October 1, 2016 by coloradotravelingducks

Fall Colors of Colorado’s Guanella Pass with the Colorado Traveling Ducks

Huge clusters of golden aspen leaves against the bright blue Colorado sky is one of our favorite sights. Today we drove from Grant, Colorado on US Highway 285, across Guanella Pass to Georgetown, Colorado. First stop was at Geneva Creek.

Beautiful colors at Geneva Creek

And looking down Geneva Creek, ducks and humans feel so peaceful.

Water is soothing and beautiful

While the leaves are the feature for today, the granite Rocky Mountains are always an impressive sight.

Rugged rock

Hearing water as we drive, a stop to admire these rapids was inevitable.

Cascading water sounds wonderful

Around each curve in the road, the view is spectacular.

Around each curve is more beauty

Perhaps Zeb and Soapy Smith Duck add a little to the scene. Nature is so magnificent. Mountains and horses seem to belong together in Colorado.

Mountains and horses.

Further along, down another less traveled road, we found “our picnic grounds”.

Duck Creek Picnic Ground. For us?

The wind was strong enough that we blew off the sign for Duck Creek Picnic Ground. Gold, orange and red leaves dominate during the autumn, but the evergreen trees offer a beautiful ground cover.

Pine needles

Still climbing up, above timberline, we reach the summit area of Guanella Pass.

Guanella Pass summit area, above timberline.

It is chillier up here and windy, so Zeb and Soapy Smith Duck must be extra careful. Even the low bushes provide color. The Rocky Mountains have so many secrets. Here is an unusual feature that caught our eyes.

Amazing feature

Heading down the mountain, we marvel at the huge expanse of gold aspen trees.

Yellow aspen with evergreen trees.

Storm clouds to the north are forming.

Storm clouds. Snow for the northern mountains.

The northern mountains will receive some snow tonight. But in the Denver area, we will still enjoy warmer days with no snow or freezing temperatures yet. Various stages of changing leaves is wonderful.

Variety of colors all together

Admiring yellow and orange leaves with a background of green foliage, we are approaching Georgetown now.

Georgetown, Colorado

The colors were wonderful, but now we will head back home. But, first a little time in one of our favorite mountain towns, Georgetown, Colorado. We hope you are also enjoying the varying colors of autumn.

September 24, 2016 by coloradotravelingducks

Colorful Colorado in the Autumn 2016 with Zeb and Soapy Smith Duck

The days are getting shorter. The nights are getting colder. It is time to go to the mountains to see the gold among the pines. Yesterday we drove Highway 285 southwest from Denver to Kenosha Pass. This is a favorite fall viewing area for changing leaves. On the way, we stopped to see this river.

North Fork of the South Platte River

This is the north fork of the South Platte River. We are ducks, so we love water.

North Fork of the South Platte River

The mountain and changing aspen are also beautiful. This greeted us as we neared the summit of Kenosha Pass.

Kenosha Pass in the autumn

Wow! We love the pine trees mixed in with the aspen, now some green, some red, some orange, and most are vibrant yellow. Here we are, sitting on the car, looking across a wet area.

It was too windy for us, but we saw everything from inside the car.

This will be our last photo here. It is windy and we blew off the car. Lucky for us, mom chased and found us. Such beautiful colors, but for only a short time.

Colors and fence in foreground

Leaves change colors when they die, so they will blow off the trees; rain and snow will also pull them to the ground. This is a great hiking road in a campground.

Hiking in campground

This is a wonderful place to camp, enjoying the Colorado colors. Every direction you look, you see so many aspens in their fall colors.

Such color

The roads had lots of traffic and the parking areas were almost full.

Many enjoying Colorado colors

But hiking wasn’t crowded at all.

Hiking this beautiful day.

It is nice to see so many people enjoying the nice weather and the beautiful fall colors. On the television and in the newspaper, many long time photographers said that this is an exceptional year for leaves. Our aspen do not have the big leaves or the bright reds of the maple trees in other parts of the country, but our small leaves shimmer in the sunlight and look beautiful with the green pine trees, granite mountains and the Colorado blue sky. For a short time the aspens are orange and red also. This was a treat to see the group of red aspen by the road.

Red aspen

We love to see the changing leaves in the fall. We hope you enjoy the changing colors in your area also.

September 17, 2016 by coloradotravelingducks

Chili Fest 2016 with the Colorado Traveling Ducks

Last Saturday, Zeb and Soapy Smith Duck, went to nearby Brighton, Colorado to a Chili Fest.

Chili Fest 2016

A sure sign of fall in Colorado is the aroma of chilis being roasted.

Roasting chilis

There were seven machines for chili roasting here, so the aroma of roasting chilis certainly filled the air. This Chili Fest was held at Lulu’s Farm Roadside Market.

Lulu’s Farm Roadside Market

This farm market is open all year, so there is always something fresh and delicious here. And, the farm is right here.

Really fresh from the farm

You just can’t get produce any fresher that this. Children of all ages had plenty of choices for fun. Here you could throw a football.

Throw the football here

Of course, there were places for inflatable slides, bouncing, etc also. Face painting is always popular.

Face Painting

And one of mom’s favorites, Kettle Corn, is a regular stop.

We love Kettle Corn

This stage hosted live bands.

Live bands perform

Some people danced, other just listened and chatted with friends. You could purchase BBQ sauce and other spices from the Big Green Egg. They also have grills available.

Big Green Egg sauces

Soapy and Zeb liked the real Big Green Egg here.

The Big Green Egg

Since this was a chili fest, we purchased Rocky Mountain Green Chili Mix.

Green Chili Mix here

It is made in Littleton, Colorado, a southern suburb of Denver. We like buying things produced here in Colorado. There were samples of this green chile and many other samples available. Visit them at http://www.MyGreenChili.com It is always nice to try before we buy. Another booth was offering frozen green chili. J. Dogg Phair green chili is made right here in Denver.

Purchased frozen green chili here

Another tasty green chili. Visit them at http://www.JDoggPhair.com We bought mild and hot chili. We will be eating green chili during the autumn and may even order more from these local companies. We hope you are enjoying some autumn festivals in your area, or on your travels. Festivals are fun.

September 10, 2016 by coloradotravelingducks

The Colorado Traveling Ducks Visit St. Mary’s Glacier.

Yesterday we drove through Idaho Springs, Colorado to St. Mary’s Glacier. Into the parking lot, paid our $5 parking fee and began our hike.

Starting the hike to St. Mary’s Glacier

Heading through the woods, on the trail, we climbed rocks and climbed over trees that had fallen over the trail.

Climbing over trees in trail.

Isn’t this beautiful? These abandoned buildings were perfect for a photo.

Abandoned building. We are on window ledge

Soon the trail resembled a rocky road.

Wide trail with large rocks. Please do not try to drive vehicles here.

There are many trails. If you are climbing, you will arrive at the lake and glacier. If you are descending, you will reach the parking lots. When we arrived, there were not many people. Only 12 cars in the parking lot. We took the path less traveled. We love water, so we walked toward the sound of the river.

Beautiful river

The trail was narrow and steep, but so beautiful with only the sound of birds and water tumbling over the rocks. Continuing, we soon reached St. Mary’s Lake.

St. Mary’s Lake. Glacier behind lake

That is not snow in the background. That is St. Mary’s glacier. Like most glaciers, St. Mary’s is receding too quickly. There is another trail to the glacier. We are allowed to walk on the glacier and some people even ski on it. Over the bridge we hike.

Let’s cross the bridge.

Part way to the glacier, we stop to admire the view of the lake.

Lake is so pretty and sky so blue.

These two dogs are having a lot of fun running on the glacier.

Dogs playing on glacier

We have gained over 1,200 feet in elevation since we left the parking lot, and are now about 11,000 above sea level. The thinner air has less oxygen, so many tourists have a little difficulty breathing. Those of us that live in Denver and west of Denver, usually do not have too much trouble. Here we are, sitting on the glacier.

We are on the glacier above the lake.

Isn’t this a beautiful area. We are only about 40 miles from our home. In less than one hour, we can be in this beautiful place. Living in Colorado, we truly can have a vacation in a few hours. The temperature here is about 55 degrees F, (about 14 degrees C) and there is a slight breeze over the glacier, but it is rather warm.

Only one cloud in bright blue sky. Sun is very intense at this altitude

You can see the bright blue sky, with only one small cloud. The sun is bright, and at this altitude, the sun is very intense. Many people are hiking in shorts. But, it is smart to wear good hiking boots here. However, when the sun sets, the air quickly gets rather cold. This is just another reason we love living in Colorado. The hike from the parking lot to the lake is only about 3/4 mile. This is an easy day trip from Denver. If you don’t live here, we hope you visit and see St. Mary’s glacier and more of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.

September 3, 2016 by coloradotravelingducks

Georgetown Loop Railroad with Zeb and Soapy Smith Duck

Soapy Smith Duck and I, Zeb the Duck, took our moms to Georgetown, Colorado to ride the narrow gauge train.

Georgetown Loop Railroad

We live about 40 minutes away and it was a beautiful, sunny Colorado day. It was Buffalo Bill Days at the railroad. This is a great chalk picture of Annie Oakley.

Annie Oakley in chalk

And, of course, here is a silhouette of Buffalo Bill.

Buffalo Bill in chalk

Jeff was there helping people pan for gold. We are watching and helping Soapy’s mom with gold panning.

Panning for gold

She found some gold.

We found gold!

Then she panned for gems.

Panning for gems.

This is fun. The Georgetown Loop Train leaves from Devil’s Gate Station in Georgetown.

Devil’s Gate Station at Georgetown, Colorado

We like riding this train.

On the train

When you drive in the mountains, the roads have switch backs, so you do not drive straight up. The train tracks do similar looping and turning, to reduce the uphill grade to about 4%. We will cross Clear Creek four times to arrive at Silver Plume.

Clear Creek

This is one of the bridges we will cross.

We will be up there soon

In the late 1800’s this was a great engineering accomplishment. Soapy’s mom with a wild west character.

Soapy’s mom and conductor

We arrived at Silver Plume station.

Arrival at Silver Plume Station

Some passengers got off and others got on here. We got off for a few minutes to purchase snacks and then back on the train. We love being in our Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Love riding in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains

Now Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley sit with Soapy, Zeb and Soapy’s mom.

With Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill

Here is another view of the front of our train.

Our train is heading back

We are approaching Devil’s Gate Station, our starting and ending point. We liked these musicians, and they like the Colorado Traveling Ducks.

We like these musicians

When you are in Colorado, we hope you ride this train or one of our other narrow gauge trains. Have fun and do some tourist things in your home town also. We had fun today.

August 19, 2016 by coloradotravelingducks

Chapel on a Rock and Rocky Mountain National Park with the Colorado Traveling Ducks

Today I, Zeb the Duck, and Soapy Smith Duck, are going with our moms toward Estes Park. We all love Estes Park. It is a great mountain resort town near Rocky Mountain National Park, about 90 minutes from home. Chapel on a Rock, or Saint Catherine of Siena Chapel is our first stop.

Saint Catherine of Siena Chapel

In 1916 Monsignor Joseph Bosetti was on a quest to find the impact site of a falling star when he found this rock formation. Remembering the Bible verse Matthew 16:18, upon this rock I will build my church, the Monsignor wanted to build a church here. But he had no funds. For 20 years he prayed and struggled with the Colorado Highway Department to keep his Rock intact. The land was purchased and then donated by Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Malo. In 1936, twenty years after first seeing the rock, the chapel was completed. The statue is very prominent, also.

Statue near chapel

This chapel is beautiful with Mount Meeker as a backdrop. The sanctuary is very nice.

Sanctuary

Here are some stairs.

Let’s go up the stairs

The stairs lead to the loft. This view is also nice.

View from loft

The official name of this chapel is Saint Catherine of Siena Chapel. This Franz Mayer stained glass window, depicts Saint Catherine holding the body of Christ on the cross.

View of loft and window

The statue of soft wood was made in Giacomo Mussner Studios in Bolzano, Italy.

Statue from Bolzano, Italy

The chapel was part of the Camp Saint Malo Catholic Retreat, Conference and Spiritual Center. The main building burned in 2011, but the chapel was not damaged. In 2013 during the floods, debris from a mountain slide destroyed much of the trails and other buildings, but again, the chapel was not damaged. The chapel is open to the public and available for weddings and other occasions. In 1993 Pope John Paul II visited this chapel and hiked some of the mountain trails. Next we visited Rocky Mountain National Park.

We love Rocky Mountain National Park

This is a favorite place for us. Today we drove to Bear Lake.

Bear Lake

There is a half mile trail around the lake.

Hiking trail

This is our favorite short hike in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Bear Lake

Soon it started to rain, so we went into Estes Park and had lunch at the Stanley Hotel.

The Stanley Hotel

Our moms said we could come back here soon and spend the night at the famous Stanley Hotel. When we do, we will tell you about this hotel and if we see any ghosts.

July 11, 2016 by coloradotravelingducks

Zeb and Soapy Visit Denver’s Remodeled Union Station

Denver has a lite rail train. Denver also remodeled the old train station. The historic building has been preserved and remodeled. Zeb and Soapy Smith Duck and their moms drove about 50 blocks to reach the nearest light rail station. In the fall of 2016, the station about 10 blocks from our house will open. The lite rail train arrives at the station.

The train is here.

We are anxious to get aboard.

Going on the train

We ride to Union Station, Denver’s train station.

Union Station Train Station in Denver

As you can see, the Crawford Hotel is in Union Station. This is very convenient for travelers. Inside Union Station we saw restaurants, shops and places for travelers to wait or rest.

Remodeled Union Station

Just to be sure, Union Station is still a train station.

California Zephyr stops in Denver

The California Zephyr will take you to Chicago or to California. This an Amtrak train station. Maybe some day moms? All the trains and thoughts of travel make us hungry. We decided to eat at The Kitchen Next Door.

Next Door Restaurant

First we had Happy Hour Appetizers. This was the first time for Colorado Traveling Ducks to eat fried pickles with seasoned ranch dressing.

Fried Pickles and Coca Cola from Mexico

The fried pickles were delicious. And we had Coca Cola from Mexico. Yes, it really does taste different, and the humans love it. For lunch we had grilled chicken with pineapple and Swiss cheese. We also had Carolina pulled pork with mustard BBQ sauce.

Huge Sandwiches

Everything was so good. Zeb and Soapy sat at the bar.

Chatting at the bar

The humans working here talked to us for awhile. We walked around Denver and decided to return to Union Station for dessert. This is the Milkbox Ice Creamery.

The Milkbox Ice Creamery

It was nice outside, so we brought our dessert out here to eat.

Ice Cream for us

This ice cream is really good. We will show you more of downtown Denver during the summer. Denver has a lot of stuff and we like to spend time, and money, here.

July 7, 2016 by coloradotravelingducks

Buffalo Bill is in Colorado’s Lookout Mountain

Buffalo Bill Cody loved Colorado. He especially love the view from the top of Lookout Mountain in Golden, Colorado. Let’s go the the top of Lookout Mountain.

Buffalo Bills Museum and Grave

Buffalo Bill told his wife Louisa, daughter Irma and foster son, Johnny Baker that he wanted to be buried up here.

Final resting place for Buffalo Bill Cody

When he died in 1917, he was buried here. Later his wife joined him in this final place.

Bill and Louisa rest here

This is a popular area to visit, so the bars protecting the graves are necessary. Along the path to the graves, this buffalo greets the visitors.

This buffalo is watching

Here is the museum honoring Buffalo Bill and the Old West.

Come this way to visit the museum

As you enter, you are greeted by these early Colorado residents.

Welcoming committee

Since this is a popular place for tourists, and locals, you can have your head on Buffalo Bill’s body. We three Colorado Traveling Ducks all sat on his body.

Three duck heads for Buffalo Bill

Why did Buffalo Bill love Lookout Mountain?

Beautiful from the top

This view explains a lot. Looking down to the city of Golden, you will see Coors Brewery. This brewery, started by Joseph Coors has been famous in Colorado and all over the United States.

Coors Brewery of Golden, Colorado

Now Coors has merged with Molson Canadian and Millers Brewery of Wisconsin, but still the original Coors beer formula can only be brewed here in Golden, Colorado. This beer is made with pure Rocky Mountain Spring Water, that is only found here. Other Coors beer can be brewed at other locations, but not the original Coors. Pahaska Tepee is the gift shop here.

Pahaska Tepee

Pahaska means ‘long hair” and that was the Lakota nickname for Buffalo Bill. All good gift shops also have snacks. The fudge here is so smooth and creamy. Mom and I prefer chocolate pecan, and Soapy Smith and JB Duck prefer chocolate peanut butter. And, we all love mint chocolate chip ice cream.

So Good

Such yummy treats. Well, now we will head down from Lookout Mountain.

Time to head home

We need to go home to cut the grass.

June 23, 2016 by coloradotravelingducks

Eldorado Canyon State Park in Colorado with the Colorado Traveling Ducks

Our home state of Colorado is beautiful. The Rocky Mountains are truly majestic. Hiking trails for all activity level are plentiful. The rivers are clear with melted snow. So, as you would expect there are many Colorado State Parks. Today we want to show you Eldorado Canyon State Park.

Eldorado Canyon State Park

This park is located between Denver and Boulder, so it is perfect for a day trip. We love the water and waterfalls.

Water falling

It is still rather early in the summer, so the rivers are running fast with heavy snow melt.

River really moving fast. Winter snow is melting.

Eldorado State Park has many hiking trails. This is the beginning of one that is located near the Visitor’s Center.

Eldorado Canyon Trail head. Ready?

In this park, humans climb these steep rocks.

These rock walls are tall and steep

Ducks do not climb tall, steep rocks. The geology of this canyon is varied. Geologists can study millions of years of the earth’s history here. These large rocks have several colors and minerals in them.

There are some large rocks here. The geology here is fantastic

Oh my, there is a human climbing this rock.

Human is climbing this rock

Yep, there is the human climber.

Human rock climber

This park has something for everyone. You can hike, climb rocks, have picnics, and even camp here. But sometimes we just like to sit by the river, listening to the water and admire the huge steep rock cliffs and bright blue Colorado sky.

Just sit and enjoy this park

We just like to relax and enjoy the soothing sights and sounds of nature. We hope you also take time to enjoy the calming effects of nature.

June 11, 2016 by coloradotravelingducks

Horses in and Around Denver

Colorado became a state in 1876. At that time most people traveled by horse. Today, many people in Colorado own horses. Every January Denver hosts the National Western Stock Show. The rodeos at the National Western are among the largest in the country. We have horse carriages on our pedestrian mall in Denver. But, we have many statues of horses that just don’t look like the horses I usually see. Mom says this is artistic interpretation. What do you think? This horse statue is in west Arvada, near a beautiful, new housing community.

Horse across from beautiful new housing community

What is in its mouth? And what is it wearing? Horse shoes or horse boots? In western Colorado, in the town of Rifle, this statue resembles a horse, but what is the horse standing on?

Balancing horse in Rifle, Colorado

Rifle is a great western town. I like Rifle. West of Denver and south of Boulder, is the town of Eldorado Springs. This horse was outside a sculpture studio.

Horse sculptured in Eldorado Springs, Colorado

Denver encourages public art. This horse is on the corner with a Wal Mart.

Horse with fancy feet.

The prancing horse, created in 2008 by Jim Dolan, is called Montana. In downtown Denver, the main Denver Public Library is in the Denver Art Museum complex. Here we have a small horse standing on a big chair in front of the Denver Public Library.

Small horse on big chair

One of Denver’s more famous horse sculpture in at Denver International Airport. This well known sculpture is also famous for killing its creator.

Blue Horse at Denver International Airport

During the creation, the horse fell and did kill the artist. The artist’s son finished the blue horse.

Red eyes on blue horse at Denver International Airport

These red eyes on the horse really are noticeable as night approaches. Perhaps our most famous, and most loved horse is the white bronco on the stadium where our Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos play football.

The Broncos play here

The people of Colorado do love the Denver Broncos football team, and our horse, Bucky.

Bucky. Mom did not take this photo.

Bucky was moved to his traditional place of honor when a new stadium was built over 20 years ago. There are many statues with horses in Colorado and in fairness, we wanted to show you some of the more unusual. But we love our state and our many horses.

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