| s/y Nine of Cups Colorado USA ... Rocky Mountain High Summer 2010 |
| Colorado Facts... Capital: Denver Area: 104,100 sq mi (8th largest in the US) Population: ~5 million (est 2009) High Point: Mt. Elbert, 14,433 feet Low Point: Arkansas River, 3,315 feet State Nickname: Centennial State, Colorful Colorado State Flower: Rocky Mountain Columbine State Bird: Lark bunting Colorado was the 38th state in the USA and entered the union on August 1, 1876, centennial year of the USA, hence its state nickname. |
| The word Colorado is Spanish for the "color red," and refers to the muddy Colorado River. The Arkansas, Rio Grande and Platte Rivers also flow through the state. |
| In order to accommodate our schedule and everyone else's vacation schedules, we planned to continue cross country to the northeast coast to visit Marcie's Mom and sister and family and then return to Colorado. So off we went, but we'll return to Colorado soon. In the meantime, next stop...Nebraska! |
| There's always that special feeling when you enter "home territory" and that's how we felt when we crossed the state line into Colorado. |
| Sunflowers and prairie dog towns lined the highway. |
| Talk about feeling at home...where else in the world would you see this sign? |
| Colorado National Monument, Colorado - 39N10.26 / 108W73.51 |
| We stayed our first Colorado night in Grand Junction and stopped at the Colorado National Monument to celebrate the 4th of July. |
| Left, climbers ascended the sheer cliffs of Independence Rock to raise the US flag for Independence Day. Above, a tunnel through sandstone along the scenic drive through the park. |
| Diploid checkered lizard |
| Balancing rock |
| Once again, the sandstone rock formations were awesome. |
| Breathtaking views |
| Side-blotched lizard |
| Juniper titmouse watches us picnic. |
| Denver, Colorado - 39N66.57 / 104W79.06 |
| Our visit to Denver was a busy, busy time, mostly catching up with relatives and friends. We had the chance to visit with grandkids on several occasions. All are getting taller and older...go figure... and we barely recognized them. Our excursions included visits to Castlewood Canyon State Park, the Denver Zoo (world class!), Broomfield Park, the Wildlife Sanctuary, Rocky Mountain Arsenal Nature Reserve (wow...what a change that is!) and a private concert with Amy Brinkman-Davis. |
| We used to take our kids here when they were young and now we're taking our grandkids. Oh my! |
| David's Dad helped to build the original bridge here as part of the CCC effort. |
| Grandson, Coleman (8), is sporting quite the mohawk. |
| The local chipmunks made an appearance. The boys took cameras and it found it quite a challenge catching shots of these little guys. |
| Fun at a Broomfield park with Brad's family...Cat (his wife), Jacob, Kaileah & Danielle. |
| At the large animal Wildlife Sanctuary, we watched a tiger take a cool bath. |
| We were fortunate enough to be in town when Amy Brinkman-Davis was giving a private concert. Above, she's intense during a particularly difficult piece. |
| Having been at her birth, it was astounding to see her all grown up, self-assured and so very accomplished in her music. The thumbs-up came after a "clean run". |
| After the concert, proud mom, Marlys, said a few words as Amy relaxed for the first time all evening. |
| The Rocky Mountain Arsenal, previously a chemical weapons manufacturing facility, as its name suggests, is now a wildlife reserve with a herd of buffalo (American bison) in residence. |
| Taylor and Cole enjoyed exploring what the visitor center had to offer. |
| This 12,500-acre expanse of short grass prairie has survived the test of time and transitioned from farmland, to war-time manufacturing site, to wildlife sanctuary. Above, mule deer and fawn graze. |
Interesting Colorado trivia...
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| The Colorado Rockies are part of the North American Cordillera, which stretches 3,000 miles from Alaska, through western Canada and the United States, into northern Mexico. The centerpieces of this dramatic uplift are the peaks over 14,000', or "Fourteeners", as they are affectionately referred to by climbers. There are 52 Fourteeners in Colorado. David has climbed 32 of them and our son, Brennan, has bagged 50. |
| We continued on towards Denver and detoured just a little to go over Loveland Pass. |
| Manmade Lake Dillon and its little lake marina. |
Beautiful view abound in the mountains.
| A visit with our nephew, Gordo, allowed us a chance to meet our grand-niece, Ava. |