Colorado "Reunion Race" Trip - Part 1

For the third year in a row I made a trip back to Colorado Springs to visit where I was able to organize a "reunion race" with several friends. I talked about the races in a previous post so this post and others will be about the trip in general. The first day I came upon a National Monument that I didn't even know existed. It was the home of Caesar Chavez. While it was a small site it was interesting and the grounds were beautifully kept. I was surprised to find that Chavez was buried there and that his wife still lived on the grounds. I was equally surprised when the ranger told me that they actually get a large number of visitors because of where it is located.

I decided to take my time driving to Colorado and stayed in Las Vegas the first night. The only thing I took away from that visit was how much traffic there was any time of the day. I got there in the early afternoon and left early the next morning and the traffic was bad both times. I would probably visit Las Vegas again but it isn't really a great place to visit by yourself. I stayed at Circus Circus because the room rates were reasonable other than the fact that I had to pay a silly "resort" fee that basically provided me with a 2 for 1 coupon book. Ridiculous. I got free chips and salsa for buying dinner and a beer.

Because I didn't have a long drive the second day either I made a point to really enjoy a part of Utah that I had never slowed down to look at before. It was beautiful and the next pictures don't do it justice. I stopped at almost every scenic overlook to walk around and take pictures.

When I reached Green River, Utah I stopped for a while to walk down to the river and look around. I have done several rafting trips on the Green including one with my daughter Stacie so it was someplace I wanted to see again.

I stopped for the night in Grand Junction, Colorado where I had a really good calzone and spaghetti!

The next day I had another short drive through the mountains to Denver so I actually backtracked a few miles so that I could make another visit to Colorado National Monument. It was a beautiful place the last time I visited in November, 2011 and I wanted to see it during a different time of the year.

The trip was a good reminder to take advantage of opportunities when they are presented. Slow down and enjoy the experience. My last visit to the Monument I was running. I started at a hotel in Fruita and ran up to the tunnels and back. I was fortunate to see quite a few bighorn sheep and get some great pictures. If I hadn't taken the time to take those pictures it would certainly have been a lost opportunity because I didn't see any this trip. I'm sure they were all bedded down in shady spots to avoid the heat.

On my drive to Denver I had hoped to stop and hike to Hanging Lake but the parking lot was closed because it was already full. Another time perhaps!