Bishops Castle: one mans fantasy building project, wrought iron and rocks. Soaring arched second story reminiscent of an old French train station complete with stained glass. Many signs taking his stand against government-like that.
Great Sand Dunes: 750 feet tall piled up against the west side of the Sangre de Christo mountains. Seems improbable.
Durango-Silverton train: Durango is a great word to say. The tracks run alongside a river winding thru mountains. Spectacular views. Could see the steam engine from our car winding around the bends. Silverton had billions of tons of ore taken out. In fact had 32 bars and bordellos on its three block Main Street. Must have been heaven. Saw a family of deer cross the highway in central Durango. They were a bit hesitant, then one by one they stepped out, seems that the locals are trained, because they stopped in the middle of the street alerting others to stop for them. Many smiles could be seen when they were safely across.
Mesa Verde, Pueblo people's invention for safe affordable housing. Over the cliff, dug into the side, ladders and/or foot holds to get up the top. No waste of building materials. The Federated Women's Club were the organization that made this area into a national park. I am glad I was a part of this organization.
Grand Canyon was next. It really is too big for the brain to process. The earth and all its formations is so interesting. The layers are on full view, makes for a colorful panorama.
Dinosaur museum was next. The new theory of some having feathers was explored there. Also footprints were in abundance.
Arches park was next. Mother Natures wind carving technique worked its wonders there. One was so hard to see until we realized part had fallen, confused us as there was no sign! Lovely red sandstone in majestic shapes.
Garden of the Gods was a disappointment, only because the trees had grown so much that the towers could not be seen from the road and little available place to pull over.
We got the last room in Grand Junction, this area in very busy. On to sisters home. It was a beautiful drive, as we crested on hill, pow...there was the quintessential Western movie set. Jaw dropping.
To top it off, the Aspens were turning. One shot: mountain of evergreen trees with one spot of Aspen yellow half way up. Thank you, Mother Nature.
