The Golden Area

Saturday, July 25, 2015
Today we decided to stick to the area right around us and see what we could.
We started out by driving out to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre which is a little west of Golden where we are camping.  The red rocks are amazing - huge and simply jutting out of the earth.  We climbed a steep hill on winding roads and entered through this hole in a red rock

Once we were parked we climbed many steps to the top of the amphitheatre to look down on the seating area. It apparently is a favorite place on a Saturday to exercise cause lot of people were doing running up and down or running back and forth. Others were doing pushups, jumps and a variety of other forms of exercise using the steps. The back drop views they get while working out are awesome

This is a close up of the stage and its red rock back drop that no doubt helps the acoustics 

On each side of the amphitheater is a huge red rock that looks like the prow of a ship jutting out of the sea

Frank and Bette are standing at the rear of the theater.  In the distance other red rocks can be seen jutting out of the ground 

This model in a glass case of the visitor center gives a better idea of the huge red rocks flanking the seating as well as the back of the stage.

There were a variety of displays in the center about the construction of the facility as well as about those who have entertained there.  It was interesting to discover it was built entirely by hand - no machines by the CCC.

The display listing all those who have entertained there had some fun decorations - artistically crafted instruments

We then drove back toward Golden and climbed (via car that is) Lookout Mountain to visit the Buffalo Bill Museum and his grave.

This is a little tough to read but sort of summarizes just what made "Buffalo Bill" such a memorable person.  The movie about him indicated that by the time he was 11 years old he was helping on wagon trains.  He rode for the Pony Express, was an army scout who won the medal of honor, worked with the railroad when it first was being built all before becoming a showman.  

This sign then indicates what he is best known for.  There were lots of displays about what he did in this capacity including outfits he and others wore, guns that were used, stories about Indians he worked with and so forth

One thing that had never occured to me is that he did an exceptionally good job of bringing a huge variety of people together - cowboys, Indians, Mexican vaqueros, women like Annie Oakley, and support staff - and had them living and working together harmoniously.  That was quite an achievement.  In fact, he was an advocate for women's rights and fought to give the Indians rights.

Over 20,000 people attended his funeral bringing his body to the top of Lookout Mountain as he had requested and burying it.  Two other areas continued to fight to have his body moved for a long time.

But he had been to this spot and loved the view of the mountains and valleys.

Bette and I both noted that he died the same year both of our mother's were born.  

These shots give an idea of the fabulous views from his resting place. You can see the tall downtown buildings in Denver to the left rear. 

I don't have a panoramic camera so I took three different pictures each time moving a little more to the left so as to show the changes in the land as you lookout from the top of this mountain - here you can see north and south table mountains with the town of Golden in front (where we are staying)

We then drove into Golden hoping to go to several of the small museums as well as tour the Coors factory but discovered wall to wall people and cars because they are celebrating Buffalo Bill Days and a parade was due to start shortly.  So we gave up trying to find a place to park and returned to our campground for lunch.  Then we went shopping together.  Bette wanted to get some quilting materials at JoAnn's and then we both did grocery shopping.

Once we'd put things away, Ken and I drove out to the Lookout Mountain area again to see the herd of bison that continues to live in the area - descendants of those  that filled the plains before "white man" came along and killed most of them.  The city of Denver set aside Genesee Park as a home for them, so that was where we were headed. (Frank and Bette went to church in the late afternoon)

We drove from the foothills

toward the mountains

to this area where about 60 or so bison were gathered close enough to the fenced in area that we could see them.  There were alot of "moms" with their "babes"

Calves young enough to still be nursing

And a bull resting with several others with no calves

Ken and I then headed back toward town which of course meant going downhill

And into Golden to see if we could find any place to park.  We did so we walked around a bit just to see what it was like.  They had a lot of statuary, some beautiful views of Clear Creek that runs through the downtown, as well as mountain views.

 Buffalo Bill with his daughter saying "Howdy"

A cowboy catching a fish in Clear Creek

Adolph Coors who built his huge beer business in town

And a child getting a helping hand as she climbed on a horse

This Indian maiden was down by the creek

As were this large fish

Lots of people were having fun on inner tubes floating down the creek and under the bridge

And the Coors factory could be seen in the distance

The proximity of the foothills can be seen in the photo above and this shot down a side street

I enjoyed all of the lavender growing in peoples gardens that we passed at various times during the day.  It is apparently a very popular flower in this area.

Another one I noticed is sunflowers - smaller than those seen in the plains of Kansas and Nebraska but still quite pretty

Many of the fields are filled with blooming thistles

We returned to our RV after enjoying some ice cream while strolling the area and I cooled off in the pool for a bit.