Colorado

Last week, I did. I decided that December is the time to go visit three national parks in Colorado.

Less said about the drive, the better. I arrived in Montrose last Wednesday. Montrose was a decent enough place, except they did not have ESPN2 on their cable system, and the sports bar was so filled with smoke one couldn't see the televisions. So, I missed Duke's dismantling of Temple.

Thursday I spent looking at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. I actually found this canyon to be even more impressive than the Grand Canyon. It is only 2000 feet deep, but the sides are extremely steep; the canyon is about 500 feet across. (In comparison, the Grand Canyon is a mile deep and between 10 and 30 miles across.) While many of the viewpoints on the south rim were closed, the north rim drive was spectacular. (FYI, Black Canyon is one of Clinton's National Parks.)

After that visit, I crossed Lizard Head Pass to go to Cortez. Lizard Head is near Telluride, and is over 10,000 feet.

Friday was Mesa Verde. This is an area where Anasazi built cliff houses that were quite impressive. We had a guided tour (about 8 of us when down there) of the cliff house near the visitors' center, then I looked at the other visible cliff houses. Walking uphill at 8000 feet, while recovering from a head cold, was breathtaking.

One thing I've found odd: With the current American fad to build and patronize restaurants of a wide variety of cuisines, why has no one tried organizing a restaurant around native American cuisine? Some Mexican restaurants may have "Navajo tacos" or a fry bread, but I'd think the novelty would generate enough business.

After Mesa Verde, I crossed Grey Wolf Pass to stay in Alamosa. Alamosa Mighty Moose won the Colorado state football title, or so every bulletin board in town claims...

Alamosa was the coldest stop of the trip; it was 2°F (-16°C) Saturday morning, when I set off for the Great Sand Dunes. Last year, Clinton signed the bill authorizing this to become a national park upon completion of the acquisition of a neighboring ranch. These sand dunes are formed from winds blowing across the Continental Divide, picking up dirty and sand, and depositing it when the winds rise to cross the San Christo Range at the front of the Rocky Mountains. The dunes are over 700 feet tall, and are nestled against the mountains. I spent a good bit of time there, and even went walking along some of the dunes. Since there was a frost, the different in colors where the frosty sand and the dry sand was present was quite striking.

I spent the night in Pueblo. The next two days were driving home.

No meals of note.