Colorful Colorado

Sunday, 20 September 2009

Road Trip Day 32

For the first day since the TrekAmerica tour ended, I was on someone else's schedule today. Melissa was taking me along to see a car show where her Dad was showing his classic car. I was up and ready to leave around 10 o'clock. A text arrived to let me know we'd actually be meeting at 11 instead, so I took my time over breakfast (a feat which the restaurant here helped me achieve by being short staffed) and waited for Melissa, Milt (her fella), Maisy and Cricket (her dogs) to arrive.

Here they are at the car show... and yes, Maisy the dog is pink, but it's only temporary.

American Cars

I've always loved American cars, especially the big "muscle cars" and classic 50's models with all the chrome and fins. The car show today was not huge, but the cars were great. Here's a few examples, the last of which was restored by Melissa's Dad. I know at least one reader who will appreciate these.

Red Rocks

Melissa and I hugged goodbye after we'd looked around the cars and I was on my own agenda again, armed with great recommendations on how to spend the rest of my day in and around Denver.

The first suggestion which I got was to go to nearby "Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre". This country park features some spectacular scenery as deep red sandstone rocks jut out of the ground at a geological unconformity. An unconformity is a point where younger rocks are deposited on much older ones with a long temporal gap in between caused by erosion of the intervening rocks before the younger ones were deposited.

One area of the park formed a natural amphitheatre, which was enhanced in the late 1940's to what is now an internationally famous concert venue seating 9,000 people. The visitor centre lists all the artists who have played there including Talking Heads, The Police, Kiss, The Grateful Dead and Tori Amos to name a few. U2 even filmed their "Under a Blood Red Sky" concert movie here.

Into Denver

I drove the short distance back into Denver and headed to the City Park area where the Science and Nature Museum and other attractions are. I wandered the grounds and took a time-out to watch a local Baseball game.

Denver City centre was my next destination where I had to do the classic tourist thing and have my photo taken on the 13th step of the Capitol Building which is at exactly 1 mile elevation.

I strolled further around the Denver Historical District to the Art Museum which is a bizarre collection of buildings including one which looks like a modern recreation of a medieval castle complete with battlements. I'm still not sure if it's ugly or not.

I have saved this last photo, taken outside Denver Public Library, with the filename "Denver Horse Chair".

Sleepy

By mid afternoon I was beginning to feel the effects of the altitude again and took the advise I'd read at Red Rocks visitor centre earlier and went back to the hotel for a nap.

I've not done much since then apart from pop out to Red Lobster for dinner, plan my next three days of travel, listen to a couple of Collings and Herrin podcasts on iTunes and write this blog.

Tomorrow, Nebraska.

Goodnight.

Stats - Day Fifty-Eight

Distance travelled - 0 miles - Stayed in Lakewood, Denver, CO

State count - 22 + DC + B.C.

Room numbers stayed in - 203, 1, 148, 212, 205, 210, 246, 118, 3, 145, 229, 111, 207, 206, 40, 605, "Cowboy", 35, 11, 18, 262, 216, 208, 430