A day in the Botanic Garden

Isn't it nice to spend a day in the Botanic Garden? Especially if it is a warm and sunny November  Saturday. And when you come here early, when the morning dew is still sparkling on the grass and flowers...

 

Just flowers...

What can be better than looking at the bright flowers when the snow is covering the ground and the temperature dropped to single digits? I don't know... Maybe just a cup of hot tea, a couple of cookies and looking at the pictures of the flowers...

 

Steamboat Springs between rains

Click here to look at Meeker, the town where rain didn't bother us ;)

We left Meeker and moved further to Craig, which we passed without stopping there. But we stopped in Steamboat Springs. We got out of the car and took a loot at the sky... We didn't like what we saw - deep brown clouds didn't foreshadow anything good so we just jumped back into the car and drove along the town streets under the heavy rain. We stopped again about 15 minutes later - when the rain stopped. Next hour we were walking along the main street, looking around and enjoying the fresh air.

 

Meeker, the town with the story

Next morning we woke up early in Vernal, had a light breakfast and returned back on the road. We planned to be home by night. But sure we decided on taking not the shortest, but the nicest way and it didn't matter how much time we needed for it...

 

Yampa and Green rivers

It was around 5PM when we completed the tour in the dinosaur quarry. The sky finally cleared and we decided to reach one more destination before the darkness covered the Earth and forced us to find a hotel...

 

Muted Flaming Gorge

 As I mentioned before, the sky above Dinosaur was gray and gloomy and we decided to try to go across the mountains in hope for a miracle - maybe we could find some sun on the other side of the mountain ridge... To do so, we crossed the Utah border and headed to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.

 

Meet the dinosaur...

We liked Grand Junction and loved the Colorado National Monument we visited the day before. Both places were just amazing and we were glad we left the beaten path and stopped on a side to see something we missed before. And we planned to do the same the next day.

 

Grand Junction - the town where we've never been before

We've been on our way to Colorado National Monument and passing through Grand Junction. Another place we've passed by but never stopped before. The rains paused and we decided to stop there, stretch our legs and have a bite.

 

Rainy day in Colorado National Monument

Colorado is a very sunny state. The sun is shining in the sky 300 days a year. And we have a bright blue sky even more days every year. I'd say we never had an opportunity to see many places not under deep sky and bright sunny light. But sometimes...

 

Rifle Falls

We have traveled along I-70 many times and there are some places where we never stopped. Always passing by on our way somewhere, but never making a turn and stopping. And one of these places is Rifle Falls State Park.

 

Buena Vista, South Main district

Buena Vista is a nice town in the middle of the banana belt in Colorado. About 2 hours from Denver and sitting in the valley surrounded by mountains, trails and peaks. But not only mountains attract people to come here. The Arkansas River runs along the city and gives you some coolness during the hot Summer days. You can walk along the river in the park, hike dozens of different trails or you can enjoy whitewater rafting. They say the best whitewater rafting in Colorado is here, in Buena Vista.

 

Santa Fe, Cristo Rey church district

Santa Fe is a really nice city and we always enjoy being there. Downtown is usually busy but worth exploring. And I don't remember if we even missed walking narrow downtown streets, looking at the vendors in the open market and window shopping. But sometimes we feel like trying something new, going off the beaten path and finding something we didn't see before.

 

Pecos National Historical Park - just between Las Vegas and Santa Fe

If you travel across New Mexico along Highway 25, you can make a right turn somewhere between Las Vegas and Santa Fe. If you do it, soon you find yourself in the Pecos National Historical Park exploring the ruins of ancient Pueblo.

 

Las Vegas, the small town with a big history

We all picture the casinos and nightlife when we hear Las Vegas said out loud. But this image is not always true. Very few people think about a small sleepy town somewhere between Walsenburg and Santa Fe when Las Vegas comes to the conversation. Believe it or not, but this town was established 70 years earlier than its more famous sister town in Nevada. I am taking of Las Vegas, New Mexico. The history of this town starts in 1835 when the group of settlers received a land grant from the Mexican government and laid out the town in the traditional Spanish Colonial style, with a central plaza surrounded by buildings.

 

May, warmth, flowers

No one surprised to see the green leaves and blooming flowers in May... No one expected to see it in January... But it is so nice to look at all this beauty in the middle of the Winter, when snow covers the lawns and icicles are hanging from the roofs...

 

Snow road from here to Cripple Creek

It was a snowy and cold Saturday in February. By Sunday snowfall stopped but the low clouds remained and covered the city. We returned back from our trip to Utah just before midnight (click here to learn about this trip - A 1000 miles is not a detour for the mad dog...) but in the morning we wanted to go somewhere else... We just cannot stay at home...

 

Spring is coming? Yes!

I was taking a walk yesterday and stopped by the crabapple tree. Something caught my attention and I looked closer. Surprised, I found out there were some buds on the ends of the branches! I couldn't believe what I saw in mid January. Not in March, not even in February but in the first month of the year...

 

Table Mountain or Oh, deer...

Actually I had no plans to hike Table Mountain. Saturday morning I was heading West on I-70 but soon found out the traffic was awful (despite it wasn't even 7AM yet). I definitely didn't plan on spending hours in traffic so I just made an U-turn and 20 minutes later stopped at the parking lot and was breathing the cold air before starting hiking up on the trail to Table Mountain.

 I like this hike. Close to Denver and you can always pick your route. Wanna do some workout? Go all the way around and it'll be quite a long walk. Want a light hike? Take one of the closest trails and you'll be back in an hour or two. I didn't have any good plans so I just started to roam in hope to see something interesting... and...

 

Breckenridge, Budweiser Snow Sculpture Festival 2018

Every January you can go to Breckenridge and... look at the snow. I mean packed snow... I mean carved snow... Budweiser Snow Sculpture Festival is an amazing event. The international crews create masterpieces from blocks of pressed snow. They spend almost a week carving them and they will melt in a week or two. And what wasn't melted would be destroyed to give space for cars to park (yes, a big parking lot is used for this exhibition).

 

Chihuly glass in Botanic Garden

How to lure the fish from its shelter? Using the right bait. How to lure the people out of their houses Saturday morning? Use something colorful and sparkling :)
So, the Dale Chihuly compositions would be the best if you want to lure the families out of houses for walking, watching, enjoying and taking some fresh air. Especially if you offer all this beauty for free :-)

It was a free day in the Denver Botanic Garden and many people were enjoying this nice day walking between sparkling figures made from the glass...

 

Friday morning in downtown

It is really nice to see any place when there are no people and it looks different. Not as we used to see it every day. And if you'd like to go and see humanless downtown - go there in the morning.

 

Spring time, time for hike

It was Spring time already and there wasn't any snow in Denver. Warm and nice weather and Cherry trees were almost blossoming these days. It felt like a good time to drive up to the mountains for some hiking. It was still chilly up there and the snow was still everywhere. But still it is a really good feeling to walk on the trail, breath fresh cold air and to forget about all the noise of the big city and to have some electronic detox...

 

Colorful...

The weather is... hmm... not really warm. I wouldn't call it really cold, but... it definitely is not warm. And also everything looks pretty dull and faded. So, let's add some colors to our winter day, should we?

 

The last day of the year...

Snow is covering mountain slopes and making everything look wintery. White and blue, isn't it an amazing combination, huh? December 31, I drove to Red Rocks Amphitheater, but didn't plan to go there. I wanted to have a light hike on the trail started at Red Rocks Park Geologic Marker.

 

The Last Call...

The snow is blowing outside (it's expected in January, right?)... And I am craving traveling through time to visit some warmer and nicer time of the year. Wanna join me? Let's land somewhere in September, when the weather is nice and mild and the Colorado colors are bright as they can be...