From mountains to prairies

 




Trout Lake at 10,000'

Uncompahgre National Park

When we left Ouray we travelled on the San Juan Skyway which takes you on some very scenic mountain roads.  We headed to Four Corners where 4 state boundaries meet – Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah and the contrast couldn’t have been more different.  From alpine to desert in such a short time.


Sue in Colorado & Utah,
Jean in New Mexico & Arizona



Spruce Tree House
cliff dwelling

We stopped off at Mesa Verde National Park and got a lot of history of the Anasazi people that inhabited the area along with some theories on why they abandoned their cliff dwellings.


Up close and personal - Spruce
Tree House cliff dwelling

  
The dominant theory is drought although some of the later pueblos (villages) appeared to have defensive structures.  They were abandoned approximately 1300AD and not discovered again until the 1800’s.  Such a fascinating place.

Left the desert and headed back to the hills, overnighting at a small town named Creede.  Creede has two claims to fame – one being the largest fork

in USA (I know, it's terribly exciting!), the other being an Underground Fire Station and Underground Mining Museum.  The Fire Station is still in use with all trucks having their own space burrowed into the hill.

Underground Fire Station



One of the many trucks housed underground

Cleanest, tidiest underground crib room
 Sue has ever seen

The Underground Mining Museum is the best one Sue has ever seen for comparing modern techniques with that of the early days.

Typical miner - smoking while working with explosives

 

Early bogger - the best job in the mine at the time

Shift Bosses LV - the most dangerous
piece of equipment underground. 
What's changed?

Rather cumbersome self rescuer

On our way to the Great Sand Dunes National Park we passed through the small town of Hooper.  There is a UFO watchtower at Hooper but I guess UFOs only arrive at night (all the better to see the flashing light show and easier for disembarking aliens to hide or mingle with the humans) so there were none to be seen. 

UFO Watchtower (someone is out there)

Fortunately the distraction of USA’s largest sand dune made up for our non-encounter of third kind.  And, no, we didn’t climb to the top.  You think we’re crazy?  Okay, yep we are, but we’re not stupid. 


Great Sand Dunes National Park

Relaxing in the hot sand

Next day we headed south to a place called Bishop Castle.  Jim Bishop started out in 1969 building a stone cabin in the hills for his family.  One thing led to another and he’s ended up building a castle.  A huge bureaucratic nightmare ensued in the years following but he appears to have won that battle and Bishop Castle is now a listed tourist attraction.  The building continues to this day.  It’s a fantastic place to visit - you have free rein to wander around and we’d both recommend it to everyone.



 

 

When you're walking on these balconies
they feel as flimsy as they look however
 no Mills sisters were harmed in the taking of these photographs

Mt Sunflower - Highest point in
Kansas at 4039' 

Time to leave Colorado and visit some of the other states so we headed east into Kansas.  From Colorado Springs out to the state line the land gets progressively flatter and flatter which  surprised the both of us.  Everything I’ve ever heard about Colorado is mountains, mountains, mountains.  With mountains at the forefront of our minds we decided to stop in at Kansas’ highest point – Mt Sunflower.  The Mt part is a bit of a joke as this mountain is merely a small bump on an otherwise flat landscape.  Love it.  Met 2 couples at Mt Sunflower, both who gave us some good tips on places to visit.  Great to meet you all.



Monument Rocks

Left Mt Sunflower and headed southeast to Monument Rocks.  Another anomaly.  In an otherwise flat landscape these groups of rocks head skywards, up to 70’.  Tim e was getting on so we decided to park up for the night at the rocks.  The wind picked up and we were hit by a storm – a lot of thunder and lightning and just a little rain.  Shame about the storm really, even though it was wonderful, as being out in the middle of nowhere, the night sky would have made for some fantastic viewing.

 

 



Dorothy is alive and well,
living in Kansas and
making a living as
a tour guide

Made our way down south to Liberal on the Oklahoma border and visited Dorothy’s House and the Land of Oz.  More for the younger generation and fans of the movie but a bit of fun all the same.  We took a guided tour, our guide being Dorothy herself.  How lucky were we.  We even got to follow the yellow brick road. 

 

So … onto Dodge.