EAST OF ALLEN

When we planned our trip, there were two dates we had to meet.  We had to be at the FoD on July 2 for the House Tour and Ghost Players and then had to be back to Pasadena by the 12th.  From there, we filled in dates and places.  We planned two days in Glenwood Springs, two days in Denver, and at least three days in Iowa.  No offense to Nevada, Utah and Nebraska, but those would be mostly drive through states.

Above is the National Ballpark Museum, one of the highlights of my time in Denver. More on that below.

Denver is 157 miles from Glenwood Springs.  The only direct route is on Interstate 70 which winds over and through the Rocky Mountains.  Along the way, the scenery is spectacular.  Leaving Glenwood Springs, the road winds through Glenwood Canyon, with the canyon walls on the left and Colorado River below and on the right.  This part of the Interstate was completed in 1992 and is said to be an engineering marvel because of the care taken to preserve the natural setting.  After the Canyon, the views range from meadows to forests to mountain peaks.  Not many Interstate drives are inspiring. This one is.

 
 The Eisenhower Tunnel traverses the Continental Divide at an elevation of more than 11,000 feet.   When built in 1973, it was the highest vehicular tunnel in the world.

Once on the eastern side of the Divide, there is more incredible mountain terrain, then a long downhill run into the Denver metro area. The area is reported to have bighorn sheep that sometimes can be seen from the road.  We stopped at a bighorn sheep viewing area near Georgetown.  It turned out to be near impossible to see any sheep since the sheep are on the other side of the highway high on a rocky mountainside.  “If you see a rock move, that’s probably a sheep,” we were told.  Not very satisfying if you really want to see a bighorn sheep.  We will need to try sheep viewing somewhere else.  Meanwhile, Georgetown had a cool train ride.  Maybe the train passengers saw sheep. 

So, what’s there to say about Denver?

We had two nights and just one full day in the city. The first night, we met with friends (California expatriates) at T Street Roadhouse in a newer Lakewood neighborhood.  Highly recommend T Street. The next day I got to know Denver.  

Our hotel was near a light rail stop which made travel into downtown easy. Since I had never been to Denver, I took a guided Segway tour of downtown.  We covered a lot of terrain and cruised past many landmarks, including the Colorado State Capitol (above) and Confluence Park (below) where Cherry Creek joins the South Platte River.  We saw the Blue Bear (which was made in California), LoDo, Coors Field and our guide, though a bit laconic (bad trait for a tour guide), was able to manage some interesting city history.     

Our final night in Denver took us to Coors Field (with two more former Californians) to see the Rockies play our Dodgers. The Coors Field experience is just outstanding, from the light rail ride in, to the open-air mall and restaurants outside the stadium, to the field view.  As a bonus, toward the seventh inning, the sky opened up with rain and thunder and lightning.  The game continued without pause, but fans in the upper deck were told to exit due to lightning concerns.  We got a little wet but the Dodgers won. Perfect end to a long day in Denver.