ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

TUESDAY, 7th JUNE.

Most of today was spent in the R.M.N.P. and it was absolutely fabulous!!!  We started in brilliant sunshine which was replaced in the early afternoon by black clouds and some rain but this did nothing to mar the utter elation we felt at being here.  Needless to say, we took many photos which are no substitute for the real thing but nevertheless, we will post a few.  We haven't seen all we want to see in this great park and will be going through again tomorrow on the way to our next destination.

ESTES PARK

MONDAY, 6th JUNE.

The plan for today was to drive from Georgetown to Estes Park, with stops whenever and wherever we felt the inclination.  Our first such stop was in Idaho Springs, simply because what we could see of the town from I-70 looked interesting.  Founded in 1859, the town is the site of the first significant discovery of the Colorado Gold Rush, and today the city continues to preserve and celebrate its rich heritage.  We enjoyed a leisurely stroll up and down Miner Street, quiet at first but by the time we left, extremely busy with people poring into the many cafes and restaurants and a heavy build up of traffic.  After a visit to the Heritage Museum we continued on our journey, leaving I-70 a few miles down the road to head north.
Our next 'stop' was actually a drive through and a total surprise to us...the town of Black Hawk incorporated in 1864 as one of Colorado's first cities and was a milling centre for the gold ore mined throughout the region.  In 1991 a ballot measure passed allowing limited-stakes gaming and today, the city generates over 84% of Colorado's gaming revenue.  We counted at least 20 casinos as we drove through the town and although there were hundreds of cars in the car parks, there were very few people about...I guess they were busy gambling in the casinos. 
We stopped for lunch in Nederland, a town with a history rich in both mining and music.  In the late 1960s, hippies began moving in and a vibrant music scene soon followed.  Nearby Caribou Ranch Recording Studio opened in 1971 and recordings by Elton John, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Rod Stewart and many others have become legendary.  A fellow diner struck up a conversation with us and told us about the Carousel of Happiness, a magical menagerie featuring 56 whimsical handcarved animals on a restored 1910 Looff carousel, all the work of a Vietnam veteran who needed a new purpose in life and who dedicated his life's work to his two good friends who never came home.  At $1 a ride, great value!
By this time the weather was beginning to turn a little nasty so we carried on, hoping to beat the rain to Estes Park.  We made a brief stop at St Catherine's Church at Camp Malo on the Rock, chatting to and having a photo taken with a group of Apache Indians.  After a very pretty drive, and a most enjoyable day, we arrived in Estes Park in the rain, to be greeted by large deposits of hailstones on the roadsides and on the roofs.  We're hoping for fine weather tomorrow for our visit to the Rocky Mountain National Park, just a few miles down the road.

GEORGETOWN

SUNDAY, 5th JUNE.

Another scenic byway, another mountain pass along the Top of the Rockies road but once we reached the I-70 (the Interstate 70 joins Highway 15 in Utah and runs across the country, connecting the west to the east), the scenery was not quite so dramatic.  We weren't planning to travel far today and were in no hurry so when we saw the exit for Frisco, we were intrigued and thought we should investigate.  What we found was a large town with an impressive marina on a reservoir where several boating activities occur.   After a little stroll around, we followed the road around the large reservoir to Dillon where there is another marina, but we rejoined the I-70 there for the remainder of the drive to Georgetown.  The main purpose of our visit there was to ride on the Georgetown Loop Railroad, North America's most unique Historic Railroad.   After stopping at the station to purchase tickets for the 1.35pm ride, we found a shaded picnic table and ate lunch while we waited for the clock to tick over.  The little steam train was lots of fun, winding its way through the forested mountain to Silver Plume a short distance away,  and is now a popular tourist attraction though its original purpose was as transport for the silver mines in the area.  A thoroughly enjoyable, easy day which ended with a wander along the Main Street in the old town.

LEADVILLE

SATURDAY, 4th JUNE.

We farewelled Rich and Cory this morning and drove to the nearby Rifle State Park, which is home to the Rifle Falls.  After parking the car, it was just a short walk to the waterfall which is very pretty.  Mike climbed up to the top and had an unfortunate accident on the way down when his foot slipped on some gravel, he couldn't stop his momentum and he did a faceplant.  He returned to me with blood gushing from his forehead and nose and with grazed knees, not a pretty sight!  Once it was cleaned up it didn't look nearly so bad and he bravely continued our sightseeing drive, through the park's canyon where rock climbing is a very popular pasttime, and back across the Rifle Dam.
On to the Interstate 70 then for the drive back to Glenwood Springs, only marginally less busy than yesterday, and then on to the 82 heading into ski country.  We had our lunch in Snowmass where we were able to find a picnic table and our next stop was in Aspen, founded as a silver mining camp but transformed into an upscale ski resort and tourist destination.  High end restaurants and shops attract the rich and famous, many of whom have homes there, but although it is an attractive town, after a little stroll around we felt no need to linger.
Leaving Aspen, we climbed steadily up to Independence Pass, at more than 12,000 feet an absolutely awe inspiring drive with snow as far as the eye could see.  Needless to say, we stopped several times and took the usual squillion photos before continuing on to Leadville, where we are staying tonight.  The Top of the Rockies Scenic and Historic Byway passes through Leadville, a frontier mining town and America's highest incorporated city at 10,430 feet.  We strolled up and down the Main Street, had a light meal and retired happy after a fabulous day.

RIFLE

FRIDAY, 3rd JUNE.

As we left the motel this morning, we spotted a family of gophers playing on and near the road...funny little things, pests I believe but cute, with little regard for the traffic.
After leaving Grand Junction, we drove south east for a while then turned east north east and followed scenic byway 133 through half a dozen lovely little towns, farms, orchards, wineries, rivers, waterfalls, mountains....very, very scenic, with a lunch stop at a state park beside a river and a stop in the quaint little town of Redstone where we did a stroll through.  Our intended overnighter was to be in Glenwood Springs, famous for its hot springs, but it was so crowded and busy we hightailed it out of town and continued on to the town of Rifle.  Here we booked into a motel for the night and chatted to Rich, a plumber and husband of Cory, the manageress whom we met later as she was out when we arrived.   Lovely people, couldn't do enough for us and they told us about a couple of local attractions that sound worth looking into tomorrow.   We went into the town for a bite to eat and afterwards wandered around town, coming across a theatre where live music was being played and as it was free, we invited ourselves in.  Three classical guitarists and a drummer, fairly close to our vintage, were on stage entertaining the locals, and us, and they were sooooo good we bought their CD afterwards.  A lady vocalist joined them for a few tunes, she too was excellent...a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

GRAND JUNCTION

THURSDAY, 2nd JUNE.

Feeling pretty chilled out this morning after breakfast, we decided to spend another day in Grand Junction and visit Cross Orchards Historic Farm, an outdoor division of the Museum of Western Colorado which tells the story of how one family helped transform the arid lands of the Grand Valley into one of the most productive fruit orchards in Colorado.  A walk through the farm gives a first hand look at an earlier era of history, where the cook prepared meals on the wood burning stove in the bunkhouse and farm workers used hand tools for woodworking and blacksmithing.  Although the farm narrowly escaped demolition a few years ago and is now reduced to about 4 acres, there is still quite a lot of interesting machinery and farm implements on display and we spent some time wandering around, chatting to Anamae, a volunteer guide.  As we were making our way back to the car, we noticed through the window of a large building a model railway, so tried the door which opened, to the surprise of Garry, a semi retired model railway enthusiast, who, once he'd ascertained that we were friendly, very graciously showed us the railway which he and his fellow enthusiasts are in the process of building.  What a highlight!

We went on to nearby Palisades then, home to wineries and orchards and found a lovely green and shady park where we ate our lunch before returning to Grand Junction.  Our motel is quite near the regional airport and we'd noticed a couple of planes exhibited at the entrance, so wandered over for a closer look to find that they are part of the Aviators Memorial Park.  The airport also boasts lovely lawns and gardens at the entrance as well as in the car park...very impressive and probably the most attractive airport we've seen, albeit a small one.

This is Mike's new car!!

GRAND MESA

TUESDAY, 31st MAY. 

It wasn't on the agenda, but we decided to follow our Montrose hostess Patty's suggestion to visit the Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction.  We  went the long way round through the forest, thinking it would probably be far more interesting than driving along the main road and as we climbed  up and up the mountain, were surprised to see a frozen lake, partially thawed and with several fishermen trying their luck  along the shore.  A little further along we came to the Grand Mesa Visitor Centre, parked and got talking to a couple from Missouri, then  to a helpful guide who gave us information about the winter activities such as skiing, cross country skiing, skating etc. and directed us to a picnic table where we ate our lunch.  So there we were, sitting in the sunshine surrounded by thick snow in places, with a stunning view and entertainment from four different varieties of birds flitting about in the pine trees nearby.  Awesome!  There were many, many more frozen lakes on the mesa which is reputedly the largest, flattest mesa in the country and still so much snow.

                                                                          

 

                                                                              

COLORADO NATIONAL MONUMENT

On reaching the 'interstate ', we were reacquainted with the Colorado River as we headed towards Grand Junction and beyond to the Colorado National Monument, eighteen thousand acres of red rock formations, deep gorges and high plateaus.  It was late afternoon when we arrived at C.N.M., we stopped at a few of the viewpoints, admired and took photos of the rocks and canyons but found that we were both having difficulty with the altitude so called it a day and checked into the nearby motel for the night.

WEDNESDAY, 1st JUNE.

Much refreshed after a good night's sleep, hot showers and a complimentary breakfast, we decided to stay in Grand Junction for another night and revisit the C.N.M. today...but first we went to the Museum of the West and spent some time there looking at the impressive array of historic memorabilia, then took a little walk along Main Street with its shops and cafes, and after stopping at a cafe along the road for a bite to eat, entered the park once more to view the places we'd missed yesterday.  It was well worth the return visit.
Today was enjoyable and easy, with our leisurely visits followed by a chat to neighbours Ian and Jim, who'd ridden their motorbikes from Iowa, a visit to a local brewery bar and a light evening meal to finish