As we drove on, leaving Utah’s mountains and entering Colorado, there was a very stark contrast in the landscape. The browns and grays of Utah gave way to the red and greens of Colorado where we spent two days with our friends and previous neighbors at their summer home in Colorado Springs.
After a home cooked meal and full night sleep, we headed out to Red Rock Canyon where four 70+ year olds tried to convince ourselves we were still young.
The next day, since we were now sure we were not still young, we drove to Cripple Creek spending much of the day riding in the car.
The highlight of the day was seeing Rita the Rock Planter. Rita was constructed from reclaimed wood from the area by a local artist. You may not be able to see it in the pictures but she is pushing rocks into a whole so they will grow up to be mountains. She even has fingernails.
From here we stopped in San Angelo, Texas to see our grandson Kyle and then to Spring, Texas to see his parents. A short four-hour drive from Spring is Fort Worth where we planned to visit the John Wayne Museum and the stockyards. It was wonderful to see that the man had many of the values of the characters he played on the screen including honesty, integrity, and family. He made 169 movies in his 50-year career never had a single scandal attracted to his name.
The Stockyards started in the late 1800s and grew to receive over 5,000,000 head of livestock each year until the mid 1950s. Even during WWI, these stockyards were supplying our country and allies horses and mules used for the military back then. Now it’s mostly shops and restaurants, but they run a small herd of longhorns down the main street twice a day at 11:30 in the morning and 4:00 pm.
Only two more stops before we head home.
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