One interesting town Route 50 took us through was Dodge City. They had a section set up like an old west town and we took some pictures but did not tour.
As we pulled from the parking lot, we saw 2 things of interest, one a large grain bin, nicknamed "the Kansas skyscraper" and another a sign saying Teachers Hall of Fame and Gunslinger Wax Museum. Jeryl and I had a good laugh. We're not sure what Dodge City is saying about teachers and gunslingers. Maybe they have tough schools? lol
Back on the road and soon enough we entered Colorado and then stopped for our picnic lunch at a roadside park. Not as interesting as all the other parks we stopped at, but pretty nonetheless. We did see an interesting plant called a yucca.
Back on the road and on to Denver. Passing through Colorado Springs we began to see signs of the many forest fires. In one picture seen through our car, you can see the smoke. In another, also through the car, the whole sky looks dark and if you look close, you can see white wisps from the fire coming up from the moutains. We passed a "staging area" and saw at least 20 helicopters, many people and emergency vehicles.
We could even smell the smoke coming into our car, even with using "inside" air.
About 4pm Mtn time we arrived at my brother's. He lives in a suburb of Denver called Highlands Ranch. It took me a little time to adjust to the time difference, going from Kentucky to Colorado we gained back 2 hours. It's funny, all week here it seemed like the days lasted such a long time. I guess my body was still on KY time, thinking it was getting late, but then I would look at the clock here and it was 2 hours earlier than I guessed. We got up about 7:30 each morning and had a great time sightseeing and visiting with each other.
My brother Steve also lives nearby and we spent two days sightseeing in the mountains with him and Rick. We also got to visit with Rick's wife, Adalia, and her sister, Mindy, who was visiting from McAllen, TX. Mindy also had her 3 1/2 yr old grandson Eli with her. We enjoyed Eli so much. He is funny and smart and a tough little guy.
In the picture, that's Rick on the left and Steve on the right. Here's a pic of Rick's house.
Here are pictures of Rick's family, wife Adalia and daughter Kay. Another daughter, Sigrid, is working an intern job in South America this summer.
On Monday we drove to a place called Red Rocks. It was quite scenic. You are not allowed to climb on the rocks and if caught, there is a $999 fine. It's funny they couldn't just round it off to $1000. That sounds more scary, if you ask me. lol Here are pictures and a video after the pictures.
Video: Click the play button or click right on the video to play.
Also at Red Rocks there was a famous amphitheater where many famous musicians and groups have played over the years since it first opened in 1931. It can seat up to 9,450 people. Among some of the famous groups/people that have held concerts there are the Beatles, U2, Crosby Stills and Nash, Mariah Carey, Elton John, Sonny and Cher, Jimi Hendrix, and John Denver. Here is a picture of the place and another that shows the downtown Denver skyline in the distance, if you look real close.
After Red Rocks we drove through the mountains and stopped at a scenic stream. One thing we noticed were signs everywhere telling people no grilling or burning was allowed anywhere. At parks, such as the one we stopped at, there were coverings over the grills and signs in a chimney (used normally for making a fire) about no fires.
One nice thing we did every evening was to take a walk on a path/sidewalk that runs in front of Rick's neighborhood. The moutains are constantly in view and most evenings we saw a beautiful sunset.
On Tuesday we drove to Tiny Town, a town of miniatures that is 1/6 the normal size of buildings. There are more than 100 colorful buildings and a miniature train (of course) to take you through. But you can also walk through. Kids can peer inside the windows easily and even crawl into some of them.
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After Tiny Town we headed on a loop up through Mt. Evans. Along the way we saw an elk in a field so we decided to stop and take pictures. Luckily there was a boardwalk nearby. We got as close as we could and got some good pictures.
After that we continued up our drive almost to the top of Mt. Evans. It was in the 80s when we started and as we drove up and through a rain storm, the temp began to drop. At the highest point we made it to, it was only 49 degrees. Lovely after the 100s we had at the beginning of our Route 50 trip. Here are pictures.
That brings me to today, the 4th of July. Happy 26th birthday to my youngest son Michael. Hugs and kisses across the way to my firecracker baby. :0) We had a great day today because we all dressed up as clowns and walked in a local parade attended by thousands. We had candy to throw to the kids and Jeryl, my brother Steve, and I tried to seek out the shy kids or those too young to run out by themselves and hand them some candy. We had such fun smiling and waving and throwing candy.
That's Jeryl in the red and me in the blue in the above picture, in the back. After the parade we headed back to Rick's for a lunch of brisket and brats. It was nice eating a good meal and visiting with everyone. Here are pictures from the rest of our day. Thursday morning we head to Moab, Utah, a drive of about 8 hours. Until then, thanks for keeping up with our journey along Route 50. Happy trails!!
