Cookn Travels: I Don't Think We Are in Kansas Anymore...We're Now in Colorado

The Kansas High Plains and Mile High City, Denver Colorado

The 2nd new state for us was checked off our list when we left St, Louis and spent 2 days in Kansas. A beautiful praire state that is filled with farms, plains, and some unique places.

Tall Grass Prairie Natural Preserve

Our first stop was the Tall Grass Prairie Natural Preserve, which is a unit of the National Park Service. We did drive out of our way (Thanks Doug for supporting me on this!) to visit this little known treasure and much needed sanctuary. 96% of the praire land in the United States has been turned into towns, roads and farm land. The majority of the small amount that does remain is in the Flint Hills of Kansas. It is importanat to protect and preserve this ecosystem in its natural design. That is what this 11,000 acre of National Park Preserve does.

It is made up of rolling plains that is home to the four types of native grasses, birds, and bison. As well as the ranch that the Stephen and Louisa Jones settled in 1872. If you arrive early enough, the park offers bus rides out in the prairie but since it was a travel day for us, we arrived too late. We took a short walk to visit some bison and to tour the ranch buildings that still remain.

Monument Rocks National Natural Landmark, Oakley, Kansas

It took us two days, traveling across the Kansas High Plains region, to make it to Monument Rocks National Natural Landmark, the "Badlands" of Kansas.

This area is recognized by the National Park Service but not owned or operated by the NPS. It is privately owned. Originally carved by the Smoky Hill River, what remains today are pinnacles, buttes, and spires of chalk.

Sea Shell Fossils found just laying on the ground

Deer just wandering amongst the wheat field.

Monument Rocks from 7 miles away taken with a telophoto lens.

Found this little treasure on our way back from Monument Rocks

These are all fossils that the owners helped to excavate from the area, which millions of years ago was under water.

We stayed in Oakley, Kansas, the home of Buffalo Bill Cody

Monument to Buffalo Bill, although Brodey and I agreed that the number of Bison he personally killed was not something we felt was monument worthy.

Denver, Colorado

After our 2 days traveling across Kansas, we checked another new state off our list when we arrived in Colorado!

We actually stayed 30 miles outside the city of Denver, at the Denver West/ Central City KOA, 9000 feet above sea level! On our arrival day we did some household chores, yes it isn't all just vacation, like cleaning inside the camper and doing laundry. We also needed the day to acclimate to the altitude. Altitude sickness is real, we are use to living at 1300 feet above sea level, so we really feel this higher altitude. Just slight headaches, thirst, and tiredness the first 24 hours.

On day 2 we were all excited to vist Denver. Dunovan loves visiting new cities. We visited on a Sunday so some of the buildings, like the State Capital and US Mint, were not open. After waking up with temperatures in the 40's at the campground, it was a beautiful day 80 degree day in the city and we had fun visiting a popular area of the city.

Big Blue Bear

Created by local artist Lawrence Argent, "I See What You Mean" or better known as "The Big Blue Bear," peers into the Convention Center. Now an iconic peace of Denver and a must do photo op.

Brown Palace Hotel

This hotel is founding member of National Trust Historic Hotels of America. Its doors opened in 1892. It's interior is stunning and a unique place to visit in Denver. Little tid-bits of information, there is a natural spring 720 feet below the lobby and still supplies all of the water to the hotel today and all the honey served comes from the beehives on the hotel's roof top. Maybe someday Doug and I will come back and stay here.

Colorado State Capital

Designed after the US Capitol, the Colorado State Capital is a magnification sight with this golden dome. The 13th step on the west side of the Capitol is exactly 1 mile above sea level.

16th Street Mall and Denver Pavilion

This outdoor, mile long pedestrian mall is lined with places to eat and shop in the center of Denver. The Denver Pavilion is located off the pedestrian mall and includes 40 shops, restaurants and entertainment venues.

Happy Father's Day Doug!!

It took 45 min to make the best deep dish pizza we ever had. Doug got the Father's Day lunch he wanted.

Dunovan's first deep dish pizza, a hit with him too!!

Rockmount Ranch Wear

The building was built in 1909, and now the home of Rockmount Ranch Wear. Need an authentic hat, chaps, or boots, they have them all! We had fun just looking around. I love old buildings and this one is unique to still be around shadowed by the skyscrapers.

Tattered Cover Bookstore

Built in the C.S. Morey Mercantile Building, the Tattered Cover Bookstore is a cozy treasure in the lower downtown, historic district of Denver. I just enjoyed walking around and enjoying the unique way books were displayed and the employee, hand written recommendations tagged on the books.

Union Station

Originally built in 1880 and renovated in 1914, the historic Union Station is still an icon in Denver. It hosts the Crawford Hotel, 10 restaurants, outdoor seating, an outdoor water fountain park (that was filled with little kids playing on this warm, summer day), and the hub of transportation for Denver.

Denver Millennium Bridge

Officially not opened until 2002, the Denver Millennium Bridge is a foot path bridge that connects the lower portion of the 16th Street Mall with Commons Park. It crosses over the light rail tracks for the cities light rail system.

Denver Art Museum

Not open on Sundays, the Denver Art Museum is a work of art itself. There was a festival going on serveral blocks away but, sitting under the an eve of this massive building, we could hear the music and crowd cheering as if there were speakers blasting the festivities all around us. It was amazing!

The massive sculpture outside the building was a great attraction for everyone passing by. Not getting to go inside was a definate missed opportunity. I have put it on a list of places to visit if we ever come back.

Greater Denver Area

Mt. Evans

After a day in downtown Denver, we took a day to explore outside the city. We stood a mile above sea level in the city but over doubled that as we visited the top of Mt. Evans, 14,271 feet. This peak is the highest point of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains and can be seen as far as 100 miles away.

In 1980, Congress designated the 72,401 acres as Mt. Evans Wilderness area. It is a protected area and can not be developed in any way.

Being a Biology and Environmental Science teacher, I was extremely excited to see the change in Biomes from Taiga (Coniferous Forest) to Tundra, which means it is above the tree line, the ground is made of permafrost, and the amount of biodiversity is low.

Don't worry, we didn't hike to the top of this mountain, we drove, which is 14 miles from the entrance to the park. We could feel the change in altitude and only stayed about an hour. It was also 35 degrees at the top. The views were amazing and well worth the visit!!

"The Castle in the Sky" or the Crest House was a home built on the top of Mount Evans in 1939, once the highest structure in the world. On September 1, 1990, a propane explosion destroyed the home. Today it is used as an observation platform.

Mountain Goats hanging out on a clift.

Where's Doug and Brodey?

Brodey and Doug hiked from the parking lot to the peak of Mt. Evans

These pictures are all taken either on the drive up or the drive down the mountain range. We were also very lucky to get an up close visit with some mountain goats!!

This is dedication!! We passed them not long after entering the park and they were pretty close to the top when we were on our way back down!

The mounatin goats were sooo close we could have touched them!

Yellow Bellied Marmot sunning himself. We saw several of them on the drive up and down but they are fast and made it hard to get their picture.

It was really hard to keep Brodey from getting out of the truck to constantly play in the snow!

Georgetown, Colorado

We love to visit quaint little towns and this one fits the bill. Established in 1858 during the Pike's Peak Goldrush, it is now filled with Victorian architecture, houses, shops, and museums. This old mining town didn't disappoint. The mixture of old and new makes this town a must stop if you are in the area!

Little restaurant. Big Burgers. Wonderful lunch!

Established by Frenchman Louis Dupuy in 1875 and is on the list of Historic Places. Hosted the first French restaurant and served as a showroom for salesmen and hotel during the Silver-mining boom.

We walked into the Georgetown Valley Candy Company and our mouths just started to water. It was fun watching the workers make homemade carmel, chocolate popcorn (Of Course I HAD to buy some!) They were also making salt water taffy because they have a salt water well on property, who knew in Colorado!!