Colorado: Part 2
The second half of our Colorado adventure took us into the Rocky Mountains. We stayed in the charming town of Silver Plume (population: 200), thoroughly enjoying the peace and quiet. We also sat front row center for an amazing performance by Wilco at the stunning Red Rocks Ampitheater. Our final day was spent driving through Rocky Mountain National Park, making friends with elk and marmots. What a vacation, I can't wait to come back to Colorado some day and see more of this incredible state!
more photos!
definitely loved waking up in Silver Plume to the sound of this creek
such a cool town
the scenery is beyond amazing
Andrew looks like he belongs in a town like this eh?
sweet fence made of skis!
the main street
a hummingbird
the local bar
pretty slim hours, we wouldn't have been able to make it there if we tried!
but it looked pretty cool inside!
we drove up into the mountains a bit to Central City for a horseback trail ride!
Andrew's first time on a horse since he was 12
we rode up to a super old gold mine. We actually went through the old mine shaft building, which is a crumbling skeleton now. the mine shaft is in the center and goes down 1200 feet! Don't worry, there was a big grate over the top.. and we kept our distance!
Andrew
handed over my big camera for a few minutes.. got a photo of me too!
we rode through the most beautiful aspen groves
our guide was pretty great, very down to earth.
it started to downpour on our last ten minutes back to the stables. Huge claps of thunder that spooked me more than the horses (thank goodness) and some distant but still pretty close lightning. Man, the daily thunderstorms in these mountains can get intense fast!!
Andrew channeled his Buffalo Bill roots!
with my new pal Red.
downtown Central City, a gambling town.
then we stopped quickly at Dinosaur Ridge park - there are real dinos out there! ha
Colorado in the late Cretaceous
quick photoshoot with the Iguanadon
and a senior portrait with the Stegosaur!
even made Andrew get in there haha
run for your life!
he's a pretty sophisticated Iguanadon
driving up to Red Rocks Park
look! red rocks!
sweet little tunnel through the rock formation
really lovely trails through the park
Andrew and one of the main rocks that frames the ampitheater (we're on the outside)
wavy rocks
loved the clouds too. it kept threatening to rain, but for the most part stayed dry
very smooth red rock
traditional feet photo
what a cool park!
selfies are more challenging with a camera that weighs about 5 pounds
oh hey John Denver!
we listened to a lot of Rocky Mountain High during our drives.. it's a good song!
front row seats for Wilco!
this is basically what the band will see
such a stunning venue
the view from the top of the 200-something steps
it was sprinkling off and on, hence the rain jackets
people gradually filling in, we got there pretty early despite having literally the best seats in the house
the band!
we were so close we could have comfortably held a conversation with Jeff Tweedy, the lead singer.
as a former stage techie, I really appreciated the amount of effort dedicated to the lights during the performance
they would shine these super bright lights up at the audience at certain times. there were so many people behind us, it looked like a 300-ft wall of people when I looked over my shoulder!
my favorite part of the show was the Encore to the Encore when the band played an "unplugged" set with minimal equipment. They ended up playing for at least two hours, hitting all my favorite songs.
The concert was even more special than I expected, in that July 14th is Woody Guthrie's birthday. The albums titled Mermaid Avenue are a collaboration of Woody Guthrie's lyrics (found by his family after his death) put to music by Wilco and a British musician named Billy Bragg. My favorite song off that album is this:
Awesome show! Loved the music, the setting and definitely our seats!
the next morning we slept in a bit, then packed up and headed out. We stopped a couple miles down the road for breakfast at the Whistle Stop Cafe in Georgetown. Great food!
driving up north on hwy 40
Lake Granby
soon after we entered Rocky Mountain National Park, we saw several cars pulled to the shoulder and people taking photos of something under a tree. naturally, we got out to investigate. A moose!!! something I've never seen in the wild before, so pretty exciting for me!
not long after that we came upon a mama and baby elk!
continuing along the extremely beautiful Trail Ridge Road through the park, I spotted a herd of Bighorn off the road. Unfortunately the road was narrow with nowhere to pull over. We stopped at a parking lot a half-mile or so down the road and tried to hike back to retrace our steps and catch a glimpse of the bighorn. No luck, sadly!
but the hike was beautiful!
it's so lush here, such a stark contrast to the dry, brown, dead landscape in California
we even found a patch of snow! Andrew skied down it pretty skillfully
ahh, Colorado
oh look! more people stopped!
whoa there, ELK
HUGE elk
elk that scratch!
and remain majestic
pretty amazing how close this big herd was allowing people to get. I guess they're so habituated to humans and cars that this grassy knoll next to the main road is still a nice spot to hang out for them
cool!
near the highest point of the drive, around 12,000 ft. above the tree line and into the alpine zone
and a different view haha
more elk!
oo this one has a radio collar
stunning glacial valley
these chips were pretty close to bursting at 12,000ft!
ahhh marmots!!! these guys were so fun to watch. and I glimpsed a pika as well. These two furry creatures are ones I've been wanting to see since learning about them in Mammalogy several years ago.
man, what a great place. We realized that this is the first national park that we've visited together!
and we made it out before some epic thunderclouds rolled in!
before we knew it, we were heading home. Farewell, till next time!
more photos!
definitely loved waking up in Silver Plume to the sound of this creek
such a cool town
the scenery is beyond amazing
Andrew looks like he belongs in a town like this eh?
sweet fence made of skis!
the main street
a hummingbird
the local bar
pretty slim hours, we wouldn't have been able to make it there if we tried!
but it looked pretty cool inside!
we drove up into the mountains a bit to Central City for a horseback trail ride!
Andrew's first time on a horse since he was 12
we rode up to a super old gold mine. We actually went through the old mine shaft building, which is a crumbling skeleton now. the mine shaft is in the center and goes down 1200 feet! Don't worry, there was a big grate over the top.. and we kept our distance!
Andrew
handed over my big camera for a few minutes.. got a photo of me too!
we rode through the most beautiful aspen groves
our guide was pretty great, very down to earth.
it started to downpour on our last ten minutes back to the stables. Huge claps of thunder that spooked me more than the horses (thank goodness) and some distant but still pretty close lightning. Man, the daily thunderstorms in these mountains can get intense fast!!
Andrew channeled his Buffalo Bill roots!
with my new pal Red.
downtown Central City, a gambling town.
then we stopped quickly at Dinosaur Ridge park - there are real dinos out there! ha
Colorado in the late Cretaceous
quick photoshoot with the Iguanadon
and a senior portrait with the Stegosaur!
even made Andrew get in there haha
run for your life!
he's a pretty sophisticated Iguanadon
driving up to Red Rocks Park
look! red rocks!
sweet little tunnel through the rock formation
really lovely trails through the park
Andrew and one of the main rocks that frames the ampitheater (we're on the outside)
wavy rocks
loved the clouds too. it kept threatening to rain, but for the most part stayed dry
very smooth red rock
traditional feet photo
what a cool park!
selfies are more challenging with a camera that weighs about 5 pounds
oh hey John Denver!
we listened to a lot of Rocky Mountain High during our drives.. it's a good song!
front row seats for Wilco!
this is basically what the band will see
such a stunning venue
the view from the top of the 200-something steps
it was sprinkling off and on, hence the rain jackets
people gradually filling in, we got there pretty early despite having literally the best seats in the house
the band!
we were so close we could have comfortably held a conversation with Jeff Tweedy, the lead singer.
as a former stage techie, I really appreciated the amount of effort dedicated to the lights during the performance
they would shine these super bright lights up at the audience at certain times. there were so many people behind us, it looked like a 300-ft wall of people when I looked over my shoulder!
my favorite part of the show was the Encore to the Encore when the band played an "unplugged" set with minimal equipment. They ended up playing for at least two hours, hitting all my favorite songs.
The concert was even more special than I expected, in that July 14th is Woody Guthrie's birthday. The albums titled Mermaid Avenue are a collaboration of Woody Guthrie's lyrics (found by his family after his death) put to music by Wilco and a British musician named Billy Bragg. My favorite song off that album is this:
Click to viewAwesome show! Loved the music, the setting and definitely our seats!
the next morning we slept in a bit, then packed up and headed out. We stopped a couple miles down the road for breakfast at the Whistle Stop Cafe in Georgetown. Great food!
driving up north on hwy 40
Lake Granby
soon after we entered Rocky Mountain National Park, we saw several cars pulled to the shoulder and people taking photos of something under a tree. naturally, we got out to investigate. A moose!!! something I've never seen in the wild before, so pretty exciting for me!
not long after that we came upon a mama and baby elk!
continuing along the extremely beautiful Trail Ridge Road through the park, I spotted a herd of Bighorn off the road. Unfortunately the road was narrow with nowhere to pull over. We stopped at a parking lot a half-mile or so down the road and tried to hike back to retrace our steps and catch a glimpse of the bighorn. No luck, sadly!
but the hike was beautiful!
it's so lush here, such a stark contrast to the dry, brown, dead landscape in California
we even found a patch of snow! Andrew skied down it pretty skillfully
ahh, Colorado
oh look! more people stopped!
whoa there, ELK
HUGE elk
elk that scratch!
and remain majestic
pretty amazing how close this big herd was allowing people to get. I guess they're so habituated to humans and cars that this grassy knoll next to the main road is still a nice spot to hang out for them
cool!
near the highest point of the drive, around 12,000 ft. above the tree line and into the alpine zone
and a different view haha
more elk!
oo this one has a radio collar
stunning glacial valley
these chips were pretty close to bursting at 12,000ft!
ahhh marmots!!! these guys were so fun to watch. and I glimpsed a pika as well. These two furry creatures are ones I've been wanting to see since learning about them in Mammalogy several years ago.
man, what a great place. We realized that this is the first national park that we've visited together!
and we made it out before some epic thunderclouds rolled in!
before we knew it, we were heading home. Farewell, till next time!