Back on Track....

Colorado: Aspen and Royal Gorge Bridge
Of the states that I have crossed so far, Colorado was consistently scenic and really nice. A little after you cross over from Utah to Colorado, the ride becomes nicer. There is a stream running alongside Hwy 70, people rafting...a repeating theme (roadside stream/river and rafting), through much of CO that I got to see.

I spent the night in Carbondale, lovely little town, weather was a nice change from the heat in Utah. The photo below is from my hotel room. That was what it was like all the way to Aspen and beyond.

Farmers market day in Aspen. Aspen is very beautiful, no wonder the rich and famous like to hang out there. Very nice feel to the place. Everyone seems to be on their a-game when it comes to dress fashion, you could tell that this place provided a sizeable line-item to Abercrombie's, Hollister's or DG's accounting books :)

So...I succumbed and took the gondola ride to the top of Aspen. One of the longest that I have been on. Smaller gondola's, 5-6 people can go in one...mine was just mine...it was nice, I actually put my feet up and turned on the music thingy in the Blackberry and listened to music on the way down:) At the top you can play frisbee golf, do hikes, there is a bunch of activities for kiddies, I would have none of it so sat myself down in the restaurant at the top and ate a Tuna sandwich :)

Ride from Aspen to Royal Gorge Bridge (more about that in a sec)...bike riders, take note, awesomlicious ride y'all!! Miles and miles of sweeping turns, tight turns. Some parts of the ride were not very smooth, but who cares. Did get tricky when the gods decided that I and the bike needed a wash. The grip warmers were put to good use.

Royal Gorge Bridge: Tallest suspension bridge in the world, 1035 ft I think. Built in just 6 months or so in 1929...amazing that they did it that quickly back then. Even more amazing when you realize how high it is. Tight squeeze for 2 modern day cars, but must have been plenty big back in the day. Wooden planks make up the 'road'. You can actually see thru the space between planks.
Was pretty busy the day I was there. It is also an amusement park of sorts, which explains the crowds. You can can actually drive on the bridge, I started off but decided to go back, park and walk the bridge instead since there were too many people on at the time and it would have been a legs down, stop, legs up, go, story every few secs. The pic below doesnt do justice to how crowded it was when I got there.

After that, I headed out and made it past Denver and stayed the night in a town called Westminister which is on the way to Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park...goes past Boulder.