Get Outta Dodge

This morning we took our time getting things together then headed into town.  We passed a bar named "Bad Habit" which we thought was funny and soon we were at the museum at Boot Hill.  We enjoyed the museum and we are on old west information overload.  I must say I learned a lot.  Buffalo Bill actually was almost single handedly responsible for the annihilation of the buffalo in Kansas.  Before he put a bounty on their heads, there were almost 3 million of them and now there are less than 1,000 in this state!  We went through the little old west area called boot hill and up to the cemetery.  We watched the gunfight which was cute and bought a Sarsaparilla at the Long Branch Saloon.  There had many original artifacts but had recreated an old bank, medicine shop, barber shop, undertaker, printer and of course the saloon and dance hall.  They had an old guy in there playing the old upright piano and it was fun.  After we left there we decided to take the Trolley Tour which was just across the street. As we bought the tickets at the Welcome Center they gave us push pins to mark on the US map where we were from.  Much of the tour was what we had just done but then they took us out of town to see their bread and butter industry....cattle.  The cattle are bought by Cagill and National Beef from the ranchers across the region and brought here by truck to "feed lots" where they fatten them up for anywhere from 30 to 90 days before they are slaughtered.  I have never seen so many in one place before or smelled anything that smelled so bad!  The ranchers at least don't brand them anymore which made me cringe at the thought but rather put a tag on their ears.  We also saw the marker for the 100th Meridia which west of the weather is arid and east of the weather is humid.

We were told about a coffee shop that had good food called the Cup of Jones and we went there for lunch.  It turned out the be the single worst place we have been.  Kay ordered her sandwich specifically because it had sprouts on it and when she got it there were no sprouts and they said sorry they were out.  Then Debbie ordered the 1/2 sandwich and cup of soup and they had two soups.  She wanted tomato and of course they were out but neglected to take it off the chalk board menu where you place your order.  I was going to get the soup too but then got the chicken salad and the bread was horrible.  By the time we left there we came directly to the Hampton Inn which is a little out of town and checked in.  It is next to the Boot Hill Casino so Debbie and I were happy.  We have a great room here and went to the restaurant in the casino for their prime rib dinner which was a bargain at twice what we paid for it and wonderful.  After dinner we all played slots a bit and yours truly was again a big winner with a 3 cent profit for the night...yippee!  We also got to see the Blue Moon on our walk back to the hotel.  We are all back in the room computing and blogging.  Tomorrow we leave for Oklahoma City.

Bad Habits was the name of this bar...

Visitor's Center gave you a pin when you signed in to mark where you are from.

The Indian didn't like us taking pictures unless we paid him.

Wyatt Earp

Feed Lots

Now that he looked at us, we can't eat him.

Meridia Marker

Greeks, Cornflowers and Cattle

Debbie wanted to make a stop at a greek bakery that she and Andy have gotten things from in the past.  She had the address and we headed there.  It was just a few blocks from downtown Denver and close to the Denver Zoo.  We went in and it was a cute little place that reminded us all of European cafes.  Debbie ordered a bunch of things to ship home and we ordered pastries and coffee to eat in.  It was a really nice breakfast.  We then had a most uneventful day driving as it was just straight roads, flat land and more corn.  I have now seen corn in every state since leaving Tennessee.  We stopped just before Kansas to have a quick lunch at a drive thru and saw the goat below.  He was tied to a picnic table outside the Pizza Hut and it was our wildlife highlight of the day.   When we finally crossed over the state line to Kansas I was disappointed to find no state sign to photograph until we got to the visitor center 20 miles away.  Sandra I forgot to tell you that I have seen lots of sunflowers along with the corn on this trip and at the visitors center in Kansas they gave us a package of sunflowers seeds!  We also passed some of the biggest cattle ranches I have ever seen.  We are in cattle country now.  We went to dinner at the Dodge House next to our hotel and Kay wasn't feeling well so she got her dinner to go and Debbie and I sat and enjoyed ours.

Denver
 

The goat was tied to the picnic bench at Pizza Hut..he opted for the tree instead of pizza.

Buffalo Bill 

Guess what...more corn!

Rocky Mountain High and Higher

I have to say we have been very lucky with the weather since our first couple days and today was another beautiful morning!  We had breakfast at the hotel and then went outside and took some photos of the gondolas as they went up the mountain behind the hotel.  Colorado has an interesting interstate system through the mountains where the eastbound lanes are on the bottom and the westbound are elevated above and also are cut through the mountain at different places.  We had not stopped at the visitor center when we came into the state because we never saw it but did find a rather cute one off the road to Golden.  The lady gave us a map and told us to take this "scenic" byway through the mountains to Rocky Mountain Park and ultimately Golden where we have reservations to spend the night.  She said they were working on the road near "Twin Tunnels" and the wait to go that way could be up to 4 hours so we opted for the scenic route which was 30 miles of unpaved road.  Of course it took us more than an hour to go those 30 miles but we saw lots of rafters on the Colorado River and ranches to look at.

Cable cars behind our hotel in Glenwood Springs, CO

Colorado River Rafters

This was a new sign..not dear but mountain sheep.  This is the dirt road we drove for 35 miles!

After getting back on the main road again we headed into Rocky Mountain National Park and passed an area on the way called Grand Lake.  It was very pretty.  Now onto the park.  We stop at the visitor center and get information and buy some things then head on the road.  We weren't in there long when we came on two moose that were in a meadow.  One was a good distance from us and the other hid in the shrubs and trees so it was difficult to see them.  We took some photos and moved on and then saw a mother and a baby moose.  We never got photos of the baby and it bounced all over the place.

Grand Lake..storm was coming.

This is where the breathing issues started!

Snow still on mountain!

Soon we started the climb up the mountain.  At the time we entered I had no idea how far up we would go.  I found out in Hawaii that I do not breathe well at high altitudes.  After hyperventilating several times over the drop off my side of the vehicle, we made it to the Alpine Visitors Center which was at 11,746 feet!  After trying to walk around up there I started getting light headed and had difficulty breathing so we continue on the road we think will take us back down and it continues to take us higher!  Although it was beautiful it was hard for me to enjoy since breathing seems essential to enjoyment.  It again took us so much longer than we were told to get through the park and back down to Golden so we were all just weary when we arrived.  Everyone at the visitor's center has been so nice and helpful but they all need to rethink the time involved in the directions they hand out.  We stayed in downtown Golden which is a cute little college community. Golden is also home to the Coors Brewery.  We were supposed to stay two nights here to catch up on some rest and slow down a bit but the room was hot and we thought we would do two nights in Dodge City instead.  We have driven or I should say Debbie has driven over 3300 miles (Kay and I were along for the ride).  This was a very ambitious trip and if we had it to do over would have spent more than one night in some places to make the drive less strenuous and to have more time to venture out and see more things.  We cancelled the second day stay at Golden and tried to book a second night at the Hampton Inn at Dodge City but couldn't get in as they were booked and so was everyone but LaQuinta.  Photos don't want to load so I will try them at the next hotel.

Golden, Colorado is home to Coors Beer