Tag: #Colorado

We had purchased some tickets to a play in Colorado Springs were a friend of Kathy’s was acting in. I arranged with an old friend to meet for dinner before the show. We decided on an Indian place, and the food was actually very good. It was Kathy’s first experience with Indian food, and she might have some at a future time. We talked for a couple of hours and it was really nice catching up and seeing all he has accomplished. He asked us if we had a place to stay and I told him we hadn’t figured it out yet, so he invited us to park in his driveway. We agreed and then headed towards the show.

The show is called Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson and was an interesting adaptation of a mystery theater. Her friend Johanna, had an interesting role in that she played three or four different characters throughout the play. She’s a really good actress. We met her after the show and went down to a place called Cork and Cask, a quirky little establishment with very comfortable yet eclectic furniture.

We actually closed the place down that night talking about all the travels we’ve done, all the travel she’s done, and interestingly, she has been recovering from second and third-degree burns from a fall in Phoenix, where she burned herself on the pavement this summer.

We found my friend’s place and parked on the street, and settled in about 2 AM. We had a long drive the next day and we had to get up at six, fuel the truck and head to El Paso.

We must have been tired because we both slept in this morning. We made a quick breakfast of skillet burritos and made our way back to the freeway. Drive up into the mountains was just stunning. The orange is in yellow of the Aspen trees were such a beautiful contrast to the dark green conifers. We pass through Glenwood Springs, through the canyon, and through Aspen, Colorado. We turned off at Frisco and headed south towards Breckenridge. This place sure has grown in the past 10 years. We filled up in Breckenridge, got some snacks, and then stopped at the Continental Divide at Hoosier pass.

We made it to the fluorescent fossil beds national monument around 3 PM. It’s funny because I lived up here for seven years and I had never visited this monument. There are petrified trees, ancient redwoods, that used to live here as well as a very productive deciduous forest. Apparently this area was more of a wetland during those times. Kathy was not feeling well due to the altitude, so she went back to rest while I hiked a bit on the trails. There was a little Homestead about a quarter of a mile back that was part of the park, so we went down there to tour that. The buildings are open during summer hours, but unfortunately we missed that, so we just peered through the window windows.

It was starting to rain, so we got back in the truck and finished out the 15 miles to Cripple Creek. My son recently purchased a home up here, a cute little log cabin, and he gave us a grand tour before we went to dinner. Very cute place. We’ll be here for the next few days before finishing out this leg of the journey.

Here are some additional photos from the day.
https://www.overlandadventureexcursions.com/photos-albums/nggallery/album/20250929-florissant-fossil-beds

I took the dogs on a morning hike at dinosaur national monument. They have a trail between the two campgrounds where dogs are allowed, so we partook in the adventure. It wasn’t really long, a couple miles, but it was nice to get some good views. We packed up and headed to the visitor center to pick up a book about Josie Bennett, and I made breakfast in the parking lot. On the way out, we stopped to watch the herd of Hulk again for about a half an hour. It was cool seeing them battling in rut.

The drive to Colorado National Monument took about about three hours and climbed up and over a really beautiful pass. We stopped in a little farming town just before Fruita for fuel and a snack. It’s nice to see the diesel prices at around $3.50 a gallon when we stopped to fill up. We made it to the national monument around 2PM and checked out the visitor center. We couldn’t take the dogs on any of the trails so we drove the Rim Road, which is about 20 miles long and exits in the southern part of Grand Junction.

On the Rim drive we stopped to view three bighorn sheep next to the road. Further down the road and just before the exit there was a herd of 10 next to a popular serpentine hiking trail. We parked the truck and hiked a little ways up the trail to get some good photos. We have done some traveling in this area and it is incredibly beautiful. The whole area from Grand Junction over through Moab in the Canyonlands is one of my favorite spots. I miss having the FJ when driving around areas like this.

We spent about a half an hour, watching the sheep and then hike back to the truck. We found our way into Grand Junction, stopped at an AutoZone for some fuel additive, and then headed up I 70 to find a place to camp. The pickings in this area, pretty slim, but we did find a small piece of BLM land next to Rifle, CO that worked out for the evening.

The next week we’ll finish out our first leg of the journey. We are heading to cripple Creek, Colorado, to visit my son, Peyton, as well as some friends in the area. We may be able to make it over to great Sand dunes, national Monument, and Bent’s Fort as well. Will be in this area until Friday morning, when we’re going to continue south and try to visit a couple more parks. We should be back home by Sunday or early Monday. We will be there for 30 to 45 days before starting the next leg of our journey: Baja Mexico.

Here are some additional photos from the day.
https://www.overlandadventureexcursions.com/photos-albums/nggallery/album/20250928-colorado-national-monument