The Rocky Mts. and beyond

This blog is extremely late but when we got to Indiana, I got a case of the laziness.

 Now headed for the Rocky Mountains to cool off.

 Freddy is ready and Cathy has the camera

 First siting of snow, July 11 in the Wasatch Range on the western edge of the Rocky Mts.

 Starting down out of the mountains

 lots of road repair but speed limit was 60 MPH so it did not slow us up

 The scenery is different

 Interesting rock formations

 Gullys

 To remind a driver how dangerous these roads can be

 I would not like to have to use one of these.

 Into Colorado and the Colorado Rocky Mountains for a week

 Near Grand Junction CO there is a little known national monument, The Colorado National Monument.

National Monuments can be created by the President, it takes an act of Congress to create a National Park.

 The 23 mile Rim Rock Drive is lined with many pull-overs for viewing the scenic area.

 We entered from down there. That is Grand Junction and the Colorado River.

Balance Rock

some tunnels

Canyon view

The main attraction here is Independence Monument

Many people like to climb it

One group climbs it ever 4th of July and places an American Flag at the top

side view

Coke Ovens formation

lots of canyons, all facing Grand Junction

Good view of Grand Junction

 leaving the park

Back on I70 headed thru the Rocky Mountains

Most of the route runs along the Colorado River

 one of the dams along the Colorado

 a rare flat and straight section

still following the Colorado River

one of the tunnels

 Rafters on the Colorado River

 Not an easy road to build

 They have to maintain the tunnels

 This section is built above the river. I guess because the gorge is so narrow.

 More snow in July

The Eisenhower-Edwin C. Johnson tunnel is the highest point along I70, 11,158 feet above sea level  and 1.7 miles long. Built in 1979

We  stopped for 2 nights in Golden, CO so we could visit the Coors Brewery

 Coors Brewery in Golden CO is the largest single-site brewery in the world. still stands where Mr. Coors set up shop.

It is actually called Miller Coors brewery' now.
They merged June 30 2008

 The different beers they make. A couple of them are only brewed in Golden CO.

 Brewing vats

The tasting room

a map of where their breweries are

canning and boxing room

Back on the road

Very colorful

 Nothing but wheat fields, corn fields, soy bean fields and pasture land.
Miss the mountains

Thru Kansas, across the Mississippi River

thru Missouri and Illinois

into Indiana

and home for the next 3 weeks