Colorado Days

We have been in Colorado for nearly three weeks. We plan to pull out of here later this week and head towards Wyoming. Our plans are a little vague as to what we will be doing, but certainly we will go up the Bighorn Mountains to see the flowers. We may also go to Bighorn Canyon and veg out a bit. From Wyoming we will head to Hatch, Utah in July to a meeting with our Escapee freinds. There will be fourwheeling, hiking,and lots of fellowshp.

See he Colorado pictures. We went up to Bear Lake, in Rockey Mountain National Park last Sunday. There was still snow above 9,500 feet, as you can see. The trout were spawning in the creeks, and the ducks have hatched their young. Meanwhile, I visited daughters and granddaughters, who came to celebrate Katy's graduation.

Bear Lake in June; Dan and his Daughters

 
 
 
  

San Rafael Swell from I-70

 
 
  

Front Range, Colorado

We arrived east of the Rocky Mountains a week ago last Thursday. The ride from Las Vegas to Boulder, Colorado is beautiful. First you go through the desert up to the corner of Nevada, Arizona and Utah. The Virgin River runs through the corner of the three states and forms a very colorful and beautiful canyon. After driving through the canyon, a chain of mountains is crossed. We stayed the first night at Salina, Utah. Silina is the last town, in fact has the last house until Green River is reached, a stretch of over 100 miles. This trip crosses over the San Rafael Swell. This is an uplift of several thousand feet, characterized by spectacular cliffs, mesas and badlands.(Some day, perhaps next year, we plan to take several weeks to explore the swell. There are canyons, reachable only by 4-wheel drive, well known for their petroglyphs. There is also a museum of dinosaur bones, said to be one of the best in the country. There are numerous hikes and other sights to see, I have been told. From Green River, you travel over relatively flat country, following a line of cliffs on the north, until you come to Grand Junction. Here you start what at first is a gradually climb over the Rockies, following the Colorado River. We stayed the next night in Glenwood Springs. Then the climb becomes steeper and two passes, Vail Pass and Loveland pass have to be negotiated. Fortunately, Eisenhower Tunnel makes the entire climb over Loveland pass unnecessary. Then it is down the mountain to Golden, Colorado (home of Coors Beer), about 25 miles west of Denver. All in all it is a beautiful trip, which could easily be made in a car in two days.

We have had few adventures since we arrived. We attended Katie's and Claire's award ceremonies last evening -- a sort of pre-graduation event. Tomorrow is graduation day. Meanwhile,, daughter DD and grand daughter lil' Diana arrived today to enjoy the festivities, so there are some exciting family affairs this weekend.