a summit of over 11000 feet. We rode by several river rafting groups on the other side of the pass which was obviously a big activity in the area. Beautiful rocky gorges and fast moving rivers for many miles.In my haste to get going with the trip I forgot that I was planning on getting my brakes re http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/blog-299396.html Hello from a Mile High in the Skyor at least the 6th floor. We're in Denver which was an interesting drive in from I76sort of made us long for the beauty of Nebraska. Until about 18 miles outside of Denver Bam neighborhoods. I drove into Denver and probably scared John to deathpeople really drive differently here than any other parts we have been in....I publicly apologize to the guy in http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Denver/blog-299357.html So I'm getting ready to get back in the saddle I'm hoping to be off to Cape Town tomorrow via the circuitous route of LA to Sydney to Joburg to Cape Town. Assuming that I can get on all these flights. Ah the joy of traveling standbyAnyway between my last update and this one I've completed my second circumnavigation From Cape Town I flew to Joburg and on to Perth Australia where I vi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Denver/blog-299335.html Just west of Monte Vista there is a Best Western that is designed so that one can watch the drive in movie from the motel room. To the best of my knowledge this is the only motel in the U.S. that is combined with a drive in . The shrine is about 8 miles west of Walsenburg on Colo. 160 on the north side of the highway. I have named it ldquoThe Shrine of the Immaculate Adopt a Milerdquo. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/blog-299271.html What is it about an offthebeatenpath location that is so appealing Alan and I treasure the lack of crowds and the chance to discover something that not too many people know about. The north rim of The Black Canyon of the Gunnison fits all of those parameters.Since Irsquom not the camping type we choose Leroux Creek Inn Vineyards in Hotchkiss Colorado for our headquarters. Our room in th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Black-Canyon-of-the-Gunnison-National-Park/blog-299242.html Peter's final day in Colorado was the 4th of July. His plane was leaving at 1230 AM so it gave us just enough time to watch the fireworks in Boulder before heading to the airport to drop him off.We watched the fireworks from a hillside in the park up the street from our house. We were kind of far away but we could see other town's fireworks in the distance all around us. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Boulder/blog-299220.html Our friend peter decided to visit on his way back from a rafting trip in Idaho. Once again we got a chance to show of the town to a new comer. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Boulder/blog-299198.html On her way back to the east coast after working in San Diego for the last six months Adrienne decided to make a stop to see us in Colorado. Although she was only here for one day it was nice to show her the sights around town and we hope the A will come back and visit some other time. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Boulder/blog-299187.html Once again we headed up into the mountains for some camping and hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. After we got our camp site set up we took a hike up to see a few of the glacial lakes we had seen last time. The trail was completely unfrozen this time which made the hiking easier but the scenery was still just as magnificent.On day two we decided to hike up Flattop mountain. At 12324 f http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Rocky-Mountains/blog-299170.html Saturday mooching in the morningWoke up fairly early Helen and Rob had already gone to work so we were left to our own devices and decided to take the Honda CRV into Winter Park to look at the local shops and practice driving on the right whilst we were in still in a quietish area. The drive into town went OK if you don't count not being able to start the vehicle in the first place clut http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Rocky-Mountains/blog-299143.html Denver270608 Thursday.Arrived at Dallas at about 2 pm but it took 1 hours to get through the red tape and another hour to get to Dallas so we have not had much time. However we walked to the Kennedy assassination site and the Kennedy Memorial from the West End Downtown Hotel. The hotel is changing its name to Crown Plaza.Tomorrow Mexico after a good night's sleep. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Denver/blog-298972.html Another beautiful morning in a WalMart parking lot I had to fight my inner shopping demons but I won I was thiiiiiis close to a WalMart but I didn't go in I decided to sit at the dinette table and finish up some last minute post cards while Tim showered and prepared us for takeoff. We hopped on Highway 550 and drove south about 45 miles where we crossed over into New Mexico and landed in http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Durango/blog-298638.html Off for a walkWhilst Helen was at work this morning the rest of us drove off to Devil's Thumb Park at around 10000 feet. On the way we encountered some lumberjacks and were held up for a few minutes whilst they effortlessly moved three trees from out of the middle of the road with a big grabby crane thing that's the technical term for it.There we tracked Moose there's a moose loose aboot t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Rocky-Mountains/blog-298622.html I arrived yesterday in The Arkansas River Valley after a full night of systematically hampered driving. First on the Colorado border where at two in the morning Mountain Time I ran hazardously low on gas in the most uninhabited stretch of highway Irsquod ever seen forcing me to camp for four hours in the parking lot of a gas station until it opened in the morning. Then again in Colorado Spri http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/blog-298593.html Colorado was great. I Ashley got to visit with my half sisters nieces and nephew and see all of the sights that I loved when I was little. We stayed in Colorado Springs for two nights with Liz and in Denver with Amy for two nights. Liz took us to the top of Pikes Peak to Cascade to Manitoe Springs Green Mountain Falls and to Garden of the Gods all in one day. At Amy's we went to my niece http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/blog-298391.html