Colorado

I've traveled to Colorado ten times.

In the early 1970s, my family and I went for a long weekend to the Colorado Springs area with my maternal grandparents and my mom's brother. We spent a night in Dodge City, Kansas, where my uncle was living at the time. We headed to Colorado Springs the following day. I believe that we stayed at some cabins in Manitou Springs, CO, which is right outside of Colorado Springs. One day, we drove to the summit of Pikes Peak at an elevation of 14,110 feet. Pikes Peak is named after Lt. Zebulon Pike, who discovered the mountain in 1806. He predicted that no one would ever make it to the top of that mountain. We drove the 19-mile scenic highway. For others who do not wish to drive on the road, there is the Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway. At the top of the summit is Summit House with drink and food and souvenirs. We spent some time at the Garden of the Gods. It is full of red rock. It's an incredible place to visit! We also went to the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel in Colorado Springs, CO.

In July 1978, my mom, youngest brother, maternal grandparents, and I followed my uncle out to Dillon, CO. He had purchased a lot to build a second home six miles south of Breckenridge, CO. We traveled thru the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel for the very first time. Dillon, Colorado, is located in the heart of Summit County, Colorado. We spent a day in the town of Breckenridge. We visited my uncle's lot as well as shopped in the town. Another day, we visited the town of Vail, Colorado, to do some shopping and sightseeing. Mainly, we stayed around the Lake Dillon area.

In December 1980, we traveled to Breckenridge, Colorado, for Christmas to my uncle completed home outside of the town. We shopped in both Colorado cities of Breckenridge and Vail. We skated on the pond (which no longer exists) in Breckenridge. The weather was warm and there wasn't much snow. One day, we intertubed down the hill across the road from my uncle's house.

In December 1981, we once again traveled to Breckenridge. We left home a day or two after Christmas and arrived back home on New Year's Eve. The snowpack, which made getting around difficult, was deep that year. In fact, we had to come home earlier than we planned due to the weather.

After a very long absence, my parents and I made it back to Colorado in June 1992. This time, we went to the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. None of us had ever been west of Vail until that trip. We drove thru Glenwood Canyon. The four-lane highway was still under construction. It was a beautiful drive! We drove thru another canyon, the De Beque Canyon, which was beautiful too. As soon as we came out of the De Beque Canyon, we came to the Grand Valley. Grand Junction is located in the Grand Valley. As we came out of the canyon, the vineyards were to our left and the Book Cliffs were to our right. The Book Cliffs are low mountains that run east to west from Colorado to Utah. We arrived at the home where my grandma lived at the time. During our seven-day stay, we visited Colorado National Monument, which was one of the neatest drives I had ever taken. One day, we drove to the top of Grand Mesa, the largest flat-topped mountain in the world. That too was a wonderful drive! We even played in the snow.. in the middle of June! On another day, we drove to Moab, Utah. (Please see "Other States" for more details.) We took a day trip to the Colorado towns of Ridgway and Ouray. Ouray is considered "Little Switzerland." Ridgway is an old town and the scene of the movie John Wayne's movie "True Grit."

In late May and early June, my mom and I spent two weeks in Grand Junction with my grandma. On our first day in Grand Junction, my mom's youngest brother and I went to Colorado National Monument. The next day, all of us went to Glenwood Springs, Colorado. My mom's brother and I swam in the hot springs pool at Glenwood Springs Hot Springs Lodge and Pool while my mom and grandma drove the completed Glenwood Canyon. (I didn't get to go thru the canyon until 2001.) After swimming, we walked around Glenwood Springs. We drove to the top of Grand Mesa, which was covered with lots of snow. One Sunday, we drove to Craig, Colorado. One day, we drove to the Colorado towns of Redstone and Marble. We drove past a few waterfalls. One afternoon, we drove through the vineyards in the Grand Valley. It is the wine country of western Colorado. One of the wineries we visited was Colorado Cellars Winery. I still have an unopened bottle of wine from there. (I am waiting for a special occasion.) One day, we drove to Ridgway and Ouray. On the way back to Grand Junction, we took a beautiful scenic route called the Unaweep/Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway.

In mid Agust 1997, I went to Colorado with my oldest sister-in-law and niece along with one of my sister-in-law's sisters and her son. We stayed at my uncle's hosue near Breckenridge. On Saturday, we drove to Copper Mountain and Vail for some shopping. On Sunday, we went shopping at the factory outlets in both Silverthorne and Dillon, Colorado. We drove across the Lake Dillon dam. On Monday, we headed for the gambling towns of Central City and Black Hawk to do some gambling. On Tuesday, we headed for Denver. I met a woman form the Internet and others went to Six Flags Elitch Gardens.

In late July and early August 2000, I made another trip to Colorado with family members. We stayed at my uncle's condominium in Frisco, Colorado. He had sold the house near Breckenridge and bought the condominium in 1998. We arrived on a Saturday. We spent Sunday shopping in Silverthorne and Breckenridge. On Monday, we drove to Aspen, Colorado, where we shopped and ate lunch. It was the first time any of us had ever visited Aspen. We also shopped for a bit in Glenwood Springs. On Tuesday, we drove to the sumnit of Loveland Pass, which is something we had never done. We went to Black Hawk to some gambling. On the way back, we stopped at the factory outlet stores in both Silverthorne and Dillon. On Wednesday, we drove to the summit of Hoosier Pass. We walked around Breckenridge. On Thursday, we drove back to Black Hawk for more gambling. On Friday, we ate breakfast in Frisco and then walked around the town for a bit.

In early August 2001, my parents and I traveled to Colorado with some relatives. When we arrived on Saturday, we ate dinner at Ruby Tuesday. I ordered a HUGE margarita, that I couldn't finish. On Sunday, we went to the summit of Hoosier Pass and walked around Breckenridge. We ate lunch at Breckenridge BBQ in Breckenridge. On Monday, we drove to the summit of Loveland Pass. Afterwards, we went shopping at the factory outlets in both Silverthorne and Dillon. We also walked around Frisco. We ate lunch at the Dillon Dam Brewery. On Tuesday, we drove to the western slopes of the Rockies to Ridgway, Colorado. We took I-70 thru the Glenwood Canyon. We ate breakfast at Rosie's in Glenwood Springs and went to the rock shop there. We stopped at the Thunder River Trading Company store in Parachute, Colorado, where I bought a watch and bracelet. Then we took the scenic byway over the Grand Mesa. That night we ate at the True Grit Cafe in Ridgway. On Wednesday morning, we visited Ouray. We walked around Ouray for a bit. On Thursday morning, we headed to Grand Junction, Colorado, to visit my grandma. We also visited other relatives. We ate dinner at a restaurant in Grand Junction. We stayed at one of the hotels in Grand Junction. On Friday, we drove back to Frisco. We stopped at two of the rest stops in Glenwood Canyon to take pictures.

My last trip to Colorado was in September 2002. My parents, my middle brother and his family and I spent about a week out in Frisco.