Thursday, August 5, 2010

Day 2

Today I have a travelers tip. If you are coming to western Colorado be aware the there is a Colorado Department of Transportation engineer who is fallen in love with the traffic circle or roundabout as the are otherwise known. I encountered one yesterday in Glenwood Springs, population 8,000, Rifle, population 7,000 and Fruita, population 11,000. The purpose, as I see it, is to slow the traffic down and distract the tourists who are attempting to navigate through unfamiliar territory. It worked on me in Rifle where I entered from the north and wanted to go east, missed the street the first time through so 630 degrees later I exited the roundabout  and headed toward my destination. To get back on the highway headed west to resume my journey was just as complicated. Knowing the I was coming from the east and wanting to enter the roundabout I approach in the right lane, big mistake. The right lane was a secret, unmarked entrance to I-70 heading east bound with large concrete barriers preventing anyone who makes this error from changing to the correct lane. So it was a trip of three miles in the wrong direction before we could cross over the highway and resume our trek west. Even Samantha, my navigator that was provided by Garmin, was totally confused.
This is the roundabout in Fruita, it might be a challenge to get out of town.

This mornings walk also presented some ideas of things to do here the next couple of days. One of the things we will definetly check out is the museum.
This is dinosaur country with a lot of digs in this area.

We also saw some interesting attractions along the way. Like this sculpture at the side of the road.
And the views of the area are outstanding.


Last night we were treated to a nice light show as a thunderstorm blew in and peppered the surrounding mountains with streaks of lightning, all this while the thunder echoed through the valley with a low rumble. With background music like this it's not hard to enjoy the good life. 

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