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ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH (5th - 8th OCT)
Spent the last 4 days in Colorado. Decided to base ourselves in Boulder partly because the guide books say it's a trendy liberal place to stay and partly because of its location half way (35 miles) between Denver and the Rocky Mountain National Park, both places we wanted to visit. Unlike most cities in the USA Boulder has an excellent public transport system so one day we took the express bus to Denver. The city is sometimes called the Mile High City for obvious reasons. Most of the sights to see are based in the centre including The State Capitol Building, all the museums and art galleries and a great book shop called the "Tattered Cover " .
Another day we drove to the RMNP 35 miles north of Boulder. This beautiful park is about 10,000 ft above sea-level and is home to elk, deer, bears etc. Unfortunately didn't see any bears but we drove round the park and had a guided tour of one area with a park ranger. The main road that goes through the park is the highest paved road in USA and is closed from mid October to May.
One evening we went to a great restaurant in Boulder. It s called the Mediterranean (or Med) and serves exactly what is sound like - delicious food from Spain, France, Greece etc. Apart from the obvious Italian pizza and pasta houses this was the first "European " restaurant we've come across in the past 4 weeks. However the highlight for me was their happy hour when all their Tapas and wine are half price until 6.30. We made sure we arrived at 5.45
The last day in Colorado was spend driving west through the spectacular Rocky Mountains. Absolutely the most enjoyable days driving so far made even better by stopping for lunch in Vail, a beautiful ski resort for the rich and famous.
Finally a couple if incidents that took place this week that make me wonder about America and Americans - one fairly trivial, one not so trivial. I got talking to a young woman in the RMNP. When she heard I was from Scotland, she complimented me on my level of English which was nice of her. I reciprocated the compliment
The other incident took place on the steps of the State Capitol building. A group of young school kids came by with their teacher. The teacher was talking about various US presidents and the legal system. He then asked the group who made the first laws. I listened in hoping to learn something about the American Legal System. However the whole class yelled out "God"- which was apparently the right answer! - not sure if he was a democrat or a republican
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