Day Five - Colorado & Utah

A late arrival into Colorado last night not only prevented us from getting the “Welcome to Colorado” picture, but it also took away from watching the Rocky Mountains unfold in front of us as we got closer. Or so I thought. Perhaps on a clear day, you would see the Rockies from eastern Colorado. How far east of Denver can you see the Rockies? Someday I hope to find out for myself. I do know that on clear days, Pikes Peak can be seen from the Kansas border.

Since Denver is the mile high city, I thought we’d have to go up some mountains before we got there. I was very surprise that the terrain remained relatively flat and bare, similar to Kansas (from what I could tell through the darkness interspersed with lightning).

We stayed in a pretty sweet place in Englewood, CO, the Boston Commons Hotel. We had an entire apartment with a washer/dryer (discovered in the AM) and dishwasher! Too bad we were only there 10 hours. To date, it has been the nicest and cheapest place we’ve stayed (though the Super 8 in Knoxville was very nice).

Apparently there is Rodeo in Denver.
First stop was Red Rock Amphitheatre, an outdoor music venue where U2 and DMB once played, in 1983 & 1995, respectively. We were 'lucky' enough to get there at the end of a high school graduation....pretty cool place to graduate!

Near Idaho Springs, the place where the Gold Rush began.

Tap the Rockies. Now these are the mountains I was expecting to see!

Driving west on I-70 through Colorado, we passed many ski resorts (Vail, Copper Mountain and Breckenridge) and went through the Eisenhower Tunnel (the highest tunnel in the world at 11,158 ft) and Glenwood Canyon (a rugged scenic gorge on the Upper Colorado with walls that rise 1,300ft). I learned many things: eastern Colorado is flatter than I expected, western Colorado in spring has many terrains – mountains with snow, canyons with green trees, plains/plateaus with not much to them - , and my car definitely notices the lack of oxygen in the air even if I don’t.

Glenwood Canyon

I-70 runs along the Colorado River, which was definitely high and moving

California Condor? Or just a crow?

Outside of Grand Junction, CO, we detoured to the Colorado National Monument. There is a 30mile scenic drive that takes you to the top of a canyon and around the rim (hence crater rim drive). It was a beautiful drive once my car made it to the top, slowly but surely. Unfortunately, thunder clouds were in the area, so at some points I had to photograph from the car due to brief downpours. I missed out on the stamp by 15 minutes because the visitor center was closed. Guess I will just have to come back!

See the V in the center of the large canyon? A new canyon within a really old one!

Due to the burns and break pattern, we decided this tree was struck by lightning. We saw more than just this one. Not the best place to be during a t-storm.

Grand Canyon Viewpoint

After that it was another hour or so to Green River, UT, where we are staying for the evening. Thunderstorms and overcast skies caused us to skip going to Arches for sunset tonight, so we’re just relaxing and resting our bums (mine is actually a little sore). At least we could see the rain in the distance - yes we did go through this. It lasted about 3 minutes and smelled delightful.

Tomorrow starts a weekend of hiking in the national parks! I'm excited for a break from driving/sitting.