C O L O R A D O

Air Force Academy Chapel

The Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs has a very famous building, the striking chapel building.  People go there mainly to see this architectural wonder.  The upper level is amazing:  angular, lofty and colorfully lit.  The lower level contains a smaller (but still beautiful) Catholic chapel, as well as an interesting circular room for the Academy's Jewish residents.

Mt. Evans ( see Kids' POV )

Not very far from Denver is a mountain with a paved road all the way to the top.  Well, nearly, anyway.  It's the highest paved road in America, ending at over 14,000 feet.  There's also an observatory there, but I've heard they don't particularly care for tourists.  According to the information we read, there's only about 2/3 the air at the top compared to sea level.  The difference in pressure became evident as we were about to leave, because many of the little bags of snack crackers we brought were puffed up because of the thicker air (and therefore, higher pressure) inside the packages!  Supposedly, some people unused to the altitude could get sick if they overexert themselves.  I'm originally from the lowlands myself, but it didn't bother me.  Also, it was much cooler up on the mountain than it was in Denver, so bring a jacket even in the summer.  

After a short series of switchbacks next to the parking lot, we reached the top.  The panoramic view of the surrounding area was absolutely amazing.  There are higher mountains in Colorado, but it still felt like we were sitting on top of the Rockies.  We spotted marmots, mountain goats, and even Denver, tiny in the distance.  It was worth the scary drive up to the top.  And it was scary:  narrow roads with crumbling edges next to a thousand-foot slope.  Yikes.  

Rocky Mountain National Park

We went through the park pretty quickly, not having enough time to take an easy pace.  Plus, there was road work in the park that delayed us quite a bit, so that didn't help.  Even so, the views were lovely, and the next time we're in the area, we'll try to spend more than half a day to really enjoy the place.

Black Canyon of the Gunnisson National Park

We had a National Parks Pass in anticipation of hitting several National Parks and Monuments.  Traveling southwest from Denver we visited one I'd never heard of:  Black Canyon of the Gunnisson.  Of course, it's nowhere near the size and scope of the Grand Canyon, but we were still impressed with the viewpoints, looking way, way down to the (to our eyes) tiny river below.  Considering that we were somewhat high up on an open area, when a thunderstorm approached, we left in a bit of a hurry.

Mesa Verde National Monument ( see Kids' POV )

Amazing, truly amazing.  And hot, truly hot.  These cliff dwellings were truly an incredible sight.  Scattered around the Monument (many inaccesible or falling apart) are many buildings and enclaves sheltered by the cliffs of the canyon.  Some you can only view; others you can actually tour, as you can see from the photo below.  We chose not to go on that tour, because the ranger told us that young kids might be bored.  Instead, she recommended that we go to another site that allows people to roam freely (within limits).  We did go there, and after a very hot hike of about 15 minutes, we arrived.  We got to climb down a ladder and see everything up close.  Some of it was blocked off to protect it, of course, but it was still pretty darn cool.  And hot.  The first photo below shows the effect of smoke from a wildfire nearby mixing with the rain of the storm.  Did I mention it was hot?

Crazy Rock

Well, actually two of these photos aren't from Colorado.  The gigantic arch was in Utah, not far from Moab and Arches National Park.  We wanted to go there, too, but ran short on time.  The view of the road receding into the distant rock formations was also in Utah, in the Monument Valley area, not far from the Four Corners.  That's the place you always see in western movies with the odd flat-topped mountains with the very steep sides.  The first and last photos were in Colorado, in the same state park.  I can't remember what the park was called, but it wasn't far from Colorado Springs.  The last photo is of the Leaning Rock, where tourists routinely pretend to be holding it up themselves.  I believe it's state law to take a picture of that.

Mt. Evans
The wildlife and the high, sweeping views kept our kids' attention.   Scrambling around the top was worth the short hike, despite the altitude and lack of air affecting their energy.

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Mesa Verde National Monument
The kids were fascinated by seeing an entire village tucked into the canyon below a wide cliff.  At one of the smaller locations (the one we reached by that hot, hot hike) they were able to climb down into a chamber and pretend to grind grain on some rocks.  Even with the sweat and red cheeks, they had fun.  Just bring plenty of water.

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