Day 651: The Colorado Capitol Building

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Ben

This morning we woke up to a cold and dreary day outside of Denver. Locals tell me that it’s an abnormally wet May, and that normally it’s not like this.

When I first looked out the window, I thought it was foggy, but then I saw a tree way off in the distance and realized that it’s just really flat here east of Denver, at least compared to where we’ve been for the past six months.

Today we drove into the city. Trish was thrilled to be able to buy meat for the first time since we left Las Vegas. While Trish and the kids were shopping, I was doing the laundry. Afterwards, we visited the Capitol building in downtown Denver:

Looking up into the dome:

The house chambers are being renovated:

The Senate chambers are being worked on as well:

The landing under the dome sported portraits of all the presidents. This was my favorite part of the Capitol:

This pair of photographs shows the senate chamber with the senators sitting in identical poses. The right photo is from 1905, and the left from 2015:

We were happy to visit this, our fourth Capitol building. We previously visited the Capitol Buildings of Nevada, Washington, and Yukon Territory.

Day 650: Fossils, Hail, and Snow

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Ben

This morning we drove the truck a couple miles to the Trail of Time. The first stop on the trail is an active dinosaur fossil quarry. There was no-one working here today:

Next we viewed Camarasaurus fossils still in the rock:

Foreleg bone fossil:

Vertebrae in the rock:

The view across Rabbit Valley:

Another dinosaur fossil:

I think this is a Palm stem fossil:

Fossilized wood:

Another fossil:

After we finished the trail, we hitched up and drove to Fruita where we dumped and filled the RV. While there, we were caught in a hail storm:

We drove east on Interstate 70, where there was snow on the ground at the passes above 10,000 feet:

We drove 300 miles today to a PPG flying site on a private farm about 15 miles east of Denver. We will be here until Friday, when we will relocate to Denver for Shabbos and Shavuos. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 649: Colorado NM and Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Ben

This morning we unhitched and drove east to Fruita. While I was getting tourist information at the Colorado Welcome Center, Trish and the kids walked across the street to the local Vietnam War Memorial:

We next drove into Colorado National Monument. We looked around the visitor center:

The views from just outside the visitor center:

The kids finished their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges:

We drove the Rim Drive through the monument and took in the views:

Here a portion of the canyon wall popped off and slid down into the canyon:

This is a hanging canyon, its floor is quite a bit higher than the Colorado River valley beyond:

One of B’s flower photos:

Once we exited the park, we drove via Montrose to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The canyon is one of the deepest in the US. It was dizzying photographing over the edge, and unfortunately the photos below don’t capture the scope of the canyon as it drops over 2,000 feet from the rim to the river below:

The Gunnison River drops 49 feet per mile in the canyon, about 7 times the slope of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon:

The Elk Range is visible in the distance:

B spotted this fellow:

The kids received their Junior Ranger badges:

The kids almost completed the Junior Ranger books for Curecanti NRA, which is adjacent to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The ranger gave us the badges to give to the kids when they finish their workbooks:

From there, we resupplied at the Montrose Walmart and returned to the RV around sunset. See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 648: Farewell, Utah

Posted on May 17, 2015 by Ben

Shabbos was a big weather day, with periods of sunshine, rain, and even hail. The road turned to mud, and it was fun to watch trucks and OHVs slip and slide as they went by.

We packed up the RV and said goodbye to our dispersed camping spot near Moab for the last week:

We drove north and east to find a dispersed camping area in the Rabbit Valley area just across the Colorado border, a few miles from Fruita, Colorado:

Tomorrow we hope to visit Colorado National Monument and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 646: Arches National Park

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Ben

Today we visited Arches National Park. We were last here on Day 17 of our 2011 Vacation, so this time we focused on areas we didn’t get to see last time. Our first stop was the area called Wall Street:

Next we drove to the Delicate Arch trailhead and hiked the trail to the arch:

A portion of the hike follows a ledge above the canyon below:

We had a bit of company at the arch:

M watching from a distance:

Delicate Arch seen through Frame Arch:

Hiking back to the truck:

Near the parking lot, there’s a 16th century pictograph site:

We also found this bird feeding its young:

Cabins from 19th century homesteaders are also on display here:

We drove on to the Windows section of the park. Our first hike was to Double Arch, the highest arch in the park:

Next we hiked to Turret Arch:

…And then on to North Window and South Window:

B photographed the view towards the Fiery Furnace:

South Window:

North Window:

Balanced Rock:

Looking South up Wall Street:

This structure is called The Cathedral, I think:

Arches is an amazing park, but both Trish and I agreed that after five weeks in Southern Utah, our appetite for red rock vistas has been sated, and we’re ready to move on.

Good Shabbos from Moab, Utah!