We left Cheyenne and headed south, crossed the border into Colorado at mile 5750 and continued on to Denver. We had lunch in downtown Denver with a friend from high school, Yasmin, and her son and two neices. We made a quick stop after lunch for this new picture:

Made a quick stop at Dazbog Coffee around 3pm on our way out of town. Just wanted to grab some coffee for the road and post a blog really quickly.

Western Colorado
While we were in Denver, it had been pretty cloudy the whole time. As we headed west on Interstate 70 into the Rocky Mountains, it turned into a full on downpour. It kind of ruined the view because the clouds were so low... or the mountains were so high. The going was pretty slow because of the weather and twisty mountain route. Guess we had been pretty lucky this trip with practically perfect weather up until now, especially considering what the rest of the nation was going through. So unfortunately we decided to skip Rocky Mountain National Park.

We detoured near Vail and went south to the town of Leadville. It claims to be the highest incorporated city in the nation. Not sure if that's true or not.

There was an event going on there called Leadville Boom Days, celebrating their old west heritage as a mining town. They had closed off all the streets for it. But unfortunately, it was raining pretty hard so hardly anyone was there. It's sad, because that is probably their big annual tourist event. This town is so isolated, can't imagine that many people get up there very often. So we didn't even get to see any of the town because of the street closures and rain. It's just as well, no dogs were allowed at the event. Not even walking around on the street.

Found out later in a Men's Health article that Leadville plays host a few other events, especially rigorous endurance sports like ultramarathons because of the challenge of its high-altitude thin air. Many athletes go there just for altitude training. Also, an odd sport know as burro racing, may or may not have originated in Leadville. A burro race actually takes place during the Boom Days festival. These events have lead somewhat to a revitalization of the town.

As we headed back to I-70 the rain started to let up and we were treated to some spectacular views. The whole valley west of Vail is gorgeous. But the real treat was Glenwood Canyon. A gap carved out by the Colorado River barely wide enough to accomodate the interstate freeway with vertical rock walls that shoot up hundreds of feet.

At the other end of the Glenwood Canyon was the town of Glenwood Springs where we spent the night. Quite the bustling town considering it was after dark. We had passed through so many towns where nothing was open after 6pm.

Western Colorado became our other favorite area of the trip along with the Oregon Coast. Such gorgeous scenery! Even despite the poor weather at the beginning of it.