We ventured off I-70 to drive up the Rocky Mountains to Leadville, a historic mining town. Leadville's claim to fame is that it is the highest city in the Rocky Mountains with an elevation of over 10,000 feet!
We could see the Colorado wildfires from Utah. There were several stretches of highway in Western Colorado that cars were not allowed to stop along, due to the fires getting to close. They moved us through as quickly as possible.
Main Street, Leadville, Colorado
The old train depot and steam engine.
We rode out of town to the Matchless Mine. This picture was taken with my iphone while riding downhill, with no hands! Not really. I had one hand on the handlebars and my helmet on tight.
The land surrounding this cabin, belonging to H.A.W. Tabor, was full of silver. He became very wealthy during the silver mining boom, but then lost his fortune when the silver industry collapsed. His wife, Baby Doe, lived out her final years in the cabin waiting for boom to return. Their infamous story is one of rags-to-riches-to-rags.
The Matchless Mine was a booming silver mine in the 1880's.
We hiked into Arches National Park at 6:30am to avoid the heat and crowds. What an incredible discovery it was! Since it is situated near a fault line, there were some awesome rock formations. Words cannot describe the natural beauty here, and even the pictures don't tell the whole story. We highly recommend a visit to this park.
Balancing Rock
The park is named for its arch rock formations. This is the "Delicate Arch".
Native American Ute rock art carved into the rock faces around 1750 a.d.
We hit the road at 6:00am, and headed east on Highway 70 to Arches National Park, near Moab. After exploring the town we went grocery shopping to restock the trailer pantry. Our afternoon was spent resting up for a hike through the park tomorrow morning before the heat sets in. A local Moabian told us the best time to hike Arches is from 6:00-8:30am since it will be 90 degrees by 9:00! Look for photos from the park in our next post.
Highway 70 is home to spectacular geology. There are multiple layers of the earth exposed at this site, some that date back to the cretaceous time period. Dinosaurs once roamed here!
It feels like summer here with temperatures in the 90's. We spent our first night in Utah in Salina, another small town USA. We took a walk through a pioneer cemetery, and then up Main Street to the other end of town, where we enjoyed a late night dessert of delicious pie and ice cream at Mom's Cafe.
Terry hiked into his hunting spot to set up his trail camera while I stayed behind and explored this charming little town. (That's Julie in the bottom left corner of the mural.)
Dewit Railroad Museum- on the National Historic Registry
Prairie City Elementary School
This mural in Vale, Oregon stretched along a whole city block! We noticed many similar beautiful murals in rural eastern Oregon towns.
We are in Prineville just in time for the Crook County Rodeo. Yeehaw! Our one night stay turned into a four night stay due to some unforeseen trailer trouble but we are making the best of it. I even found a zip line to try out in the city park!
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