Dinosaur National Monument

We have often been asked how we plan our trips and generally we say “loosely” meaning some preplanned stops and some spontaneous.  This trip back from Denver is totally spontaneous.  Before our breakdown, we were to meet our son in Salt Lake City and travel back to California.  That got re-planned.  Rather than drive boring Hwy 80 for four days back home, we wanted to make a trip of it, so our first stop was Steamboat.  Continuing on the Lincoln Hwy, we stopped next at Dinosaur NM.  We have fond memories of being here in a lightning storm many years ago.  No storm this time but what wonderful sights.

We arrived just in time for a brief talk on the pictographs and petroglyphs of the Fremont peoples.  These beautiful paintings and carvings date back to about 450 A.D.

We then drove to Josie Bassett Morris’ cabin.  This remarkable woman was brave, hearty, and able to enjoy a solitary life.  Her family homesteaded here in 1877.  Josie, after five marriages, homesteaded her own land in 1913.  She lived in the cabin for fifty years, sometimes with her son and daughter-in-law and her grandchildren, but mostly working her ranch alone.

In the evening we attended a star party to view Saturn, Jupiter and the Ring Nebula.

We did have a great campsite right next to the Green River.  This is a view of the site from a spot above the campground.

The next morning we went to the Quarry Exhibit Hall.   The building covers the rock wall filled with ancient remains.

 With great foresight, Earl Douglass, a paleontologist at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, discovered and preserved this wondrous place.  He began excavating in 1909.   Five days after his first discovery, people flocked to the area.   He knew he had to protect the land and its treasures.  In 1915 the Carnegie Quarry became Dinosaur NM.  Work on the rock face is being done to this day.

A large section of the Morrison Formation of the quarry, laden with fossils, was distributed to such premier institutions as the Smithsonian, Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, and the Natural History Museums of NY and LA.  Douglass also made sure that fossils in their natural state were preserved on site for visitors to see and paleontologists to study.  And you get to touch a few of the bones.

 The most common fossils are from the Camerasaurus. This is a youngster.

Here is Anna Lee next to an adult's femur

Allosaurus

and Stegosuarus also left good remains.

 Displays show plant and animal lifeforms that were contemporaries of these dinosaurs like this shell of a dinochelys turtle, 149 million years old.

Erosion has carved stone images of the ancient inhabitants into the mountains stirring one's imagination.

Leaving the park we decided to disagree with the GPS and choose our own path, not an Interstate. 
Our drive took us through the blazing Flaming Gorge and past these chalk mountains.

Now, with a reward of dinner at the Red Iguana in Salt Lake City, we take I 80 home to clean up and get ready for our next adventure. 

  

More Steamboat

Answer to the previous blog question: Bud Werner, or Buddy as we who grew up in Colorado called him, was the first American world-class ski racer.  He showed that Americans were headed to be serious competition for the European skiers.  He was killed in an avalanche after the 1964 Olympics.

We spent the day on a scenic drive, though all drives here are scenic.  We drove through lush ranch land stopping at Clark which is basically a general store and post office though the “town” claims 500+ residents.

Then we went to Steamboat State Park where we followed the ranger’s directions to a trail that led us through wild flowers.  Recent rains have lessened their bloom but we still enjoyed them.  The young elk refused to pose for us but the Colorado pelicans paused for a photo shot.

We did get nice pictures of Mt. Hahn.

The state park campground over a lake has wonderful views.  Too bad we didn’t check it out when we arrived. 

Our drive toward Slovakia (Colorado not Europe) took us to more wildflowers, like this wild rose

some more mules ear

sunflowers

and pure Rocky Mountain Spring Water.  

This drive showed us why the area is a hot real estate market.  We saw many “For Sale” signs at the entrances to large properties with lovely homes.  The ranger told us everything is selling for high prices.

In the evening, the Bud Werner Library has a movie program and this week it was a documentary on the making of sake.  This was a preview before it shows on PBS on their show POV (Point Of View) .  We gave it no stars and we actually walked out about 2/3 through it.  It lacked a point of view and a story so save yourselves 90 minutes and avoid it if and when it comes on TV.

Steamboat Springs, CO

We have resumed our travels with a stop in Steamboat Springs.  On our way to Steamboat, we crossed the Republican River which we found to be dry.  Jerry recalls having been to Steamboat Springs before.  When he drove with the best man and a groomsman from San Francisco to Denver for our wedding, his route was US 40 (there was no I 80 in 1963) and 40 comes right through Steamboat.  It was also part of the Lincoln Highway.

Steamboat was a ski town for decades; it is now also a summer mecca for outdoors folks.  Rafters, tubers, bikers, hikers all find the river and trails inviting. 

 We found it a great place for us also.

But first a question: Who was Bud Werner?  He has a beautiful library and a mountain here named for him.

The steampots are characteristic of this area. 

 The medicinal springs were considered sacred to the Yampatika Ute and Arapahoe peoples.  The name was given by French trappers who said a noisy spring reminded them of a chugging steamboat.  That sound disappeared when the railroad changed the rock formations around the spring.        

The Yampa River Botanic Park is filled with lovely gardens all maintained by volunteers.  We enjoyed taking the many paths to find charming sculpture and some nice flowers.  We think recent rains knocked down many of the stems and blossoms but we enjoyed what we saw.

  Below, the Colorado state flower, a columbine.

This pond is based upon the one Monet built for himself.

The garden also has a beautiful collection of metal art.

After lunch we drove up to Fish Creek Falls.  A mildly steep trail led us up to the overlook.

Then we went down to the base of the falls.

The town has a free public bus service so we hopped aboard to see what we could find.  We found tens of thousands of timeshares/condos, some right at the spot to board the ski lift. 

Downstairs from the old Bristol Hotel is the delicious Mazzolo Italian Restaurant.  We debated who had the better meal, Jerry’s cioppino or Anna Lee’s ricotta gnudi with chianti braised lamb.  We did agree that the tiramisu was one of the best we ever tasted.

Where Oh Where Have We Been?

The short answer is back home but we will tell a longer answer.

We headed due west after leaving Kansas City, overnighting in Burlington, CO.  There we had our ears glued to the weather radio as a severe thunderstorm with golf ball size hail was just north of us.  When they predicted a possible tornado, we “bugged out” and drove to the local hospital where they told us they had not yet begun “moving patients downstairs for shelter”.  This did raise our hackles but all was well and the storm skirted us.

We then went into Denver where we stayed at one of their wonderful state parks.  We enjoyed visiting with Anna Lee’s cousins JoAnn, for dinner at Maggiano’s Italian restaurant.

We breakfasted with more cousins Neil and Carol.  We took a lovely drive up the foothills with JoAnn.  While having lunch at Da Kind, a man pointed out a nail wedged into a tire of our tow car.  Simple repair at Costco.

Between Burlington and Denver was a bit of a climb to which the RV objected by overheating. What was not so simple was the need to have the radiator, etc. fixed at the local Cummins shop.  No problem you think but removing a radiator from our RV is a 10 hour job plus another 10 hours to put it back in.  (Do you remember Cummins from Dayton?)  Well this led to our decision to fly home (we love Southwest) for a week of bridge (Jerry), mahj (Anna Lee), and cards (both of us) with our group of home friends. What was amazing was the amount of junk mail that arrived over the three months we were gone.  It was four foot high stacks that we had to go through to get a pile of about two inches of relevant material that we had to deal with.  Small wonder that the post office is making all its money on junk mail.  It must be very frustrating to our neighbors who take such good care of our house for us.

We have returned to Denver (again, yeh Southwest) and after a really good dinner at Yak and Yeti with Neil and Carol got ready to return to the road.   In the picture below, anyone want to guess who are the biological relatives?

Anna Lee’s comment on her hometown:  Denver is huge and the traffic awful.  I would be lost almost anywhere but my neighborhood where I lived while in junior high and high school.  That has not changed, the duplex where I lived is still there, Hill Jr. High is still there and East High stands beautiful, still educating thousands of students.   But it is true, you can’t go home again, at least after over fifty years.

At the airport on our way back to the RV, we were delightfully surprised to see a Book Club (and more)
friend.  Pat caught Anna Lee up on some of what she has missed over the last three months. 

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

After Crystal Bridge and the Smithsonian, we planned to take a break from art, then we went to the sculpture garden in Kansan City and, oh dear, this outstanding museum that is now ranked among our top five.  Like the other two mentioned, it also does NOT charge admission ($8 for parking if you use their garage).  What made the vast range of art manageable, is that each gallery is a comfortable size so that you can visit many galleries and not feel exhausted (museum fatigue).

We did go just for the sculpture, mostly Henry Moore

and these wonderful shuttlecocks by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen

and this eerie glass maze that caused Anna Lee a surprising feeling of claustrophobia

and these (dresses)

and the silvertree

 But we had to walk through the museum to get from the garage to the sculpture and that was where we made our mistake.  We passed art that tempted us and so we returned for a wonderful afternoon and the wish we could come back the next day.

This amazing wall hanging is made of metal bottle caps.  A docent told us about the Kenyan  artist who created it.  Even close it looks like fabric.  It weights 165 pounds and contains 20,000 bottle caps (apparently all art must be closely inspected upon arrival).

This lovely blue arc was created by a former NASA engineer.

Maya Lin’s Silver Missouri reminded us of her wonderful installation at the Renwick in DC.

This work by Luis Tomasello is a chromo-plastic mural made of 672 white and orange blocks.

The Isamu Noguchi Sculpture Court is ideal for quiet contemplation.

The African Art room has pieces from 500 BCE (yes, Before the Common Era).

The Sirige mask (a six-foot high storied house) is worn upon the head of a Nigerian dancer.

The Water Diety Headdress, a crocodile with a woman’s hairdo,  is from the 1900s.

The Adinkra Stamped Cloth is from the 1700s.  Men would use wooden stamps to create the pattern they wanted for their final trip to the next world.

This untitled vessel is the newest item, created in 1994.

An exhibit of anonymous photographs show life as we tried to capture it with our cameras.  Topics range from people, to vacations, to taunting poses. 

We enjoyed seeing pieces by artists whom we have enjoyed in our travels on this and previous trips.

Thiebaud, from Sacramento

Duane Hanson's  Museum Guard.  He also has “men” in Crystal Bridges in Arkansas and in the Milwaukee Art Museum.

We first saw Donald Judd’s work in Chinati in Marfa, TX.

Our last rooms were filled with an outstanding collection of Egyptian, Greek and Roman art, much acquired during the Depression when the museum foundation had a lot of money.