Mountain Climbing

We've spent the last few days crossing the Great American Plains which frankly has gotten a bit boring so our first sight of the  Rockies created excitement and trepidation.

Before we tackle that great rock pile, we'll stop and gather our courage. This little rock pile in our RV Resort in Golden CO is a good start.

A hike up those rocks showed us we have nothing to fear. Can you spot Harvey?

Grammys birthday while we're here in Golden Colorado. Michelle, Andy and the grandkids put together a care package for Grammys birthday so she gets to have a fun time opening the gifts. They were all great things that grammy loves, for example the licorice all sorts which I can't stand but Grammy loves. A great personal gift for sure. You probably know Grammy cut her hand quite badly this summer so one of the gifts was a cut proof glove. How appropriate!

After the fun, we went for a drive up to the top of a hill to see Buffalo Bill Codys museum and grave site. If you don't know much about his amazing life, google it for goodness sakes. He was an army scout, buffalo hunter for the railway and had a wild west show that won rave reviews in Europe.

He had been to this area during his life and as he was dying asked to be buried up on this hill. His wife is buried beside him. She decided to wait a few years though.

It's hard to spot but in the centre of the photo is probably Golden Colorados most famous product. Of course I'm talking about the Coors bottling plant. They do tours but I don't have the time to dry out afterwards. We are on a tight schedule after all.

After all our touring Grammy and I walked down the street to a fancy road house bar. There we celebrated her birthday with some great food. Nothing but the best for my girl.

A couple days off and it's time to head for the other side of the Continental Divide.

Although we'd hoped to have an easy day weather wise as we crossed through the Rockies, it was not to be. As we passed above the 10,000' level the snow we had been seeing above us was now all around us.

This part of Colorado is know for its ski resorts and that foggy area directly ahead is actually a number of snow making machines making snow. Just as long as they keep it off the road.

At probably the highest point of the mountains, we pass through this 3.1 mile tunnel. Although we didn't know it at the time, it was all down hill from here. Thank goodness, up to now we had been averaging about 30 miles an hour with all the steep climbs.

You may not be able to tell unless you zoom in, but we are in a snow storm. Great, steep downgrades and snowy roads. Thank goodness we were soon through this and the road started to dry up.

We are actually able to relax enough to enjoy the beautiful drive.

The scenery is spectacular and now that the road is leveling out I'm starting to feel pleased about going this way. Not so much, earlier!

A road side stop along the Colorado River is just the ticket after white knuckling it for the last couple of hours.

It's hard to believe this lovely stream eventually carved the Grand Canyon.

A sure sign we are done with the mountains.

This why we came south this way. To go to Utah and get to see some of the best natural scenery on the planet. That will be my next blog.