This year we only crossed the southeastern corner of Colorado on our Great Train Adventure and never actually set foot on the ground.
It is really impossible to tell just from the view exactly when we left Kansas and then again when we arrived in New Mexico. Initially western Kansas and eastern Colorado look about the same with sage brush and jack rabbits. Since starting in St Louis, Missouri we had been following US50. At La Junta, Colorado we turned south toward New Mexico and after our last stop in Colorado here in Trinidad we started to break out of the flat plains to pass through the mountain border into New Mexico.
In 2008 we again just skimmed through the lower elevations of Colorado, this time the southwest corner staying overnight in Cortez and making a short visit to Mesa Verde National Park which is one of the oldest national parks established in 1906.
This is the original access road to the upper levels of the park and they have pictures showing the older cars bouncing up the rugged path.
Now the entry climbs past this butte to a nice information center. The loop road passes these hillsides of eroded capped columns.
Along the road are many turnouts with lookouts like this or short trails with nice informational markers. We only had a short time and did not visit any of the historic pueblo sites for which the park is famous.
Colorado is one of those states we need to be very careful in planning our routes since Lori does not do well over 8000 feet, basically she gets the bends which is extremely painful. US-36 which we had followed from Ohio merges with I-70 just east of Denver and goes over 10,000 feet into Utah. So after our diversion to McCook, Nebraska we took US-34 to Fort Collins which allows us to take the lower Wyoming pass into Idaho where we were heading anyway.
In western Kansas we made a special stop at Prairie Dog SP where they were very shy. Taking a walk near our motel there was an open field just filled with these guys watching, running around, eating, and having a good ol' time. They didn't run over begging for food but close. In most parts of the country these guys are very special and a major attraction at the local zoo. Out here they are just a major nuisance quickly taking over any open areas like this awaiting development. Our daughter-in-law had one as a pet in college. Cute, fun, gets into everything, and general nuisance.
The Benson Park Sculpture Garden in Loveland is also an excellent place for a leisurely walk. With art that is more pleasing than provocative like this pair of frogs it was a very nice place to visit.