Denver

Today we went into Denver. What a to-do to get there! The hotel is next to a vast interchange but trying to get on to it was a nightmare. In fact, we didn't. We ended up going all round the houses to get onto a road that would take us into the centre.

We ended up going in the right direction and in downtown Denver looking for a parking lot. Eventually we ended up using a parking meter for a couple of hours whilst we scouted around. The main drag is 16^th which has been partially pedestrianized. There's a free bus service that goes back and forth along it which makes for easier travel.

We went up to the main rail station and, like at Cheyenne yesterday, it's a wonderful building. Built at the turn of the 20^th century it shows all the features of a classic American train station. Very clean cut lines and classic light fittings. It was easy to imagine what it was like in its heyday.

We left there and did some shopping buying a few clothes and a book. Mostly we were window shopping. After the two hours had been up we had seen a parking ramp and moved the car to it. Denver has been the most cosmopolitan city we've visited so far. None of the others have had such a varied range of people.

At about five we attempted to find our way back to the hotel and used the satnav. It worked quite well and we arrived safely back.

Our big thing this evening was to repack everything ready for the flight to San Diego tomorrow. We're going to have to leave here at about 5.30 - 6 to be able to drop the car off and check in. The main problem is going to be getting to the airport but we think we've cracked it now.

Tomorrow's blog should be written from Santa Clemente in California.

and back to Denver

First I have to write that this hotel has one of the worst internet connections that we've experienced so far. That's why this is so late up for yesterday. However now we've a connection here goes.

The last part of the first part ends today, so to say.

The long distance driving ends today with a 270 mile drive to back to Denver. The connection to the Internet was flaky but obviously it got made and I uploaded the blog early this morning.

We set off heading first to Fort Laramie, not Laramie; they are two different places altogether. The drive was easy and straight forward. We ended up going little country roads and over rail tracks to arrive at the Fort.

It's not a stockaded fort but started out as a trading post and the US Army took it over and put in barracks and the like. The area was flat and open. The surrounding hills were a distance off so anyone approaching it could see it from a distance. After parking we set off and Isaw my partner stop and something was being pointed out to her on the ground. As I hurried over there was a small rattlesnake slithering away up a dusty path. Which I filmed. We've seen more wildlife, alive and dead, this time than all the previous visits together.

We went over to the Visitors Center after that bit of excitement and read up on the history of the place. This fort was one of those on the Oregon Trail when the first white settlers started heading westwards. It was quite an important place in its time but now was in the middle of nowhere, so to speak, gradually deserted as first the railway in the 19^th century spread westwards and then the roads bypassed it altogether. The site was made into a historic monument in the early part of the 20^th century.

What was there now was amazingly good. Houses and barracks were restored and outfitted. The general store/trading post had replica goods from the era. There were rangers dressed in period costumes acting parts of the locals. We wandered from building to building and through the wooden structures. The bachelor officer quarters were called 'Old Bedlam' due to the boisterous sounds that came from it at times. Strange that 'Bedlam' should raise it's head so far from it's original place (The Imperial War Museum in London, if you didn't know, is housed in the Bethel Madhouse – called Bedlam!) The day was wonderfully sunny and hot. Walking around the site was a real experience as the rangers were friendly and were only to willing to explain things. Basically the fort was a trading post and stop-off point. They didn't have any problems with the native americans and it seems that life at the fort was rather boring. No wonder that Fort Yellowstone, where they could go hunt and explore was considered a plumb posting.

There was even a laundress with her own tent and allotment. The allotment was quite genuine and they were trying to grow vegetables from the time of the settlers. The laundress could trace one part of lineage back to Wales. She was doing some quilting as she worked at doing the laundering too. We had quite a long chat with her and she told us about the conditions at the fort and her own part there. The life she described was one of great hardship and perseverance. The fort must have been hot in summer and cold in winter with very short springs and autumns. She said that the growing season was only 9 weeks so that didn't give much time to grow very much.

All in all a fantastic day at the fort.

We set off for Denver again and about half way pulled into Cheyenne, the State Capital, for a meal. A small centre was deserted but we wandered around and found the rail depot where there was the most amazing booking hall in the 1920s style; like the one that is seen in films; not huge but impressive nonetheless.

It was jolly decent meal and after a two hour stopover we made the last leg of the journey to Denver. We followed all the instructions but could we find the hotel? No! We drove around where it should have been but no sign for a Best Western. We looked again at the print-out of the booking and there was a picture of the hotel on the page and on the opposite side of the road from us was the hotel but under a different franchise... arghhhh!

We were told at the front desk that they had switched franchises and the signs had only gone up this week. We unloaded the car totally and took everything up to the room. The annoying part is that the internet access has been the worst of all. We've had it flaky but not so that we couldn't through. Here it's been dead. However it has come back but it's sooooo slow which is why this is a rather late entry.

I've had a request to put more pictures up so what I'll do is make a little portfolio of them in a separate place.