Colorado Road Trip

TommyboyTommyboy Registered Users Posts: 590 Major grins
edited August 7, 2007 in Journeys
Just back from my 5,000 mile motorcycle trip to Wisconsin, my wife and I loaded up the Ford and headed for Colorado to pick up her niece and nephew to return them home after a month long visit to Grandma and Grandpa.

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Our trip started on a high note when Iz won $1,500 on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine at a Stateline casino.

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This vista, taken in Utah, is an almost perfect combination of Utah and Colorado geology.

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Passed quite a number of these road trains in the Nevada and Utah deserts. I thought these were unique to the Australian outback but are apparently quite common.


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This is the Johnson tunnel through the Continental Divide in Colorado. The west-bound tunnel is named for President Eisenhower. This is the east-bound tunnel and is named for Colorado legislator Edwin Johnson and not Lyndon Johnson as I assumed. The tunnel runs 1.7 miles; it is the highest vehicular tunnel in the world and the fifth longest in the U.S.

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Though technically imperfect, I like this portrait of my wife, taken under a covered bridge in Vail, Colorado.

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This hand-held close-up was taken with my 70-300 (with close-up attachment) in my in-laws' garden. Note the yellow spider on the right.

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Doe on a public street near the Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs.

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One evening we went to a really low-rent county fair. I kind of like this candid family portrait.

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Only the finest in carnival nutrition.

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My 22 year-old brother-in-law, John, bought a new truck. I had no idea you could spend this much on a truck; he'll be making payments for 10 years.

One day, we spent some time at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. It's a very nice zoo, and the only one in the world, I'm told, that's built on a mountain-side. It was clean, had interesting exhibits, and was visitor-friendly.

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I drew an interested group of onlookers as I snapped this portrait of my wife through the lid of a Slurpee.

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This little fellow jumped out of his mother's pouch a bit early and had some trouble getting back in. The docents asked the crowd to disperse to calm the mother's nerves. I'm happy to report he eventually made it back in.

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The zoo has an excellent exhibit of reticulated giraffes. Throughout there are elevated walkways putting visitors face-to-face with the animals, making for some very interesting portrait opportunities.

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Colorado has some really interesting weather. You never know when it's going to rain, hail, snow, or whatever. One evening we were treated to a spectacular lightning storm.

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On our trip home, my niece and nephew-despite their tender years--proved to be stalwart coffee drinkers.

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Colorado provides no shortage of spectacular scenery.

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Piute County Courthouse in Junction, Utah. Now privately owned, you can rent this out as a hotel.

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Hoodoos in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.

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Natural bridge in Bryce Canyon.

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Photo op in Zion National Park.

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We found time to stop by my new favorite ghost town, Calico, outside Barstow. Here the kids pan for gold. This fellow was the most charming, child-oriented person I think I ever met. He was hugely entertaining and really helped the kids have fun.

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Calico's peacock mascot.

That's it. A fun trip but we were glad to be home. The rest of the pictures are here. C&C always welcome. Thanks for looking.
"Press the shutter when you are sure of success." —Kim Jong-il

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Comments

  • RevLinePhotoRevLinePhoto Registered Users Posts: 354 Major grins
    edited August 5, 2007
    Looks like it was a fun trip. I remeber in the tunnel my sister and I would try and hold our breaths in the Eisenhower never made it though. Did it snow at all while you were there?

    Ryan
    BMW Tech
    Live life to its fullest you never know whats in your future.
    WWW.REVLINEPHOTO.COM
  • MYSTICAMYSTICA Registered Users Posts: 28 Big grins
    edited August 5, 2007
    amazing travel!
    The colors are fantastic!
    I like the ups shot!
    If you have more pics I wait with exciting!
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,938 moderator
    edited August 5, 2007
    I am jealous. Not sure I'm gonna get a nice long trip this
    year...

    Next time you're in Boulder, be sure to pay a visit to NCAR. You can see some really spectacular work done in the name of science. Lightning and all other things atmospheric are studied there. Including the infamous Chinook winds.

    Cool stuff.
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • swintonphotoswintonphoto Registered Users Posts: 1,664 Major grins
    edited August 6, 2007
    I love the tunnel image - very interesting composition - It almost feels as though it's drawing you in.
  • DRGSinDRGSin Registered Users Posts: 32 Big grins
    edited August 7, 2007
    What a great way to start a trip!! Awesome shots in Utah and I really love the tunnel pic. Perhaps a pic of your bro-in-law as he's writing out the check for that truck each month may show a different look on his face. Laughing.gif Thanks for taking us along on what seemed to be a very nice trip.
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