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1997 West Vacation -- September 13 through September 27, Part 1
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| My 1997 West Vacation. 14 days, 5440 miles. |
My 1996 trip also taught me the two differences between the East and the West. Distance...and population density. The East is crowded. The West has places that officially have zero people per square mile. In the East, the main towns are one days ride by horse from one another. In the West, the towns are where the railroads built them as depots for supplies, or (in California) where there was an easy water port.
What my 1996 trip didn't teach me was the vast number of ever changing landscapes that continue to amaze me today. It also didn't tell me that my idea of what a mountain was like was completely wrong...
My destination in 1997 was the Grand Canyon.
I'd never been to the Grand Canyon. It's one of the places that's always mentioned as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. And so it became my destination. The furthest Southwest I'd be going. But as I looked around the Grand Canyon for some other interesting places to go, I found out that there were *dozens* of *interesting* places to visit. Zion NP, Glen Canyon NRA, Bryce Canyon NP, Cedar Breaks NM...
My first pass at planning this trip looked to be about 4 weeks. Too long. So much of the trip was gutted, but what was left would amaze me to this day. But still, it was too much for the time I had, and if I were to plan it today, with what I know, I would have planned it differently. But I don't know how...
Nebraska is as wide as Illinois is tall, and just and interesting... or not. Once you get to the Western portion of the state, there's some interesting things to see if you get off the Interstate. Of course, I didn't do that until 1998...
Nebraska
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Even back in 1997, I was doing things like driving into Wyoming, just to say I'd been in Wyoming. Since then I've been in a bunch of places in Wyoming, but like seeing your first Buffalo, it was an experience.
Wyoming
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My first foray into Colorado was to experience the Rocky Mountains. During my drive down US-287 from Laramie to Ft. Collins, all you had to do was look right, and you saw mountains. Far away mountains, but a lifetime in the flat plains of the Midwest doesn't prepare you for it.
My introduction to the Rockies, was up State Route 14, chosen for no other reason that it was the squiggliest (if that's a word) line on the map. And it was gorgeous...
Colorado
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State Route 14 may have been my first introduction to the Rockies, but Rocky Mountain National Park was the indoctrination. Here you'll see the very definition of 'Purple Mountain Majesties', with bald granite peaks rising above the tree line as far as you can see. The sheer immenseness of the mountains puts one self in it's place.
It was the first time I'd been above 10,000 feet, where it's always cold and windy, and it doesn't take much to realize there isn't as much oxygen up there than there is closer to Sea Level. So not only does your (non-turbo/supercharged) car have less power, but the same applies to you. But there is twice the ultraviolet, so bring your sunscreen.
I took Old Fall River Road up to Fall River Pass, an unpaved, one-way road that was once the only way to get to the Pass. There are little pull offs all along the road, where you could pull over and let the opposing traffic by. That must have been insane... :-)
I was back in 2005 for a class, and stopped in to take some panoramics, which still don't do the park justice. I probably would have gotten some great shots if it didn't rain every day I was there...
And I was also there in 2008, where we had to wait until noon before Trail Ridge Road opened due to 6' snow drifts by Lava Falls...
Rocky Mountain National Park (part 1)
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I used Colorado Springs as a base camp for a couple of days, while I played tourist at some of the dozens of things to see around the area.
Colorado Springs
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Garden of the Gods is a city park, an interesting foreground to Pike Peak. It has some of the reddest rocks I'd seen, but would pail when I got to Arches later in the trip. They also boast the "Garden Of The Gods Trading Post, Colorado's Oldest And Largest" (i.e. The souvenir store.)
Garden of the Gods
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My eventual destination for the day was the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, but that was only an excuse to go driving through the mountains...
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
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Cripple Creek, CO
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The only reason I seem to go to airports anymore, is to pick someone up or drop someone off. I'd been solo up until now, and a friend was going to join me for the rest of the trip.
DIA
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End 1997 West Vacation Part 1
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