Pics from driving out, Flatiron Mtns.

The trip out. Quiet, uneventful, full of lovely sunlight.

Looking back just outside of Salina, Kansas (middle of the state):


Stopped for lunch at a rest area around Hays, KS. The intrepid getaway vehicle:


The clouds were really neat looking:


Let's play "Name That Cloud"
Turtle turtle!


"I'm thinkin' Chili's"


Pigs might not fly, but elephants do


Soon after crossing into Colorado (missed the leaving/welcome signs), there started to appear...SNOW?!


First clear look at the Rockies:


*MOAR*

Driving up to Boulder on Saturday was much less sunny:


Green Mountain, not so green this day:




Despite the lack of sun, the rockhound in me was having a field-day:


It was raining rather heavily so we postponed our trip to Estes Park and detoured to Ft. Collins where we stopped here:



They are very environmentally conscious here and encourage everyone to ride bikes to work:


They're also very dog friendly and let me bring Sawyer in. Pictures of him in the Dog Pics section.

Free tasting in the tap room:


Fat Tire has many siblings these days:


Took a side jaunt into the town square of Ft. Collins where there is some interesting art:


*MORE*

Be sure to get a pint of your favorite at the Walnut Brewery and try a bowl of their French onion soup made with Devils Thumb Stout.

Lovely shots Zoom !!! With you on the clouds !!! In the 1st ,the bottom one was a flying Pap !!!

It's Sexual Violence Awareness Month and the square was strung with personalized t-shirts from survivors. There was also a bear playing with a fish:


An oddly eerie girl swinging from...thin air...


Prairie dogs!


The library on the CU-Boulder campus:


Very pretty campus with what I'm sure is a great view of the Flatirons when they're not shrouded in mist:






Flatiron Mountains:


Partway up:




*MORE*

Looking out over Boulder:






Up on one of the peaks:




Polished root:


Neat outcropping. You can really see the upthrust lines:




I was really happy the hanging clouds came out




*MORE*

Tenacious Tree:


Dew-drenched spider web:


Red rock outcropping:


I really need to get photoshop on this laptop. The sky was such a milky white that it blew out the highlights, which sucked because it looked really look otherwise. So I had to make things a bit darker than I wanted to compensate.


Can't remember the actual name, we just always called it "Indian Shampoo"




I want to marry whoever owns this ranch:






Huge herd of elk cows taken from the car. They were spread out over a very wide range, this was just the clearest of the shots:


* 1 MORE *

Sunset back in Denver. Excuse the spots, I didn't realize my lens was that dirty.


*DONE*

Very nice pictures! What a great area!

Beautiful shots Zoom. Love the clouds especially. Maybe I missed it but what camera/lens were you using?

Nikon D50, most of these taken with a 2.3f Tamron 55-80mm. A couple of the shots (elk, sunset), were taken with the Tamron 75-300mm.

Well Zoom, if you do come out here you'll have to give me a lesson on my own camera. I have all the bells and whistles but don't know how to use em...

I've been using a little teeny point and shoot digital lately...so lazy..

I've learned through sheer trial and error, with a couple well-placed questions.

here's one of the flatirons I took a couple years ago:

Nice shots Zoom. I have spent a lot of time in the Boulder area, some of that looks like it is near the Table Mesa area. The plant you show is something we have always called yucca.

Thanks for the memories. I haven't been in Colorado in about 10 years and miss it so. Seeing the Rockies gave me the chills.

so..... can I move to colorado with you?

Come on out!

Most of those were up baseline, a ways after it starts winding up the mountain. None of there were on tablemesa actually.

Where is the Walnut Brewery?