A gorgeous sky awaited us this morning, the light was painting in various blues and greys and as the sun rose it changed almost by the second.
The morning routine is becoming more natural for us now as we each ‘dance’ around each other in the van doing the things we do to prepare for the day. Pulling out of the Winery we both were still in awe of this beautiful place set unassumingly in the prairie grasslands. As we drove away, we captured this picture in an effort to show the isolation.
Today we are driving towards Denver and the Rocky Mountains; however, we took a quick detour into Oakley, KS to see the monument to Buffalo Bill. A huge bronze statue of the rifleman chasing and shooting at a buffalo during one of the ‘hunts’ held in the 1800’s paints a stark reminder of life in the Wild West.
Light showers accompanied us for most of the morning as the elevation slowly climbed first above 1000m and then 1500m. We arrived in Denver and rains had subsided allowing us to see how the mountains spring from the plains with the city right at the base acting as a gateway into the Rocky Mountains.
We took a detour to Red Rocks Ampitheatre and park. This incredible live performance venue has been built into a natural sandstone ampitheatre that is nestled within the foothills just outside of Denver. It is open to the public for exploring between events, and so we took a chance and luckily we’re able to go in and explore.
In the panoramic shot above you can see how the seating and stage have been built into these incredible red rocks (thus the name). You can also in the distance see the city of Denver.
Tonight we are camping at a KOA in Central City, CO just West of Denver at an elevation of 2594m (8510ft). There are still some piles of snow around and the overnight temperature will get perilously close to 0 degrees.
Dorothy, we’re definitely not in Kansas anymore!