A Panoramic view from the top of the Red Rocks Amphitheater
We started travelling again this year end of June 2016. Our goal this year was to meet as many friends as possible, make new friends along the way and go to places we have not been before. Our first stop was Denver, Colorado. Having lived in the USA for over 17 years, we still have so many places to see. Our friends who we spent a lot of time in New Zealand when we lived there had moved to Denver. They had been asking us to visit them for some time. But as everyone knows, when one is working you get only limited time to travel. The mad dashes of one week travel that we did were not enough to spend time with friends and see new places. Almost after every one of those trips we felt we needed a vacation! I am sure many of you identify with this phenomenon. Anyway, we got this fantastic opportunity to meet up with our NZ friends in Denver the “Mile High City”. From they time they picked us up at the airport till the time we left we were reminiscing our time in NZ. We had a great 5 days.
Garden of the Gods
We went to the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and were in awe of the beautiful terra cotta coloured mountains. A place that was discovered by Malancthon Beach and his friend Rufus Cable. Malancoth thought it would make a great “Beer Garden” some day, however, his poetic friend Rufus named it the “Garden of the Gods”. The beautiful terracotta mountains are different and yet alluring. It is truly a “Garden of the Gods”.
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Rocky Mountain National Park
The next day we drove to the Rocky Mountain National Park. Enroute a drive through Boulder University and its beautiful campus also built with the local stone. Very impressive. All who get to study there would be privileged to the beautiful views of the Flat Iron Mountains which unmistakenly look like flat irons, hence the name.
A drive up to Estes Park and the beautiful lakes in the National Park was a real treat after the heat that we left behind in California. The lakes were still like a mirror, reflecting its nature in a quiet way in the water. The mountain range is one of the tallest in the USA, and also know as the “Continental Divide”.
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Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater
It was 4th of July weekend and our friends had bought tickets to the Red Rocks Amphitheater for a concert celebrations. We had absolutely no idea as to what to expect. A short drive from Denver and we arrived at the Amphitheater. As you will see in the pictures it’s an open air theatre which has red rocks around it and was created with acoustics and fantastic views towards Denver. Unfortunately, Denver is known to have many seasons in one day. It was windy and did rain during the concert. The theatre is at 6000ft above sea level and seats more than 9000 people. This venue has hosted performances by well-known artists like Dave Mathews band, the Moody Blues, Stevie Nicks, The Beatles, Jimmy Hendrick and many more. But we were there for the experience and that did not deter us from staying on and enjoying the evening. Not only did we experience super music, but saw all the 4th of July fireworks that were taking place in Denver City from one location.
Our travel in 2016 has started with a super time with friends and we saw all these beautiful places that we had not been to before.
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