A Stop in Denver

Well it took a lot longer than I thought to get here, longer than I ever thought possible. Let me explain: It started a few million years ago when Denver was flat and at sea level, yes, at sea level. It seems there was a herd of dinosaurs walking along in the shallow waters of the inland sea over near Morrison. Very soon after, there was this great storm that dumped a great deal of sand along where they had just walked. Fast forward many millions of years and all of this land has pushed up creating a bunch of mountains. Push on another few years and here come some pushy humans that want to put a road in near where those same Dinosaurs had walked those many years ago. After blasting away some of the “sandstone” guess what they find? You’ve got it, those same foot prints. And now along come the Coopers to look upon those same footprints.

See what I mean by it took us a long time to get here.

We are at the Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison, CO and we are on a tour led by none other than Dino Dan, a geologist who also has an interest in archeology. The man gave a very informative tour. Yes, they enhanced the footprints with some carbon. This site was the source of many the dinosaur bones found in museums around the country. I guess we’re fortunate to have the bits left behind to view.

 This is the footprint of a Brontosaurus. If you look at the very center of the picture you will see how the rock bulges down. That’s the inverse of a 40 ton Brontosaurus, that was longer than 90 feet (our motorhome is 38 feet long and 15 tons).

You know those bones they display in the museums? You think they find them just laying out on the ground? Well here’s one of those bones.

and no, it was not laying on the ground.

I may have given you the impression that we were on a flat plain when I opened, but here is a picture I took when I turned around.

Yes, we were at about 6,500’.

I’m a little out of sync here, so, I’ll tell you what we did earlier on the weekend. As many of you know I enjoy playing golf, well, I met my cousin Blair Cooper at Foothills GC, #176 that I’ve played across NA, for a round. Later that evening we had a wonderful dinner with he and his wife Karen where we caught up with all of our family happenings. While we’re on the subject of golf, I’ll tell you that I also played Applewood GC #177, Deer Creek GC #178 and I was joined at Fox Hollow GC #179, by an old classmate of mine from back in NJ. Don just fell in love with Colorado while attending college out here, so he stayed.

Ok, let’s get back on track with our tourist kind of stuff.  Pat discovered the art district of Denver which is known as the RINO (River North) district. So, we took some time to visit. What we found was an area that was under construction. Yes, there were areas that seemed to be functioning but we could not distinguish any galleries for browsing. It is our understanding that there is housing being provided for artists for very reasonable rates. What we did find were many buildings that had some marvelous artwork on them.

I know, some people call this graffiti, but…..

Maybe this is a self-portrait?

How about this for texture art. Needless to say, even if we didn’t stop in any galleries, we did enjoy art on all of the buildings. I think when the construction is all done, it might be a really nice place to spend some time.

Have you ever heard about the Red Rocks Amphitheater? It’s a natural formation that has been adapted into modern day theater. A number of years ago, we did go there to see what it was all about and now we are going to go there to see a show. So, have you ever heard of Celtic Women? No, go look them up, they are wonderful. The subject came up when we were on our dinosaur tour and everyone said we would never get tickets, guess they were wrong. We were worried because it was a one night show, but worry not, the ticket were available, all you had to do was come up with the $$. No, we did not buy from scalpers, we purchased them from the Red Rocks Group.

You can see the stage nestled down in the rocks. They say that the natural shape of the amphitheater allows for music could be played without amplification and be heard throughout the theater. Of course, they did use amplification in this concert.

 

Happy birthday to my buddy Bruce, he’s catching up to me.

Here’s a nice picture of the ladies performing on stage. The young lady playing the violin also played a harp during the performance. We were also thrilled with some Irish percussion performances by the other members of the troupe.

Just imagine this piper giving the lead-in to “Amazing Grace.” Talk about raising those little goose bumps.

I changed this over to black and white to give you the view above the stage. You are looking out over the skyline of Denver and its suburbs. Beyond that are the plains. During the last hour of the show there were thunder storms out over the plains and you could see the clouds lighting up. It was quite dramatic. Overall it was a wonderful experience.

All right its Friday June 9^th and we are on our last adventure here in Colorado. We are off to see the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. We had a little scare on the I25 just south of Castle Rock. We were following a pick-up truck hauling a trailer full of his toys. We were doing the speed limit which was 75 when suddenly, his trailer blew a tire. Well, pieces came a flyin’ and I did some slowing and a bit of slalom but we all came out of it fine, after our heart rates lowered. Things went smoothly for the rest of the trip to the cliff dwellings.

Looks like they have been there for many hundreds of years, right? Well, you would be wrong in making that assumption. They have been there about 110 years. Before that they were located in the Four Corner Region. In 1902 they began the painstaking task of moving these dwellings brick by brick and opened this exhibit in 1907. Let’s call it what it is, the “Faux Cliff Dwelling of Manitou.”

This is something they would never be able to get away with today. Though, if you start looking at the detail,

You realize the amazing job they did.

This is a small stone box that they kept their grain in. With a rock to close the top, it was certain to keep the vermin out.

The building that contain the museum and the gift shop were built in keeping with the southwestern design.

Pat found this in the Museum and wondered if she had collected enough turkey feathers from NJ. She thinks she will have to collect a few more on her next visit.

The last thing I’ll leave you with is a picture of someone we all know topping a ladder leading to a family living area in one of the dwellings. Did she make it all the way? I leave it to you to ask her and find out the full story.

After leaving the cliff dwellings, we found the wonderful wine tasting room/restaurant called Wines of Colorado in a town north of Manitou. What a smart set up. We ordered lunch and while we were waiting for our food, we were invited to taste their wine (no charge). Of course, we all came away with a glass of wine. By the time left the restaurant we had purchased 4 glasses of wine, 4 bottles of wine and 4 lunches. And yet, I still recommend them highly.

As we were driving back to Denver, I noticed a sign directing to Garden of the Gods. Well, it’s been a few years since we’ve been there, so the turn was made and we were off to another one of our adventures. First we will start with a prayer……

Does that not look like two hands together in prayer?

How about the kissing camels?

What do you mean you can’t see them. Ok, how about now?

Here is the whole gang, minus me at the GOG.

And just because I can here’s a picture of my sweetie at the Garden of the Gods.

I love to throw in the odd picture that makes you scratch your head. The following picture has a magpie in it, can you find it?

Those red rocks are just so wonderful to look at and we are so glad that this area has been set aside as a national park so others may continue to enjoy it as much as we do. We have been here on a weekend when climbing clubs are here all over the rocks, it’s a sight to see.

We will be leaving here next week on our way to California and I’m sure I’ll have another post to share with you then. So long for now.