Sixth in a series of posts about traveling in Colorado and Wyoming.
Wending Our Way to Wyoming
We achieved the first part of our Colorado to Wyoming Adventure when we reached Milner Pass and the Continental Divide. Then we re-traced our drive along the Trail Ridge Road in the Rocky Mountain National Park to head to Fort Collins. The vistas were engaging as we viewed them from a slightly different angle. As we drove through the lower part of the park, we saw what we thought were herds of antelope resting not too far from the road.
Heading Northeast
Leaving Rocky Mountain National Park, we drove through Estes Park and Loveland. Driving through Estes, we marveled at the trees along the route banded with an assortment of colorful wool and fiber creations. Then we remembered that Estes-Park had their annual Wool Market and Fiber Festival that weekend.
Wool wrapped trees in Estes Park Colorado are part of annual Wool Festival
Next Stop on our Colorado to Wyoming Adventure – Ft. Collins
Our next planned stop was Ft. Collins, which was on the direct route to Cheyenne. We wanted to visit Old Town Square, a National Historic District. The area was the inspiration for Disneyland’s Main Street U.S.A. Fort Collins-born artist Harper Goff worked for Walt Disney when Disneyland was being developed. When Goff showed Disney photos of his home town, Disney was inspired to use the look of the Old Town Square buildings in his new venture.
In addition to historic buildings, there’s sculptures and fountains enhancing a pedestrian zone lined with shops, galleries, restaurants, and breweries. Unfortunately, the area was closed off for a festival, the annual Taste of Ft. Collins, and admission was $35 each. If it were earlier in the day, we might have gone for it. The music sounded great and the food smelled good, but we had planned on an hour long stroll, if that, before continuing to Cheyenne. Luckily we hadn’t gone far out of our way.
Roaming on the Range
As we drove north, we were struck by how different the landscape and vegetation is, compared to New England. In New England, while you may see mountains in the distance, in rural areas, the roads are lined with trees, often maple or pine or fir. In Colorado, we traveled through huge areas of grassland, with the trees and Rockies in the distance.
Along the highway were a variety of metal sculptures of things like buffalo, horses, and cowboys, recalling the Old West. We saw long, long, long freight trains reminding us of how the building of the transcontinental railroad spurred the growth of the United States. We were on our way to see a restored train engine, the largest one of its kind, “Big Boy.”