Denver and Colorado Road Trip

Third Stop: Denver, Colorado

August 21-26

Friday, August 21, we arrived in Denver to enjoy several days with our friends Hal and Eleanor. Hal worked with Artie starting in 1972, and we've done visits and trips with them over the decades.

Hal prepared a detailed itinerary for us to see things in the Denver area, and then take a three-day road trip around the State.

Although Hal began work as an engineer, his passion became helping others with special family needs, based on Hal and Eleanor's own situation with a daughter born with Down Syndrome. He's a certified financial planner with a focus on Special Needs Planning. Here is Hal's most recent book.

Their lovely daughter, Meg, works at Target, and enjoys learning ballet. One evening we got to see her all dressed up when she returned home from ballet practice.

Friday night dinner included an invitation to Margy's niece, Mary, to join us at the house.

It was nice to catch-up with Mary, who lives within a half an hour from our friends.

Saturday we visited a couple of Denver museums, including our first stop at the Museum of Nature and Science. Artie seems to be scaring the dinosaur out of his skin (lucky for Artie!). Can you imagine what life must have been like a few million years ago?

Margy enjoyed the shade next to the building. It was quite hot and sunny, so Margy kept finding what shade was possible. Kids had fun in the fountains behind the museum.

Next we visited the Denver Art Museum, featuring contemporary and modern art.

The collection includes incredibly life-like portraits, such as the girl above, and delightful sets like "Fox Games" below. The foxes were supposed to have invaded a restaurant, where everything was painted red, including table settings, chairs, walls and floor. Hanging by invisible threads, the foxes appeared caught mid-air in motion.

The reward for all behaving ourselves in the museums, was a visit to Hal and Eleanor's favorite ice cream shop.

The perfect treat!

Yummm!

Road Trip - Colorado!

Hal prepared a detailed itinerary for the four of us to enjoy over a three day road trip.

Sunday, August 23, the car was packed and we were ready to see locations such as Pitkin, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Ouray, Durango and Pagosa Springs. We even added a few unplanned stops along the way.

The grand valleys and clear-air long-distance views were spectacular from the start.

On the way to Pitkin, we stopped briefly at South Park City, a re-created 1860s mining village typical of "gold rush" towns.

35 buildings and 40,000 items were donated to this ghost town, which opened to the public 50 years ago, in 1959.

The wash house shows a history of cleaning equipment

The 1-room schoolhouse complete with books, maps and flag.

On the road again, Hal was our personal guide as we viewed these beautiful Collegiate Peaks: five mountains each over 14,000 feet high (4,300m).

These peaks are named for famous universities and colleges, including Mt. Harvard, Mt. Oxford, Mt. Yale, Mt. Princeton, and Mt. Columbia. Hal has trekked to the tops of nearly 50 of Colorado's "fourteeners." He knows what he talks about.

Next stop: lunch in Pitkin, CO, at the beautiful mountain home of Helmut and Suzy. Helmut, recently retired, worked with Artie over the last 3 decades. It was great to see them and their home.

Aside from Suzy and Helmut's warm welcome, these cute wood carvings were welcoming and fun to see. This small town has only about 80 year-round residents, but Helmut and Suzy sure enjoy this beautiful and peaceful place to live.

Suzy prepared the most delicious lunch and dessert! We enjoyed the house tour, especially knowing they designed it all.

Helmut's "retirement office," and their spacious living area.

Looks like Helmut has cut enough fire wood to last the winter season!

Their passions: Helmut and his helmets (for snow mobiles), and Suzy with her room full of baskets!

We all enjoyed watching the beautiful humming birds as they swooped and hovered at the various feeders located next to the house.

With Artie's Nikon camera set at 1/2000 of a second shutter speed, we were able to freeze the image of these amazing birds in flight to enjoy their delicate beauty.

Helmut and Suzy were such delightful and welcoming hosts. We had a great time with them.

After lunch, we headed to Gunnison, passing beautiful views along the way.

We marveled at the gorge in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison (river) National Park.

This National Park is located 250 miles southwest of Denver. We arrived shortly before sunset, in time to take in the breathtaking views as shadows grew while the sun gradually lowered beyond the horizon.

The magnitude of these dramatic natural structures is hard to capture with just a few images. The steep granite side walls of the canyon are the highest cliffs in Colorado. To put this into perspective, consider this: from river to rim one of these cliffs stands 2250 feet (685 meters), and is 1000 feet (304 meters) taller than the Empire State Building!

We felt on top of the world!

We could barely make out the river, nearly a half mile below where we stood on the rim. Its power is evidenced by the erosion which created this massive canyon.

We stayed on at the lookout, enjoying the final rays of the setting sun. Then we headed on to Gunnison to rest.

What a fun and full first day we had on the road!

Our second day on the road, Monday, August 24, we arrived at the box canyon town of Ouray. Nestled in the valley, surrounded on three sides by steep mountains, this pretty village was like stepping back in time. Little shops lined Main Street, the church steeple stood tall above other buildings, and life seemed to move at a slower, peaceful pace.

Not much room when the mountains have you boxed in.

Looking back into Ouray from the highway, as we headed out of town, to our next stop: Durango.

Pine and Aspen forests provided beautiful combinations of color, with white bark contrasted by various shades of green.

While passing through mountain valleys and ridges, we often discovered strikingly different climates. From clear skies in Ouray to sun in Durango, we passed through rain in Silverton, one end of the Silverton-Durango rail line. Notice how low hanging clouds shrouded the hills.

Aside from sightseeing the Durango-Silverton train station (left), our highlight was a lunch with Chip, the son of Artie's college buddy Charlie, who lived on the same dormitory floor at Syracuse University.

We ate at this neat "home-town" diner, with a symbolic railroad train circling the restaurant while we ate. Chuck runs his own real estate property maintenance and services company in Durango.

Just like his dad!

The sulfur hot springs of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, was only a brief stop along the way home, but a pretty town to see. We then headed out of town on US Highway 160, east of Pagosa Springs, when we came upon the spectacular valley view below, looking west. The valley doesn't have a name that Hal knew, but it is the drainage of the San Juan River.

The next day, Tuesday, August 25, we returned to Centennial CO, Hal and Eleanor's home south of Denver. What a great road trip and time together with dear friends! Wednesday, we headed a bit south of Denver to Colorado Springs.

Next Stop: Colorado Springs

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		Friday, August 21, we arrived in Denver to enjoy several days with our friends Hal and Eleanor. Hal worked with Artie starting in 1972, and we've done visits and trips with them over the decades. Hal prepared a detailed itinerary for us to see things in the Denver area, and then take a three-day road trip around the State.


Although Hal began work as an engineer, his passion became helping others with special family needs, based on Hal and Eleanor's own situation with a daughter born with Down Syndrome. He's a certified financial planner with a focus on Special Needs Planning. Here is Hal's most recent book.


Their lovely daughter, Meg, works at Target, and enjoys learning ballet. One evening we got to see her all dressed up when she returned home from ballet practice.


		Saturday we visited a couple of Denver museums, including our first stop at the Museum of Nature and Science. Artie seems to be scaring the dinosaur out of his skin (lucky for Artie!). Can you imagine what life must have been like a few million years ago? Margy enjoyed the shade next to the building. It was quite hot and sunny, so Margy kept finding what shade was possible. Kids had fun in the fountains behind the museum.


		Next we visited the Denver Art Museum, featuring contemporary and modern art.

The collection includes incredibly life-like portraits, such as the girl above, and delightful sets like "Fox Games" below. The foxes were supposed to have invaded a restaurant, where everything was painted red, including table settings, chairs, walls and floor. Hanging by invisible threads, the foxes appeared caught mid-air in motion.

Road Trip - Colorado!
		Hal prepared a detailed itinerary for the four of us to enjoy over a three day road trip. Sunday, August 23, the car was packed and we were ready to see locations such as Pitkin, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Ouray, Durango and Pagosa Springs. We even added a few unplanned stops along the way.


The grand valleys and clear-air long-distance views were spectacular from the start.


On the way to Pitkin, we stopped briefly at South Park City, a re-created 1860s mining village typical of "gold rush" towns.


		35 buildings and 40,000 items were donated to this ghost town, which opened to the public 50 years ago, in 1959.


The wash house shows a history of cleaning equipment		The 1-room schoolhouse complete with books, maps and flag.


		On the road again, Hal was our personal guide as we viewed these beautiful Collegiate Peaks: five mountains each over 14,000 feet high (4,300m).

These peaks are named for famous universities and colleges, including Mt. Harvard, Mt. Oxford, Mt. Yale, Mt. Princeton, and Mt. Columbia. Hal has trekked to the tops of nearly 50 of Colorado's "fourteeners." He knows what he talks about.


Next stop: lunch in Pitkin, CO, at the beautiful mountain home of Helmut and Suzy. Helmut, recently retired, worked with Artie over the last 3 decades. It was great to see them and their home.

		Aside from Suzy and Helmut's warm welcome, these cute wood carvings were welcoming and fun to see. This small town has only about 80 year-round residents, but Helmut and Suzy sure enjoy this beautiful and peaceful place to live.


Suzy prepared the most delicious lunch and dessert! We enjoyed the house tour, especially knowing they designed it all.


Helmut's "retirement office," and their spacious living area.


Looks like Helmut has cut enough fire wood to last the winter season!


Their passions: Helmut and his helmets (for snow mobiles), and Suzy with her room full of baskets!


We all enjoyed watching the beautiful humming birds as they swooped and hovered at the various feeders located next to the house.

With Artie's Nikon camera set at 1/2000 of a second shutter speed, we were able to freeze the image of these amazing birds in flight to enjoy their delicate beauty.


Helmut and Suzy were such delightful and welcoming hosts. We had a great time with them.


After lunch, we headed to Gunnison, passing beautiful views along the way.


We marveled at the gorge in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison (river) National Park.

		Our second day on the road, Monday, August 24, we arrived at the box canyon town of Ouray. Nestled in the valley, surrounded on three sides by steep mountains, this pretty village was like stepping back in time. Little shops lined Main Street, the church steeple stood tall above other buildings, and life seemed to move at a slower, peaceful pace.


Pine and Aspen forests provided beautiful combinations of color, with white bark contrasted by various shades of green.

		While passing through mountain valleys and ridges, we often discovered strikingly different climates. From clear skies in Ouray to sun in Durango, we passed through rain in Silverton, one end of the Silverton-Durango rail line. Notice how low hanging clouds shrouded the hills.


		Aside from sightseeing the Durango-Silverton train station (left), our highlight was a lunch with Chip, the son of Artie's college buddy Charlie, who lived on the same dormitory floor at Syracuse University.

We ate at this neat "home-town" diner, with a symbolic railroad train circling the restaurant while we ate. Chuck runs his own real estate property maintenance and services company in Durango.

Just like his dad!


The sulfur hot springs of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, was only a brief stop along the way home, but a pretty town to see. We then headed out of town on US Highway 160, east of Pagosa Springs, when we came upon the spectacular valley view below, looking west. The valley doesn't have a name that Hal knew, but it is the drainage of the San Juan River.