Day 5 - October 3
As we left Loveland, we talked about how the people in Colorado really seem to cater to their pets. Everywhere we looked there was a pet natural food store, pet spa, nail salon for pets, restaurants with pet areas, or people pushing their pets in strollers. In fact, we remarked that Colorado pets might be treated better than many people elsewhere. We found this to be quite obvious and very interesting.
We drove south towards Boulder to go to a special museum just for Dean. His dream car has always been a '68 Shelby. When we were in Colorado 5 years ago, we had stumbled across information on the Shelby American Collection museum just north of Boulder. However, it is only open on Saturdays for limited hours and we were not there on a Saturday. So this trip, we planned our timing to make sure we would be there on Saturday so Dean could go. We arrived early so we were there when it opened at 10:00.
Dean was like a kid in a candy store. He looked at all of the cars and memorabilia, trying to explain to Robin the whats and the whys.
The last one is his dream car...a Shelby Cobra GT 350/500-KR. He left one happy camper! It had been well worth the time spent to make him so happy! Only thing that could have made him happier was driving out in one that he owned.
We left the museum and headed back towards Denver and then on to Mount Evans. Parts of the drive were very foggy. However, other parts were very scenic with lots of fall colors and many interesting sights, including a McDonalds with a Redbox.
Finally, we reached Mount Evans entrance. Mount Evans is one of Colorado's 14ers, mountains that are over 14,000 feet tall. The temperature posted at the bottom was from 2 hours previously was 34 degrees with a feels like 24 degrees.
We began our drive up the mountain on a narrow 2 lane road with no pull offs or places to turn around. As we drove, we noticed parts of the asphalt along the edges were crumbling. This was a little unnerving. The view was beautiful when it wasn't foggy as we climbed higher.
We reached a park called Summit Lake Park where there were restrooms available as well as a gorgeous view. We bundled up and took a short walk down to the lake. Of course, someone could not resist making a snowball out of the leftover snow and tossing it at Robin. Fortunately, Dean was not a good shot, not once, but twice. He left evidence of his attempts. We didn't stay there long because it was so cold. We still had to drive to the actual summit yet.
Heading towards the summit, the switchbacks in the road made turns very tight. We finally made it to the top. We got out of the car long enough to get our picture taken and walk through a few of the outside rooms. The temperature was 37 degrees with even a few snowflakes falling.
As we were driving back, we saw a car backed in to a place on the road which was not a pull off. His back tire was partially off the edge and he was still sitting in the car. If he had backed up just a few inches, he would have been off the cliff. The road seemed even narrower on the way back down. It might have had something to do with the fact that the fog had rolled in everywhere so the edge of the road couldn't be seen in lots of places. It was a very scary ride to the bottom.
Notice the asphalt crumbling here. This wasn't as scary since it had ground next to it unlike the cliff side which was right on the edge.
As we got further down the mountain, we did stop at Mount Goliath which was an educational center. We went inside and saw some interesting exhibits. Our favorite was the largest cross section of a Ponderosa Pine. It was huge. What was really cool was that they had metal markers on it identifying what happened in history for many of the rings. They ranged from The Declaration of Independence in 1776 to Neil Armstrong stepping on the Moon in 1969. The fog really rolled in just during the 15 minutes we were inside.
As we got to the bottom, we watched the rangers still allow cars to enter and take the drive up the mountain. However, we read the next day that the mountain had been closed for the season that night. We were really glad we had gotten there mid-afternoon so we were able to still go and see something.
Now we made our way towards Colorado Springs. There were more beautiful fall colors on the way. As the sun began to set, the sights were not as visible. Then the rain started to pour. We drove quite a while in the downpour, barely able to see the brake lights in front of us.
We finally made it into Colorado Springs and we straight to one of our favorite restaurants, Texas T-Bones. They have the best salad that is created especially to your order. Yum! The steaks are good as well.
Once our bellies were full, we went to our hotel, Holiday Inn. Our room was very spacious and nicely decorated.
We got unpacked and ready for bed. After watching a little television, we drifted off to sleep. Our day had been full, experiencing all kinds of weather and sights.
We drove south towards Boulder to go to a special museum just for Dean. His dream car has always been a '68 Shelby. When we were in Colorado 5 years ago, we had stumbled across information on the Shelby American Collection museum just north of Boulder. However, it is only open on Saturdays for limited hours and we were not there on a Saturday. So this trip, we planned our timing to make sure we would be there on Saturday so Dean could go. We arrived early so we were there when it opened at 10:00.
The last one is his dream car...a Shelby Cobra GT 350/500-KR. He left one happy camper! It had been well worth the time spent to make him so happy! Only thing that could have made him happier was driving out in one that he owned.
We left the museum and headed back towards Denver and then on to Mount Evans. Parts of the drive were very foggy. However, other parts were very scenic with lots of fall colors and many interesting sights, including a McDonalds with a Redbox.
Finally, we reached Mount Evans entrance. Mount Evans is one of Colorado's 14ers, mountains that are over 14,000 feet tall. The temperature posted at the bottom was from 2 hours previously was 34 degrees with a feels like 24 degrees.
We began our drive up the mountain on a narrow 2 lane road with no pull offs or places to turn around. As we drove, we noticed parts of the asphalt along the edges were crumbling. This was a little unnerving. The view was beautiful when it wasn't foggy as we climbed higher.
Heading towards the summit, the switchbacks in the road made turns very tight. We finally made it to the top. We got out of the car long enough to get our picture taken and walk through a few of the outside rooms. The temperature was 37 degrees with even a few snowflakes falling.
Notice the asphalt crumbling here. This wasn't as scary since it had ground next to it unlike the cliff side which was right on the edge.
As we got further down the mountain, we did stop at Mount Goliath which was an educational center. We went inside and saw some interesting exhibits. Our favorite was the largest cross section of a Ponderosa Pine. It was huge. What was really cool was that they had metal markers on it identifying what happened in history for many of the rings. They ranged from The Declaration of Independence in 1776 to Neil Armstrong stepping on the Moon in 1969. The fog really rolled in just during the 15 minutes we were inside.
Now we made our way towards Colorado Springs. There were more beautiful fall colors on the way. As the sun began to set, the sights were not as visible. Then the rain started to pour. We drove quite a while in the downpour, barely able to see the brake lights in front of us.
We finally made it into Colorado Springs and we straight to one of our favorite restaurants, Texas T-Bones. They have the best salad that is created especially to your order. Yum! The steaks are good as well.
Once our bellies were full, we went to our hotel, Holiday Inn. Our room was very spacious and nicely decorated.
