As I mentioned in TToT(10), two weeks ago I was in Colorado and Wyoming. I needed to be in Cheyenne on Monday morning for training at our plant and the flight was much, much cheaper if I flew in on Saturday rather than Sunday.
So that left me with a day to “kill”. Sunday found me driving from Denver to Estes Park and then on to Cheyenne. What a day that was!
A former coworker who had just moved to Estes Park gave me some advice about things to see. She also warned me that on a weekend traffic could be heavy and therefore slow. Taking that into account, I hit the road early.
I have to admit that I find much of Colorado rather meh. It’s a dessert after all, lots of dry grass and sandy brown dirt. But this drive showed me the beauty in all that. Huge, wide open spaces and vistas like none other I’ve seen.
As I drove north on I25 I began to think I was seeing things. UFO sorta things. And I was. Hot air balloons and lots of them. Out came the camera and my first attempt at road photography began.
So that left me with a day to “kill”. Sunday found me driving from Denver to Estes Park and then on to Cheyenne. What a day that was!
A former coworker who had just moved to Estes Park gave me some advice about things to see. She also warned me that on a weekend traffic could be heavy and therefore slow. Taking that into account, I hit the road early.
I have to admit that I find much of Colorado rather meh. It’s a dessert after all, lots of dry grass and sandy brown dirt. But this drive showed me the beauty in all that. Huge, wide open spaces and vistas like none other I’ve seen.
As I drove north on I25 I began to think I was seeing things. UFO sorta things. And I was. Hot air balloons and lots of them. Out came the camera and my first attempt at road photography began.
I had the radio tuned to a local country music station. As I got closer to the mountains, Tim McGraw's song Top of the World came on. Oh so appropriate!
Don't know where we're gonna be
But I know we're gonna be
Sitting on top of the world
So keep hanging on to me
Yeah, don't you wanna be
Sitting on top of the world
Top of the world
But I know we're gonna be
Sitting on top of the world
So keep hanging on to me
Yeah, don't you wanna be
Sitting on top of the world
Top of the world
I stopped at the Visitors Center in Estes Park. When I told the woman there that I had limited time but would love to see some of Rocky Mountain National Park she suggested Lily Lake. It was a fairly easy drive and didn't require paying a fee to enter. Since I was a little uncertain about driving some of the roads I had seen in RMNP, and I was too cheap to pay the twenty dollar entrance fee, it sounded perfect.
It was.
It doesn't matter what direction I looked, the views are stunning. I would walk ten or twenty feet, stop, take a picture, and repeat. I met an artist along the way and chatted with her a bit. She was happy to share her work with me. As we talked I told her that seeing all this made me think "Yeah God!" and she agreed.
It was.
It doesn't matter what direction I looked, the views are stunning. I would walk ten or twenty feet, stop, take a picture, and repeat. I met an artist along the way and chatted with her a bit. She was happy to share her work with me. As we talked I told her that seeing all this made me think "Yeah God!" and she agreed.
The day ended with the lunar elcipse. I stood in the parking lot of my hotel watching it with a dozen or so other travelers, knowing that Himself was at home doing the same.
I couldn't help but think about how awesome the day had been. How perfect, how glorious a world our good Lord gave us.
Shouldn't every day be a Yeah God sorta day?
AMDG
Great photos! Estes Park and RMNP are my favorite places in the US. My in-laws live nearby so I've been there a lot.
ReplyDeleteAwesome pictures
ReplyDeleteOkay, now you've got me up in arms. "Colorado, meh"??? Where have you been in Colorado that you say that?? I mean, if you're talking about the drive from the airport to Cheyenne, I get it. There's not much to see there. I'm glad you got a chance to see some of Estes Park, because that is an amazing area. But you don't get to judge the whole state by the I-25 corridor, which is annoying as heck and something to be avoided when at all possible! :)
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