48 posts tagged “travel”
Here's some more random shots I've taken while driving around the state in the last few months.
Late last year, Strix and I decided we wanted to see some ghost towns. We knew that supposedly they exist all over the southwest and west, and we wanted to go out looking for them. I found a lot of different web sites that list various ghost towns, and we found one in Southern Colorado that looked like a good day trip from where we lived in New Mexico at the time.
Here are some pics I took when we visited the Denver Zoo in April. We didn't get to stay long or go through the whole park because we got a call from our realtor who was trying to get us a house here in Colorado and had to rush back to our hotel to fax some papers in. We will definitely have to go back and finish the visit.
I just like using the word "penultimate".
Red Rocks Amphitheatre is a really neat place, not too far from Denver, where an outdoor amphitheater has been built right into a natural rock bowl. A lot of famous (and infamous) musicians have played there over the years. I mainly just went because my GPS sent me there, but I got some good pictures.
People jogging up and down the stairs of the amphitheater. Not only that, but this freak was jumping up the giant steps between the steps. You belong in an institution.
Views of the amphitheater itself.
The horizon from the top of the amphitheater.
The big rock my GPS had directed me up here to see. Shiprock. No, not, that shiprock. I'm finding that any large rock formation even vaguely shaped like a ship is called shiprock. These are on the right side of the top of the amphitheater while looking down at the stage.
Creation Rock is on the left side while looking down.
A statue of a CCC worker. The amphitheater itself has been around longer than that, but the CCC did a lot of work on the place during the depression. It makes you wonder - how many dollars in tourist money have been brought into the surrounding communities by the work done by the CCC here?
My trusty, fun, and cool new companion. I love this thing. I can't believe I lived so long without one.
Castle Rock. Oddly enough, not any of these castle rocks. I think the view on the left is better. When I saw this rock formation, I couldn't help but think, "This means something!" And it made me want to eat mashed potatoes. Odd.
I'm so far behind, I'm now posting pictures I took at the beginning of July. On the way back from Denver to New Mexico, we took the long way around, driving westward, then south over Red Mountain Pass. It was absolutely gorgeous.
Months ago, I agreed to teach some classes at a conference being held in Albuquerque for 9-1-1 professionals. Weeks ago, I auditioned for a role in a play opening on April 11th, without knowing exactly when the rehearsals would be. Now, I'm double booked. This evening I leave for Albuquerque (a 180 mile trip), and I'll spend the night there, and attend the first day of the 3-day conference. Then, tomorrow afternoon, I get to drive back to Farmington for rehearsal, and spend the night here, before leaving early in the morning for Albuquerque Tuesday morning. Drive back Tuesday afternoon, then drive to Albuquerque Wednesday morning, to drive back to Farmington Wednesday afternoon.
All told, I will be driving 1,080 miles over the next three days. I should just drive to California, instead. Thank God for audio books.
More pics from Telluride:
There was a borded up building Telluride that had some interesting and confusing graffiti on it. This one says:
SAVE THE WORLD
BAN THE PREIST
FREE THE NUGS
KEEP THE [PEACE SYMBOL]
Evidently, the author is using some code with which I'm not familiar.
This one says:
DON'T TAKE
THE PEACE
OR FEED THE
BEAST, BUT
KEEP OPEN
MIND'S, AND
BE OPL
Surely, this is advice we should all live by.
On the same building, this borded up window was made into a display for the Telluride's Bill of Rights, adopted by their City Council, I suppose. The sign says, "Your Civil Liberties are Safe in Telluride." Under the sign and above the display, someone else wrote:
"But Not Your Property Rights"
I'm sure there's a story behind that.
Never let a boogie board or a used ski go to waste.
Miguel County Court House
Some mountain views we took on the way out of at a sight-seeing pulloff.
This is Lizard Head Peak. Check out the Wiki article on it; it's interesting. The first guy to successfully climb it, in 1920, said, "A rottener mass of rock is inconceivable." I would imagine so. It's also over 13,000 feet at the top, so bring your oxygen.
In honor of my mother staying with us for a while, yesterday her and I went to Durango and took a ride on the D&SNGRR steam engine, which has been in operation since 1882, to Cascade Canyon, Colorado. Visit the Railroad's web site for some fascinating reading about the train's history. It used to haul gold and silver ore from the mines, and now it just hauls people.
During the summer months, the train runs all the way from Durango to Silverton, Colorado (thus the name). During the winter months, the danger of avalanche is too high, so it only runs a little more than halway to Silverton, stopping at Cascade Canyon before heading back. It's a short trip to nowhere, but people take it for the scenary, photography opportunities, and the experience of riding in an actual steam-powered train that was originally built in the 19th Century (although it has been rebuilt and refurbished many times since, of course).
Has nothing to do with the railroad, but I took a picture of this on the way to the railroad. These are the doors to the General Palmer Hotel, a fixture in Durango.
A mural on the side of a building depicting Main Street in Durango as it looked in 1890. There is an unfortunate shadow of a street light post ruining the shot, but you get the idea.
A sculpture of three young horses outside the train station. One of the train cars can be seen in the background.
The front of the station.
A view down the Observation Car, which is an open air car where it's easier to take pictures of the passing scenary. Unfortunately, it was too cold to spend much time in there, though a number of the passengers tried. I went back into it a couple of times, then gave up.
A view down Coach #2, where we were seated. A word of warning if you ride this train: the men's room in Coach #2 doesn't have a lock.
The Durango-Silverton more or less runs along the route of the Animas River. This is a shot I almost didn't get of us crossing the river, with a footbridge in the distance.
I got this picture violating the rules of the Observation Car, which were to keep your all your appendages inside the car. I'm such a rebel.
A couple of slightly blurry pics of another train we passed that had not stood the test of time. It had been left on this side rail to disintegrate over time, but it still looked cool.
A view of one of the many points of rapids along the river. You can also see the ice forming on the rapidly moving water, giving you an idea of how cold it was. No swimming.
A view in the Concession Car, where Mom and I went to get something quick to eat. If you want something hot, it's going to be microwaved, and you have to be rail thin (get it? rail thin?) to work behind that counter, but they had a pretty impressive array of junk food and a full bar, to boot. You could get whatever drink you wanted, and then immediately dump it down the front of your shirt because you're on a train and bouncing around like a human pinball.
Running out of time, but I have many more pictures, so stay tuned.
