15 miles of hiking trails wind through gloriously upended sandstone formations in Colorado Springs’ Garden of the Gods. Free to the public by decree of railroad magnate Charles Eliot Perkins, whose family donated the land to the city in 1909, the property was named as one of the nation’s top ten public places in 2011. With sites like these, it is easy to see why.
Rocky Mountain National Park left us feeling breathless. Not because of the scenery, which is stunning, but because of the altitude.
For a couple of east-coasters whose home state averages an elevation of 246 feet above sea level, the heights of the park required some adjustment. Even a week in the “mile high city” didn’t acclimatize us enough for the Rockies’ 8,000 foot valleys and 14,000 foot peaks.
Our drive to the park took us through some of the most unbelievable scenery of our trip; winding through narrow granite canyons so tall they rose completely out of view. So mesmerized were we by the landscape that we barely noticed the relentless climb or the resulting lightheadedness that indicates altitude sickness. It wasn’t until after we stopped for a while that it really hit us.
View from the Saddle Rock Trail atop Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska
We definitely felt rushed. It simply wasn’t possible for us to adequately cover the entire 356,000-square foot Denver Art Museum in the scant two hours allowed by our parking meter. In the time we had, we did manage to cover enough ground to appreciate DAM’s high quality collection and fabulously arranged display areas.
Here are just a few of the things that caught my fancy as we whizzed past:
Everywhere Once 