How's the view???........

[UPS Lifer]

Great Pics Dill! Colorado is one of the most scenic areas. Sheri & I still want to visit Durango and take the train. You will have to tell me all about it. Send me some pics to my email! I leave for Chicago (wedding) via California today. The AC guys will be in replacing the unit at 6 am the Monday we get back.

 

[Dustyroads]

Here are a couple views of a ghost town on my area.

 

[dilligaf]

Great Pics Dill! Colorado is one of the most scenic areas. Sheri & I still want to visit Durango and take the train. You will have to tell me all about it. Send me some pics to my email! I leave for Chicago (wedding) via California today. The AC guys will be in replacing the unit at 6 am the Monday we get back.

Have a safe trip. I have more to post here but I will send you some of the ones I don't post. Sorry I missed you last week.

 

[dilligaf]

This is just before coming into Ouray.

Curecanti Natl Rec Area This is Blue Mesa Res. just before we got to Gunnison.

 

[Dizzee]

Dilli, Nice pictures, keep em coming.

 

[Big Babooba]

Dilli, Nice pictures, keep em coming.

What's my mother in law doing there? I've seen her beached, but never in the water!

 

[PassYouBy]

Keep it going Diz!!!

 

[Dizzee]

I like it.

 

[dilligaf]

Well, I see you guys have been busy. I like it too, Dizzee. I have more to post.

This is the KOA we stayed at in Gunnison. I would recommend this KOA. It was beautiful.

You can see our tent right here in this corner, that stream that is in the first 2 pics was about 10 feet away from the tent door.

 

[dilligaf]

OK this scared the hell out of me. I DON'T LIKE HEIGHTS! But I decided we needed to take the tram to the top. Going up was not good. It was windy (very very windy), every time the tram stopped it would sway back and forth. I was trying to take pics and hang on for dear life. Did I mention that it was a hurricane wind.

For some reason it was much easier coming down.

 

[dilligaf]

This was one of the highest passes we went through, along with Red Mtn Pass (11,000+ between Silverton and Ouray) and Berthoud Pass at 11,315'.

 

[PassYouBy]

I like it.

 

[dilligaf]

We saw this nearly everywhere we went in Colo. What you see here is the devastation that has occurred from the Bark Beetle infestation that happened several years ago. And its not just Co. AZ is suffering, as well as many other states.

 

[dilligaf]

It funny that here is an 11,000+ elevation and it's all forest. The next pass that we go through is Milner Pass (not these pics). Milner is 10, 758' and at the top is Arctic Tundra.

Of all the pics I took this last one is one of my favorites. Isn't this view amazing? This is looking north from the summit of Berthoud on State Hwy 40.

 

[dilligaf]

This is Grand Lake. It is very near the entrance to Rocky Mtn Nat Park. This was actually not one of the rtes we had planned on talking and didn't even realize we were going into the park until we rode up to the entrance. Cost us 10$ to ride through. Best 10$ I spent.

 

[dilligaf]

From Milner Pass to the Alpine Visitor Center, which is probably 7-8 miles driving, the altitude increases rather dramatically. Alpine is at 11,796. We didn't stop at Alpine, the parking lot was packed. This is where the Arctic Tundra is. There were signs posted everywhere to stay on designated paths.

 

[moreluck]

We took a day drive on Sunday to Big Bear Lake. We met up with daughter and her family at the IHOP and they came from the Vegas side.

The drive up the mountain reminded me of drives up Big & Little Cottonwood canyons in Utah. It was so curvy and so steep with just the little guardrail between me and a steep dropoff.

I had never been to Big Bear. It's a village-like, quaint place with a gorgeous lake and all the activities that go with a lake. I would not want to drive that road in the winter.

Lots of the hotel/motels are cabins. Very beautiful views. There is a town center with lots of shops....plenty of restaurants too. I wouldn't mind staying there a couple days to do some exploring.

Anyway, had a great visit with the kids.

 

[dilligaf]

Days prior to this point in our trip I had decided I HATE CO. Oh don't get me wrong, Co is beautiful, but I hate it. Living in Az and riding motorcycles in Az is completely different than riding in Co. We have some decent mountains and Az is great at installing guardrails every where. EVERYWHERE! One does not realize just how used to guardrails one becomes until they ride where there are none. Co does NOT use guardrails anywhere. Even on a 2 lane with a drop of a 1000 feet at the edge of the road. Remember a few posts back, when I said I am AFRAID OF HEIGHTS. I AM AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!!!!!!! I don't like high places. OMG!! Colorado has alot of high places.

About 5 mins before I took the picture of the elk my smart ass hubby rode up next to me (BTW-he knew full well what my response would be) and asked if I had seen the 2 bulls that were laying down along side the road. That was about 1/2 mile from where I took the pic of the cows. If I had dared to take my hand off the handlebar I would have flipped him off. As it was, I couldn't get my hand loose. I couldn't even look at him. All I said was (in my best Sgt. Shultz voice) I SAW NOTHING!!!! He can be such an ASS!


Side note: Alpine wasn't the highest point. Lava Cliffs was the highest point we crossed at 12,135.

 

[dilligaf]

I love the planet in the sky. That is great. I have no artistic talent. I would never have thought of all this.

 

[UPS Lifer]

We took a day drive on Sunday to Big Bear Lake. We met up with daughter and her family at the IHOP and they came from the Vegas side.

The drive up the mountain reminded me of drives up Big & Little Cottonwood canyons in Utah. It was so curvy and so steep with just the little guardrail between me and a steep dropoff.

I had never been to Big Bear. It's a village-like, quaint place with a gorgeous lake and all the activities that go with a lake. I would not want to drive that road in the winter.

Lots of the hotel/motels are cabins. Very beautiful views. There is a town center with lots of shops....plenty of restaurants too. I wouldn't mind staying there a couple days to do some exploring.

Anyway, had a great visit with the kids.

If you enjoyed that area, you would probably enjoy Lake Arrowhead also. Arrowhead has some gorgeous homes located around the lake and there is a village that sits on the lake front also. There is a hotel that is adjacent to the village. I would think that two days is probably a half day too much to see it all.