Denver, Colorado here we come.

Leaving Salt Lake City and heading to Denver, Colorado we headed out on US Highway 50. The terrain was changing with every mile. The higher we went in elevation the more beauty we saw. The rugged mountains made me think of the Old West. Can you picture a wagon train crossing in front of the mountain and maybe, Indians up on the plateau, watching as the wagons crossed over the land.

The mountains were covered in a smokey haze, from the fires around Fort Collins, Colorado. Nevertheless, it did not detract from the beauty of the mountains and the valleys below.

The recreational areas were beginning to fill up with campers and fishermen alike. To sit alongside the water and enjoy the sounds of nature.
Curecanti National Recreation Area is located approximately 200 miles southwest of Denver.
U.S. Highway 50 runs the length of Curecanti between Montrose and Gunnison, Colorado. One of the interesting facts about this recreation area is that Bald Eagles winter here until the water freezes over.

Curecanti National Recreation Area is a series of three reservoirs along the once wild Gunnison River, where the trout and salmon fishing abound.

A wide range of mammals can be found within Curecanti, including mule deer, mountain lion, black bear, coyote, prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, elk and even an occasional moose or as I call them, Bullwinkle's.

There are at least three reservoirs that you can fish and camp at. The fees are reasonable and if you are a senior you get fifty percent off the fees. I am not afraid to say that I am a Senior, if it will save me money. I am all for saving.

I can just picture camping along this stream and fishing for trout in the mornings for breakfast. There is nothing like fresh mountain trout cooked over a campfire. As I was writing this I noticed that there is a man fishing along the stream and a woman sitting up on the bank watching him. Could they be fishing for their dinner? I wonder how they got their truck down there, in the first place. That is one problem with being in a big truck, you can't stop to check things out, very often. When I show the pictures I take to my husband at the end of our day, he tells me that he doesn't remember seeing many of the things, but that is because he is so focused on the road and traffic.

There is just something that is so peaceful about the mountains and meadows we pass by. This reminds me of one of the songs from the musical Oklahoma ; "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning". I can just picture Gordon Mac Rae, standing in the middle of this picture singing the song. (For those who are too young to remember or know, he and Shirley Jones appeared in the movie by the same name, Oklahoma.)

Back to civilization, and one of my favorite things...barns. There are so many different barns and they all have their own trait. We were in Illinois once, and my husband said that we had never been to this place. To which I retorted, " Oh yes we have", as I pointed to a barn. "I have a picture of that barn." Sure enough as we traveled up the road he remembered being there before. Saved by a barn. )

Now I wonder about this business. Do you wash the car first and then the laundry or put the laundry on the hood and spray it down as you wash the car? I guess the drying part would be to roll up the windows catching the clothes so that they would flap in the breeze as you drove down the road. I guess that is what you would call, Air Dry. But, as it states, it is One Stop Wash. They even accept credit cards. Only on the back roads.

Here at the Monarch Crest you can ride a tram to the top of the Continental divide. It takes about fifteen minutes for a round trip, but you can get off and look around, if you wish to.

What amazed me here, is that they had truck parking. Unfortunately, we arrived after they had closed for the day, and were unable to take the tram or visit the gift shop. Maybe next time.

And now I have reached the "peak" of my blog. At last I have brought our travels current.

Today is the 4th of July and we are in Lincoln, Nebraska. Our poor truck has to be worked on. The cruise control doesn't work, the jake brake doesn't work, the opti idle doesn't work, Oh and my side of the windshield had to be replaced, due to a huge crack going right up the middle. Having bugs in some of my pictures is bad enough, but adding a crack..is just a little too much.

I hope everyone has a Happy 4th of July.

Until the next time, I'll see you on the otherside.