Colorado State Capitol Building – The Mile High Capitol

Denver, Colorado.

On a cold but beautiful mid-November day, Lynn and I found ourselves with fellow photographer, Fred Mast, on the commuter rail headed for downtown Denver. In an upcoming Travel Tuesday, we’ll feature more views of the downtown area and the 16th Street Mall. Today’s Travel Tuesday, however, features a visit to the State Capitol Building, Colorado’s seat of government. The photo above features a view of the building that sits almost exactly one mile above sea level. An official marker placed on the 13th step indicates the exact one-mile point.

Rocky Mountain National Park – Like You’re On Top of the World

Estes Park, Colorado.

In mid-November, we headed south for our annual trip to Arizona. On the way through Denver, we visited our photographer friend, Fred, and his wife, Ellen. Of course, we included some sites to feature here on Journeys. Last week, I shared our visit to Estes Park and the Stanley Hotel. Just outside of town is the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park.

Stanley Hotel – A Shining Example

Estes Park, Colorado.

Everything about the Stanley Hotel is big. From the size of the hotel, to the views of the Rocky Mountains, to the dreams of its builder, Freelan Oscar Stanley. When F. O. Stanley came to Estes Park for his health in 1903, he and his wife decided to build a grand hotel and by 1909, his grand resort was already helping to grow the small town of Estes Park.

Weekly Photo Challenge – Scale

This week, Erica V. asks us to reflect upon scale and a measure of relative size in a photo. She writes about the “… opportunities throughout the day to remember your place in our big, big world.” You can read the entire challenge post here. The photo above, captured at the Very Large Array (VLA) at Socorro, New Mexico features only one of the over 20 dish antennas that make up one of the world’s largest radio telescopes built to give us a glimpse, a small window of time and space in the universe.

Denver Botanic Garden – A Natural Work of Art

Denver, Colorado.

“You’ve just taken a photo of an optical illusion,” I heard just after snapping the shutter on my camera. I turned to look for the speaker. It was a gentleman volunteer from the Botanic Garden. He commented that the design of the landscape is meant to make it look longer than it really is. The walkway and green areas all taper toward the distance and the trees bordering the garden area are shorter at the far end from where this photo was captured. The walk down the path didn’t take nearly as long as one might think. It is a great illusion you have to experience to really feel the effect.

Georgetown Railroad Loop

Georgetown, Colorado.

Last week we visited the small community of Georgetown, about an hour out of Denver and one of the departure points for the Georgetown Loop Railroad. It’s only a seven-minute drive along I-70 between Georgetown and the next westerly town at Silver Plume, the other departure point for the railroad. The train, however, uses tracks that travel past two historic mines, the Everett and Lebanon underground mines. You can ride the train alone, or buy an excursion stopover and visit the mines as well.

Georgetown Colorado

Georgetown, Colorado.

Nestled in a valley among some of the most spectacular peaks in the Colorado Rockies, a small mining town of about a thousand residents breathe the thin air at around 8500 feet (2591 m) above ground level. Tucked along U.S. Highway 6, now more popularly known as Interstate-70, I could have easily missed it if it weren’t my destination.