Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

  The weather was clear and a little cool but the scenery was gorgeous and the train was a first-rate restored coal-burning steam powered locomotive with restored/modified passenger cars.  My car had seats facing outward, not forward which was good for photography.

 The route for this scenic tour of the Rocky Mountains followed the Animas River in Colorado for much of time.

I don't know what mineral(s) or sediment was in the water, but it had an odd pale blue-green color.

The rail route was very curvy.  I took this and most of the other photos from my perch in the second from the last car on the train.  The great number of curves on this route is the major reason why the railroad builders used narrow gauge track.

The tour ride had a two-hour layover in Silverton, Colorado which had numerous restaurants and gift shops.  In this shot, another train is pulling into Silverton for their layover.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

 I don't think the photos below do justice to the dunes and nearby Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the Great Sand Dunes National Park.  Mind you, I don't like getting all sandy from visiting Pensacola Beach, but this was different!  My motel room had a great view of the sand dunes and mountains.  I enjoyed hiking around the dunes although I didn't climb the highest one.  The park is at 8216 feet and the highest dune is another 750 feet.  I was glad to trek around without being out of breath.

The dunes and late afternoon sun created lovely serpentine patterns of shade and light.

 I loved the rippled sand patterns on the dunes.

 The Visitor's Center can be seen at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mts. just to the right of center.

 I had great luck finding three six-point buck mule deer out on the plains.  I also got some interesting clouds in the morning.

Saw three or four female mule deer on the first day in the late afternoon.

 The winds over night erased most of the footprints and the patterns you see are caused by the different types of grains of sand.  I noticed when I was walking on the sand yesterday that their were different sized and colored grains.  This sand is coarse by Pensacola Beach standards.  After walking on it for an hour or so, I hardly had any sand in my athletic shoes.  At Pensacola Beach my shoes would have been filled.

 Lots of rabbit brush and goldenrod in bloom (much to the demise of my sinuses and allergies.)

 The rabbit brush (yellow) flowers, sunflowers, and the purple asters were fantastic.

 The lodge I stayed at during my visit is in this photo.  It was just outside the park's gate.  I had great views of the dunes from the rear patio and great views of the mountains from my front door.

Pike's Peak & Rocky Mountain National Park

 Pikes Peak was not what I had hoped for.  Not much opportunity to take photos on the way up on the cog train.  The views were limited by the rock and trees.  I did enjoy seeing the hummingbirds at the station while I waited for my train.

A view from the top of Pikes Peak, 14,110 feet above sea level.  A reservoir high in the mountains above Colorado Springs.

Its definitely cold up at over 14,000 feet!  There are no large bushes and no trees at that altitude.  It's just lichen and barren rocks.

Colorado Springs in the background as well as the plains leading to Kansas.

White prickly poppies in Rocky Mountain National Park

A smoky haze hangs over a valley on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountain NP from the forest fire near Boulder, Colorado

One well-fed chubby squirrel

This female elk seen on the western side of Rocky Mountain NP.

Truly pleased to see a young bull moose on the western side of Rocky Mountain NP

Here are a group of photos of the Rocky Mountains that are part of the National Park.

Kansas "Commentary" & Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs

This is my second drive through this part of Kansas.  Yeah, I am that crazy, but I saw these neat sculpture and mobiles on my first trip and kicked myself for not stopping and taking some photos.  On Sunday I took these  photos in the small town of Mullinsville Kansas (289 people).  An eccentric and cantankerous old Navy veteran is the folk artist who created these sculptures and mobiles. The old guy, M.T. Liggett, derisively makes fun of politicians and some his road artwork is sure to offend both left-wing and right-wing political thinkers.  You don't have to have a vivid imagination to figure out where the state board of education's " head" is located in the second photo.  If you despise Hillary Clinton, Janet Reno, James Carville, and right-wing republicans in general, there's artwork for you to enjoy along the highway!  If you are curious about this cantankerous old man, here is a link http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11212.

As many of you know, I love wildflowers.  This field of sunflowers is wild, though they grow sunflowers commercially in Kansas, eastern Colorado, Nebraska, and both Dakotas.

Not sure these whether the horses and Angus steer in this sunflower field were in western Kansas or eastern Colorado.  There isn't much difference geologically.

Garden of the Gods was a gift to the City of Colorado Springs from a local railroad mogul - philanthropist.  It's more of a rock garden than floral one.  There certainly are many interesting rock formations and the hikers and rock climbers love this perpetually free park.

Lots of people were at the park on the Labor Day holiday.  I read not too long ago that Colorado has the most physically fit people in the USA and I believe it.  I never saw so many people of all ages involved and engaged in hiking, biking, walking etc.

This rock formation is know as kissing camels.  It may not be obvious from this photo, but it is in person.

Ah, the wildflowers.  Mostly yellow and some purple seen at these locations.

They say, "you are what you eat."  It seems true for this bee that seems decidedly more yellow-orange than normal