A Rushed Trip Through Denver

When we left Estes Park, Colorado, we wanted to spend some time in Denver. The only problem with that plan was that everyone else must want to spend some time in Denver. After finding all the state parks already full, we were lucky to find a camp site at Chief Hosa Campground west of the city. That means that we have quite a drive to get to Denver, but we get the mountain views instead of the city views.

That also means we're only a few miles from one of Jefferson County's "Open Spaces." A one-cent sales tax was passed many years ago to fund these green spaces that are dotted all over this county. We went to the Lookout Mountain Nature Center to get a couple miles of exercise on the Meadow and Forest Loop Trail.

It's not exactly like the national park trails we have been enjoying, but it was a beautiful day to be outside. The praying mantis is also not quite as fun as the elk we have been seeing on our trails. But he is still the wildlife picture of the day.

Also just down the road is the Buffalo Bill Cody museum and grave site. We were surprised at how full the parking lot was on a weekday afternoon after Labor Day. Buffalo Bill obviously is still a well-followed figure in history.

People from all over the world still make the pilgrimage to come lay a coin on his grave. The tradition started with his Lakota Indian friends placing buffalo head nickels, but now any coin will do.

Buffalo Bill asked to be buried on Lookout Mountain, and we found that there are great views from here. From one viewpoint, we could see the city of Denver sky-line, and the smaller city of Golden in front of it. But we much preferred the viewpoint that looks out over the mountains. This signboard labels the mountains that we can see from here. Many of them are over 13,000 feet tall.

We zoomed in on one particularly interesting peak. Engelmann Peak is one of the tallest mountains in the area at 13,362 feet.

When we looked out over the horizon to spot Engelmann Peak, we found the smoke of a new wildfire instead.

On the news that night we would find out that this wildfire just started this afternoon. In fact, the road that we used today in our drive from Estes Park, was shut down soon after we passed because of the smoke.

We made another stop at a famous site just a few miles from our campground. Red Rocks Amphitheatre is well-known for bringing big name performers to this natural outdoor venue. From our parking lot, we walked up almost 300 steps to see it for ourselves.

We were surprised to see all the cars in the parking lot on a Saturday morning. But we would soon find out that all those people were here to exercise. Hundreds of people use this massive amphitheatre to run the steps . . .

or do yoga. It was amazing to see so many people exercising in God's wonders today!

Mark took a picture of Denisa standing in the row straight across from him. But the picture is really of the massive red rocks that frame this stage on both sides. If you look down to the bottom of all those rows of seats, you can see the stage. It must be a great place to attend a concert.

After making some neat stops that were close to our campground, we ventured into the city as well. We went to a festival in the park in the suburb of Aurora, and we went to the farmer's market in Golden. We also drove into downtown Denver. On all of these trips, we traveled east on Highway 70. There is a quite an elevation loss as we headed down into Denver, and we just had to take pictures of the highway signs that warn the truckers about this steep descent.

While cars can drive this section at 65 mph, the speed limit for vehicles over 26,000 pounds is just 45 mph. We will be driving down this steep section of the interstate when we leave in our 26,000 pound motor home, so we are taking note of the seriousness of the truck signs that will also apply to us.

We eventually found ourselves right smack in the middle of downtown Denver, with skyscrapers all around us. We're glad to be in the car instead of the motor home today. We're here because it is the annual Smithsonian Museum Day. Participating museums all over the country allow people to download free admission tickets on this special day each fall. Over the last five years we've taken advantage of Smithsonian Museum Day in locations all over the country, and this year it takes us to downtown Denver.

We had several choices in the metropolitan area, but we chose the History of Colorado Museum in Denver because of its many great reviews. We were greeted to the lobby with one of the highway signs that welcomed us to the state of Colorado.

They have some great displays about Colorado's interesting past and present. Some of the displays are interactive, like this one about one of the Denver Bronco's most devoted fans. Tim McKernan wore a barrel, boots, and a hat (and nothing else) on a bet to a game in 1977. He won the bet by getting on TV, and then continued showing up to the games in this non-traditional garb for thirty years.

We also participated in this display that demonstrated the look and feel of ski jumping. Mark landed his jump, while Denisa fell miserably.

We went to the 3D show about the dust storms of the 1930's. It was housed in a little theatre that looked like an eastern Colorado farm house that was hit hard by the drought.

We love the annual Smithsonian day, that saved us $28 today because it allowed us to go to this first-rate museum for free. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the History of Colorado Museum, even though it was bit rushed. We also had a very rushed trip to the Colorado state capitol that is just a couple blocks away. We just took a quick picture of the outside of the building, as we'll have to make another trip to Denver to tour the inside.

We would have loved to stay another day or two in Denver, but we couldn't extend our stay at the Chief Hosa Campground. That's because they are closing the gates for the season when we leave. We're feeling a little rushed as the camping season is coming to a close in the mountains around us. It must be time to head further south!