A different Colorado

Bighorn sheep near Georgetown, Colorado.
 They are only tiny speck at the top of the mountain
 -- but we saw them!!!!

When we left Breck, we knew that the Black Hills had just gotten almost four feet of snow. And the national parks were all closed due to the federal government shutdown. So we decided to explore Nebraska. I mean -- Nebraska wasn't at the top of either of our bucket lists. But we've been amazed throughout our trip how much there is to see and know about the tiniest corners of this country.

Clear Creek Canyon Road

So that meant heading east -- out of the mountains -- and back to the high plains. We started heading east on I70, and were rewarded when we stopped at a scenic pullout by finally seeing bighorn sheep. They had eluded us at the National Bison Range, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Flaming Gorge and everywhere else we'd been. We were so excited to see them! (Another guy at the stop said he'd lived in Colorado for four years and never seen them. He was ecstatic. We all high-fived in our excitement.)

Rather than following I70 all the way into  Denver, we took US 6 through Clear Creek Canyon. What a gorgeous (and I do now understand the root of that word) spot. And striking not just for the natural beauty, but also for the number of outdoorspeople in it. We saw bikers, fly fishers, rock climbers, hikers and everything in between. That is the part of Colorado that will most stand out to me. The healthy active people you see everywhere.

Jan in front of the Colorado State Capitol

Next stop? If you've been following this blog, you know the answer. The Capitol, of course! And what did we find? The Capitol in bubble wrap. We couldn't see the inside either, because it was a Sunday.

Sign on the lawn near the Capitol

There is a beautiful public commons kind of space between the Capitol and the city/ county government building two blocks away. With rules about when the space can be occupied. This is all connected to an huge community arts complex. I wonder how the rules about using space play out on an average day, given all the homeless people we saw in the area.

City/County government building

Another side of the Civic Center Park

One of many statues on the lawn of the Colorado State Capitol.
If you look carefully at the Indian's foot,
you'll see a local resident of the park

When we left Denver, we headed northeast via smaller highways. And I was struck by the entirely different State I was seeing. And i'm even more struck by the fact that I took no pictures along that route. The scenery was dry, flat and sparsely populated. Periodically we came across very small towns with very few services. (I was long overdue for a bathroom by the time we finally found one. (Look at the next blog to see what that looked like.) We saw very few people, other than the farmers harvesting their crops. It was Sunday -- but it felt a little creepy to drive through towns that looked empty.

The economy in this area has nothing to do with tourism -- it's all about cattle, sorghum, sugar beets, and alfalfa. I couldn't help but wonder how this part of the state sees Denver (big city), let alone the ski resorts (big money, glamour, jet-setting crowds, etc.). It really did feel like a tale of two Colorados. Must be very interesting to see the negotiations at the state legislature.

Other animal sighting: Coyote on a train track.