johnboystravelblog

As I drove west on Route 50, this formation was on the opposite side of the western-most Basin (Sapinero) of the Blue Mesa Reservoir.

Zooming in a little closer, where the left end meets the water is thought to have formed 150 million years ago.

The little crown at the top off the next portion is thought to have formed 28 million years ago.

And finally the right portion of the formation.

Here is the same formation Wednesday morning when it was not quite as cloudy.

On Tuesday I drove west from Colorado Springs to Montrose.  As I approached Montrose I arrived first at the Curecanti National Recreation Area, which consists of three large lakes (they are actually called Basins since they are part of the Blue Mesa Reservoir), then a long, thin Reservoir called Morrow Point, then a long, thin Reservoir called Crystal, then the Gunnison River, which runs through Black Canyon of the Gunnison (get it now?) National Park.  Water flows east-to-west through those venues.

The surface of the 3 Blue Mesa Basins are at 7,719 feet.  After passing through the first dam, the surfaces of the Morrow and Crystal Reservoirs are at 7,160 feet.  After passing through another dam the water enters the Black Canyon at 6,547 feet and then continues to drop very quickly as it passes through the Park.

Here is the water exiting the first dam, flowing west (in this photo, up)

A small cactus (about the size of a large navel orange)

A sequence showing a boat traveling west to east.  Look closely in the center of the first picture.

Further west in the Morrow Reservoir (note the difference looking west with cloud cover reflecting off the water versus looking east with blue sky reflecting…). These were taken just a few minutes apart.

This formation is called the Curecanti Needle.  The first picture was taken Tuesday, with cloud cover, the second on Wednesday when it was sunny.

I left Durham on Wednesday, May 9 and drove three days to get to Breckenridge, Colorado Friday night (stopping in Nashville TN and Topeka KS along the way).  My brother David and his wife let me use a week of timeshare and I stayed at Grand Timber Lodge, near the base of Peak 8.  It was a fantastic week, with highs in the low 60’s and lows in the low 40’s or upper 30’s.  I just relaxed and enjoyed the area. The rain and sleet occurred east of Breck, near Denver, so it was a perfect week.  It was what they call “mud season”, the period between winter ski season and summer hiking season, so many of the restaurants and shops were closed, but there are so many that there were still plenty of choices (and not too crowded).  The resort itself was very nice and I just spent a good bit of time on the property.

This is from a scenic overlook west of town, looking southeast.

This is from town looking southwest towards the slopes.

This is from across town (going up Boreas Pass) looking west.

Monday night I was walking from Building 7, where I was staying, towards Building 5 where the Spa and pool are located, when this little guy came trotting along.  That night I just froze in place and let him meander by (he wasn’t in any big hurry, and completely ignored me).  I didn’t even think of getting my camera out until he was gone but lo and behold, here he was again about the same time Wednesday night.  Evidently he is a regular and I suspect someone on the property might be feeding him.

As I drove from Breckenridge down to Colorado Springs I stopped in at the Florissant Fossil Beds, near the town of Florrisant.  I was here last year on the day of the solar eclipse and didn’t get a chance to really see the other exhibits.  It was quite fascinating to see all the various images which have been captured in the rock (leaves, insects, bird wings, fish, etc).

I was also surprised to learn that years ago (34 million years ago!) there were sequoias in this part of Colorado.  I usually think of them as only being in California.

They built shelters over these to protect them from further deterioration.  You’ll be seeing live sequoias when I get to northern California in a few weeks.

My nephew graduated from Colorado College on Monday so I planned the beginning of my trip around being in Colorado Springs for commencement. My brother Steve, his wife Jen and their daughter Ali were all there, as were Jen’s mother and one of Jen’s brothers, his wife, one of their sons and his girlfriend. We all had a wonderful time and were extremely proud of Sam as he wrapped up his time at CC. He will stay in Colorado two more weeks before moving to Ohio where he has landed a job which will allow him to both use and further his talents.

Post graduation, this is Sam with his diploma. Between his head and the building you can see Pike’s Peak in the background – one of the many things he loved about being in Colorado Springs.

This is his cap. When he spoke briefly at a dessert reception for graduating theater students he explained that he started a spreadsheet when he arrived at school four years ago and had worked on a total of 146 productions or events while there. He was Master Electrician for a repertory company up in Grand Lake, Colorado last summer and mainly programs all the on-stage lighting , and is involved with other technical parts, for various productions on campus. “Drop Colors” is a technical term used in the trade. Sam took us to one of the many theaters on campus and told us how they may be set up in a variety of ways to enhance the audience experience.

Later in the day this is Sam and his sister Ali at Garden of the Gods, a large park with huge rock formations.

Now that my family activities are finished and I have adjusted to both the altitude and Mountain Time, it’s finally time to don the Safety Sam vest and hit the road.  Today I drove from Colorado Springs south and west across the state to Montrose.

Just west of Canon City (there is a squiggly above the middle ‘n’ so it is pronounced “Canyon”) I stopped at the Royal Gorge Bridge.  It is 1,260 feet long and is situated 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River, making it the highest suspension bridge in the United States.  It is a tourist attraction which, in addition to the bridge itself, offers a tram, ziplines, and other daredevil activities.  Those all cost money (and I’m cheap and afraid of heights) so I was content to stand on the sidelines and enjoy from a distance.

Further up the road I came across a group of rafters just getting underway.  They will probably end up going under the bridge.

Next I drove over Monarch Pass.  I zig-zagged over the Continental Divide several times during last year’s trip but this may be the only occurrence this year until I head back east in the fall.  I was here around noon local time and the temperature had dropped to 50 degrees with a stiff wind, so it was quite brisk.

Looking back at Monarch ski area

Soon after passing through the town of Gunnison I entered the Curecanti National Recreation Area.  I was really looking forward to coming back to the area to spend some time at the Blue Mesa Reservoir, the largest body of water in Colorado, which is the centerpiece of Curecanti.  I was distressed to see how low the water level was.

I was at this same spot last year and the water was considerably higher.  I stopped in the Visitor Center and learned that they are in a drought situation as they didn’t get the normal amount of snow so it looks like the boaters may be in for a less than ideal summer on the lake.

At the western edge of Curecanti I was very close to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, which I visited briefly last year and was another reason why I wanted to return to this part of Colorado.  I learned there are two different entrances, and will be in Montrose two more nights, so I will go in one side tomorrow and the other on Thursday.  I took some pictures today but a heavy overcast had moved in and I’ll wait to see if I get better pictures before posting them.

No photo.

Happy “Star Wars” Day!  I thought this would be a good time to bring everyone up to date on my plan for this year’s Big Trip.  I leave Durham next week, on Wednesday, May 9.  I drive to Nashville, Topeka and Breckenridge where I will spend a week at a timeshare property.  The weekend of May 19 I will be in Colorado Springs for my nephew’s college graduation.

My experience with timeshare properties is that they have do not have very good wifi security so I generally don’t use it while staying there (hence no posting).  I will be spending much of my time in Colorado Springs with family members.  For those reasons I probably won’t start posting pictures until May 22, although I may be able to sneak a few in before then.

This year I will be spending some more time in Colorado and southern Utah (mainly visiting 3 National Parks which got little or no attention last year) before moving on to California, where I will be spending much of the summer.  I already have my schedule planned through July 9th, when I will be near San Francisco.  After that I will continue on to several sites in northern California before driving up the coasts of Oregon and Washington.  I’m not sure yet where I will go after that.  I may linger out by the west coast for a while longer or I may head east up near the Canadian border.  My original plan was to visit Alaska this year but that has been postponed.

I will pay close attention to wildfires and other issues which may alter my plans.

I am excited about this year’s trip and will start sharing pictures and stories soon.  I still plan to post pictures from prior trips after I return from this trip – honest!!.  I apologize for not doing that over the winter but I will try to continue the posting momentum when I get home rather than taking a break, which was part of my downfall last year.

 

No photo.

Last Fall I posted on the blog that tourist helicopters are no longer allowed to fly over the Grand Canyon.  Evidently that is not the case.  I read today that several people perished in a helicopter crash yesterday.  It occurred near the West Rim, whereas most overlooks are located at the South(east) Rim and North(east) Rim.

I should also take this opportunity to apologize for not yet posting pictures from prior trips, as I said I would.  Since getting back home to North Carolina at the end of October I have been fairly busy with various projects and while I have looked back at the many (27,132 to be exact) pictures I took I have not yet posted any additional photos.  I have more from the early portion of my most recent trip (when I only posted one-at-a-time) and still plan to post photos from earlier trips.  Those of you who know me also know that I am a procrastinator.  I miss the discipline of posting (most) every night as I did while on-the-road.

And for those of you who might be curious, I logged over 33,600 miles from July 5 through October 31.  I still plan to travel west again (primarily California) starting in May.  The Alaska portion I have been talking about will likely be postponed to 2019.  I was quite shocked to find out how much it costs to transport the car on a ferry from Washington state to Anchorage ($ 6,000 round trip!).

I haven’t forgotten about the blog.  I promise I’ll be posting again soon!

(No picture.  I should have downloaded a video of a drumroll….)

Kendra!

She correctly guessed the answer to the question I posed on September 2 and will be the recipient of a crisp new 20 dollar bill.

I’ll try to think of a new audience participation contest to play over the winter (suggestions welcome) and will likely put out the same challenge next year when I start my 2018 trip to California in May.

You are looking at the only submarine registered in the state of Kansas.  Yes, you read that right.  Submarine.  Kansas.

As I write this I am a few miles north of Salina, Kansas and that sub is sitting in a specially designed workshop behind the house I am staying in.  It was built by my Airbnb host, Scott Waters, over a 5-year period.  Scott is 31 years old and has been fascinated by underwater adventure and submarines since seeing the Disney classic “20,000 Leagues under the Sea” as a kid.

Salina is about 60 miles northeast of the center of Kansas and less than 100 miles southeast of the center of the lower 48 states, perhaps the last place you’d expect to find a submarine.  Scott likes to say “yeah, but it’s just as close to the Pacific Ocean as it is to the Atlantic.”

Trustworthy is 14 feet long, 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide.  She weighs 4,500 pounds and is  named after the first character trait in the Boy Scout code (among his other accomplishments, Scott is an Eagle Scout).  She can hold two people and achieve a depth of 350 feet, about two and a half times the depth a scuba diver can safely descend to.

But wait… there’s more.  As cool as this project was, wait until you see what Scott’s next endeavor is….

Take a look at the next post.