Vail, Colorado

Lancelot Restaurant in the original Vail Village.

One of thousands of condominiums built in
a quasi Bavarian style. Most start at
one million dollars plus.

Vail has many fountains. This particular fountain
has five unique water jets that give the illusion that
the water is solid. At night gas jets are set ablaze
in the fountain. This is a real work of art.

Another photo of the fountain.

We counted nine major building projects, each carrying
a price tag over three hundred million dollars. This
employs thousands of workers and will provide permanent
jobs for hundreds more.

I liked these mobile wind art sculptures.
They come alive when the wind blows.

Bill on the balcony with the gondolas behind that
go to the top of the mountain.
Unfortunately, they were not open for business.

Lion Square Lodge.
This is where we stayed for two days.
In the background you can see the ski slope and gondola.

Street scene in Lionshead Village. Most of the
streets are for pedestrians only.

This is the Arrabelle complex.
It has businesses on the first floor and
condominiums on the upper floors.
This is more French than Bavarian.

Flowers are everywhere in Vail.
They are found in flower boxes, in street level plantings
and hanging in baskets.

I could not pass up taking a photo of these beauties.

Mountains, Passes & Resorts

Morning sun on the mountian in Buena Vista.

Route 82 driving towards Independence Pass.
The yellow you see is an aspen grove.



Continuing on Route 82.

Twin peaks.

A high alpine meadow just below the timber line.

Nearing Independence Pass we find remnants

of last winter's snow.

After huffing and puffing I made it to the

continental divide.

Being at this height makes it difficult

to breathe. We needed to rest often,

drink lots of water and for necessary

energy occasional pieces of chocolate.

After a treacherous downhill drive from Independence

Pass we arrived at ski trails of Aspen.

Downtown Aspen.

We visited Smowmass Village about ten miles west

of Aspen.

Workmen were busy constructing condos and apartments.

The ski slopes of Smowmass Village.

We drove east on Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon.

Some interesting pinnacles in the canyon.

I am in Vail, CO at Lion Square Lodge.

Pictures of Vail will follow tomorrow.

Royal Gorge Railroad

All aboard! Bill's got his ticket to ride.

Traveling west along the Arkansas River
through the Royal Gorge.
Toot! Toot!


Interesting rock formations in the wall of the Gorge.

A fly fisherman in the Arkansas River about a mile

before it enters the Gorge.

A mechanical gold panning machine.
It has not been used in probably over

a half a century.

The Royal Gorge Bridge is a thousand feet above
the train tracks and river.

You can get a feeling of the steepness of the Gorge walls.

Pinnacle Rock
(aka "The Sorting Hat from Harry Potter")

Mountain scenery on the way to Buena Vista.
These mountain peaks are over 14,000 feet high.

Mt. Altamount.
Also over 14,000 feet high.
It is so high, nothing can grow in the top

3,000 feet (above the timberline).

Several states have given recognition to

the projects funded by the American

Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

A view from Trout Creek Pass.

This was a side trip on Route 24 East.

A beautiful, colorful Colorado sunset!

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods is in Colorado Springs, CO.
A picture is worth a thousand words, so
just enjoy them!

Pike's Peak is in the distance.

All of these monoliths have names, but
we just call them magnificent.

On the way from Colorado Springs to Canon City
we viewed five ranges of mountains.

A road less traveled proved to be quite thrilling.
"Skyline Drive" was a one lane and one way road
that traversed the ridge of a mountain.

I call this the "road to nowhere" because it seemed to
end in space. There was a sheer drop of about
a thousand feet on either side.

An unidentified spiny cactus.