It’s just not fair that America has all of these great places. Why can’t they be spread around more evenly so other countries get some as well.
In the past two days I have seen the Flaming Gorge Recreation Area and Colorado National Monument. If we had just one of these in the UK, then that would be fairer, but oh no! America also has Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Arches national Park, Bryce, Zion, the Tetons, and the list goes on.
That of course is very tongue-in-cheek, but seriously, we have nothing like these places in most of Europe, so to the people of the USA I say you are very lucky to have them. When I was riding today through parts of Colorado, I had to pinch myself to keep looking at what I was seeing with fresh eyes. I rode along I-70, the Million Dollar Highway and I was amazed. What a road! What scenery! It goes on for so long that even I, seeing it for the first time, became far too accustomed to its majesty because there is so much of it.
Talking of roads, I made a video of riding through the Flaming Gorge and part of Dinosaur National Park.... I hope you enjoy it....
When riding on these roads, I find it a challenge to keep concentrating on the road. The scenery is calling me to divert my eyes and look around me....
Look at this road down in the valley....
I am not sure, but I imagine the Gorge gets its name from the red rocks...
Looking down into part of the gorge....
How about this for a hairpin bend!....
How does this tree survive?....
More terrific views looking down into the gorge. This view was hard to find and meant climbing over some rocks....
I visited Flaming Gorge Dam and the engineer in me just had to go on the tour. I was told that before 9/11 anybody could tour the dam, including the inside of the turbine halls, the tunnels and anywhere else, on their own. I imagine that the dam is now considered a high risk threat and so there is much tighter security now, including a full time police officer that uses a metal detector to scan all visitors. Personally, I have no problem with such measures and indeed living in London, I am very used to such necessities of everyday life.
Here is the dam. It is 425 foot / 130m tall and the water behind the dam took 12 years to fill to its full working level....
It is an impressive structure.... it took 6 years to build....
This is looking down from the top of the dam on the downstream side....
Looking down the lift (US = elevator) shaft, 425 feet!.... (sorry Dan)....
In the turbine hall. There are three 10 foot diameter turbines....
This is Dinosaur National Park....
Blue Mountain, where a lot of para-sailing is done, but not on the day I was there....
I have been looking forward to seeing Colorado for about a year....
I liked the shape of this wooden fence....
I am saving todays pictures and video of Colorado for my next post....
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