The Journey 2008: Day 5

We begin our day with a walk around Denver.

Crazy large sculptures and modern buildings in downtown Denver.

Morgan has made some new friends chillin' in the city.

The crazy Denver Art Museum Building. Must have been fun to design...at least for the architect, but probably not so much for the structural engineer.

First State Capitol of the trip, Colorado, many more to come.

The inside of the dome made for a fun shot.

Why did the big blue bear try to get into the convention center? Anybody?

What up Wyoming!!! I know Morgan is excited about the Tatonka in the background. I am thinking there will be some live ones in our future...

State Capitol number two, Wyoming.

Sorry Wyoming for such a short visit, but it is time for a new state. It also looks like the good life awaits us...oh, and Arbor Day as well. What a deal, what a deal...

Highway signs. Each state has a different one, here is Nebraska's. We will be keeping an eye out for others as we go to see which state has the best one.

On the Oregon Trail...Morgan is living her pioneer dream...

It's time to head out west...okay we're going to go east first, then north, then south, and then west. But we'll be using a new model of the horse drawn carriage, with more horses and better roads.

View from the top of Scotts Bluff, a landmark that helped to lead wagon trains out west along the Oregon Trail.

If you are ever in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, stop by Scotty's for a good steak sandwich, tasty dog and a shake.

The midwest is full of water towers, so I just decided to take pictures of them and find some cool ones...at least make Morgan take the pictures since I was driving. I know she loved it.

On to South Dakota with what looks like great faces and great places. Morgan is trying to look presidential like George Washington...do you see the resemblance?

Off to Hot Springs, South Dakota for the night, and tomorrow exploring the Black Hills. We added Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota to our states list giving us 10 more states to go.

The Journey 2008: Day 4

We begin day 4 in the heart of the Rocky Mountains in Ouray, CO. A day full of fun towns, beautiful scenery and more backroads.

Ouray is an old mining town right in the middle of the Colorado Mine Country.

The view from our Hotel. On the balcony rail it reads "Welcome to the Switzerland of America" Our Hotel also came complete with hot springs pool...quite a plus. The town also has it's own large hot springs pool for everyone to enjoy.

Box Canyon Falls is just a short hike from town.

A view of the Ouray after hiking above the falls

Another waterfall in the distance. I will have to go check that one out next.

Close up with the other waterfall

The wind was blowing the waterfall around, contantly changing the dynamic and beauty of the water.

Checking out the town.

The town is full of great little shops including a homemade candy shop, a good place to get fresh bagels and sandwiches, and great coffee/chocolate shop with something for everyone...at least on our trip...coffee for Morgan and chocolate for Amy and I.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park - These pictures do not do the place justice. It was a beautiful lanscape, different than any other I had seen before. Deep but not wide like the Grand Canyon, with beautiful lines and coloring running along the rock walls.

The highest elevation on the road trip...and yes, it was pretty cold. Time to run back to the car.

Back in the nice warm car...I think the altitude is getting to at least me a little bit. Good thing I am driving.

With all this time in the historic Colorado mining country we have to show at least one mine, so here you go. Off to Denver for the night. We are still in Colorado and if you count our quick hello and good-bye to New Mexico on day 3 at the four corners we have 13 states left to go. No new states for day 4 but there will be for day 5. Stay tuned to see where we head off to next.

The Journey 2008: Day 3

Beginning in Bluff, Utah we head out for a day of backroads and adventures

Here is the little family run place we stayed at in Bluff, Utah...they even do slide shows if that is your thing.

Here we are at the Twin Rocks Cafe, one of the only 2 or 3 places to eat in Bluff. Can you tell where they got the name from?

Guarding the homestead from invaders


Playing a little twister in 4 different states


I had not been able to work out much on the road trip, so I gotta take it when I can get it...and why not do push ups in 4 different states at the same time?

We did a little hello...good-bye to New Mexico for now.

Off to Colorado. We will be back in New Mexico for more fun later in the road trip.

Mesa Verde National Park

We had stairs and ladders to get down there when we went, don't really know how they did it back when people actually lived in the cliff dwellings.

A view from the mesa with the Rockies in the distance.

Ted's Tacos in Mancos, CO...sad day because it was closed. What kind of taco place is only open for breakfast and lunch? I mean, we came all the way from California for this, haha...you know what this means? We will just have to road trip it through Mancos, CO again, but this time we will be there at breakfast or lunch time. :)

Next off to the Rockies and a night in Ouray, CO, complete with hot springs.