Atlanta, Georgia, May 2008

We left Dublin Airport on a Boeing 767 bound for Atlanta, Georgia in USA. We then changed to an other terminal and waited for our airplane to Denver, Colorado. McBear said that Atlanta had become the world's busiest airport. There were so many airplanes from Delta, that McBear said they could easily rename Atlanta to Delta Airport...
Here we are waiting for our airplane from Atlanta to Denver. McBear said it was a Boeing 757 from Delta Airlines.

Click each photo to enlarge it

On the way to Denver we had window seats. On the monitor at the seat in front of ours we could follow our route to Denver. There was only limited space at the window so McBear and Barnaby had to wait until it was their turn to have a look.

Atlanta, Georgia, May 2008

We arrived Denver late at night. We were going to be staying at the Sheraton hotel on the 19th floor. That would mean a room with a good view of the city. The bed was nice...and huge!!!

Early next morning we rushed to the window to see Denver. The first thing we saw was the dome on top of the Capitol.

Denver, Colorado, May 2008

We went down to explore the hotel. Here, we are enjoying the fine environment in the reception area. One of our owners, Frances, was attending a world astrological conference, so we would be staying here the next 7 days. We didn't mind...

Sheraton was located right in the centre of down town Denver. Just outside was a shopping mall with a free bus service running up and down the 16th Street.

Denver, Colorado, May 2008

On our way to the Colorado Capitol, we went through the civic park and had our photo taken. As you can see, our hotel Sheraton wasn't far away...

We also had our photo taken at the foot of the Colorado Capitol. The dome is said to have a layer of real gold! It turned out we couldn't get all the way up to the dome simply because the dome was slowly deteriorating!

Denver, Colorado, May 2008

Here we are at the steps leading up to the capitol building. Denver is located on a plain roughly one mile high. When you walk up the stairs you will pass the 13th step on which is carved the words "one Mile above sea level".

In the civic park is a statue of an Indian warrior.
"Were there many Indians in Colorado?" Barnaby wanted to know.
"Yeah," McBear explained. "They were all here: Arapahoes, Crows, Commanches, Kiowas, Navajos and you name it! But as with so many other things, white men came around and chased out the Indians. Today, there is a tendency towards greater recognition of the old Indian tribes and their spiritual culture."

Denver, Colorado, May 2008

Lansdowne wanted to see Invesco Field, which is the home of the world famous Denver Broncos American team. Lansdowne wanted to discuss how to play real rugby with them, however, it turned out that they would be doing a match later that day and didn't have time...
Here we are in front of the Invesco Field with the Denver skyline in the background to the right.

Next day Roger woke us up. He had just completed his morning exercises and was very excited as this was his great day: We were going to the Rockies and Roger was to perform at the Red Rock Amphitheatre. McBear mumbled something that sounded like "Leave me alone!".

Red Rock Amphitheatre, Colorado, May 2008

We went to Morrison, where the Red Rock Amphitheatre is located. The amphitheatre was carved out of the red rock in the 1930s and it has seats for an audience of 9000 people. Big concerts are arranged regularly and the Beatles played here in 1964.

Roger was hoping to be playing a concert. It turned out however that a heavy metal band would be playing later that day so Roger was a bit disappointed. Out on the plains we could see the Denver skyline in the horizon.

Red Rock, Colorado, May 2008

Instead, we made a stop near the amphitheatre. Here, Roger fetched his western guitar and played great songs including "A poor lonesome cowbear a long way from Monument Valley". And the crowd was cheering...

Kittredge, Colorado, May 2008

Distances in USA are great, so it was time to refuel. We helped our owner refuelling the Kia. It was a good thing to have a small car that didn't use a lot of fuel. Oh, and as you can see on the bumber to the left: Our owner was rather clumsy hitting a kerb when parking the car.

We went to Squaw Pass but couldn't get further as the road to Mount Evans was closed due to snow! But we had a fine view to the snow capped moutains in the horizon

Empire Granby, Colorado, May 2008

We went along the Interstate 70 towards Idaho Springs. We stopped in a small town called Empire Granby to refuel (snacks, that is). Many of the towns along the I-70 was founded because of mining in the area.

We went as far as Silverthorne Dillon. This town is close to the very heart of the Rockies. Some of the mountains in the area reached 14,000 feet or more. The mountains in the background behind us reached 12,500 feet.

Silverthorne Dillon, Colorado, May 2008

We went for coffee at Starbucks. Our owners ordered Bear Claws! McBear got very upset.
"How can they eat bear claws? It's an outrage!!!"
Barnaby tried to calm him down.
"It's just pastry..."
"Well, that may be the case, but the very thought...

Este's Park, Colorado, May 2008

We went north to Este's Park which is a small the town with a gate to the Rocky Mountains National Park. It turned out that the road over the mountains was closed due to recent snowfall.

Since we couldn't go over the mountains, we stopped at Starbucks for coffee. Here, McBear and Roger discovered some bears for sale. McBear was concerned about their health and wealth.
"Have ye all been given names?" McBear asked.
"Nope" was the answer.
"Okay, since you're all working at Starbucks, we'll name ye all Bucks."

Watkins, Colorado, May 2008

Next day we headed east. On Google Maps on the internet McBear had found a place called Last Chance and we wanted to discover the story behind this place. On the way we stopped in Watkins to have lunch.

Lots and lots of huge trucks had parked around the place. McBear said they were 18 wheelers like the trucks in the famous classic movie Convoy from the seventies.

Watkins, Colorado, May 2008

Soon we were on the road again heading eastwards on the I-70.

The roads in eastern Colorado are long and strech mile after mile. The road to Last Chance seemed endless...

Last Chance, Colorado, May 2008

Finally we reached a cross junction with a small settlement. The only thing to indicate that we had reached Last Chance was a sign pointing to a café around the corner.

We went round the corner, but... no café. The only thing we found was a road sign telling us that this was in fact Last Chance. McBear later discovered, that Last Chance got its name in the old days when it was the last chance for refuelling if you were heading east. There would be nothing for the next 200 miles into the state of Kansas. Today, Last Chance more seemed like a ghost town.
"It looks like Last Chance had its last chance many years ago," Barnaby said.

Denver, Colorado, May 2008

That night four very tired and very dusty and grotty bears went to bed and immediately fell asleep.