After our arrival and hotel check-in in Denver, about 10 of us went to Sam's 3, a featured restaurant in the TV series Diners, Drive-Inns, and Dives for breakfast. The food was very good and the portions were large.
Later, six people went on a downtown walking tour yesterday. The others went shopping at the 16th Street Downtown Mall or went sightseeing in the nearby area.
We departed Denver yesterday and went aboard the Royal Gorge Railroad.
The railroad experience was nice but consisted of going along the Arkansas River and a lot of rock formations. The left side of the train has the best views and the right side has rock wall views.
Mass ascension of the balloons in the early morning, followed by the solar eclipse and a breathtaking view of the 'ring of fire.'
We returned to the balloon field for the "evening glow" where they light up the balloons after dark, followed by a drone light show and fireworks show.
Yesterday, we first visited the town of Madrid, New Mexico which was made famous for the movie "Wild Hogs". There was not much to see except for some quirky art and jewelry shops.
Remember this in the movie?
We visited the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe yesterday. The Museum has a mixture of Japanese "Yokai" (ghosts and demons from Japan), Mexican paper-mâché figures, and different cultures depicted in miniature. Very interesting.
Today, we went to the Bandelier National Monument to view the cliff dwellings of the Anasazi Puebloans. Scot and Jon are in the cave dwelling below.
We went to the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado which are home to the cliff dwellings of the Pueblo Indians.
In the late 1190s, Ancestral Pueblo people began moving from mesa tops to cliff alcoves, building structures from small granaries to large villages. They lived there for nearly a century, farming the mesa and remodeling their homes. By the late 1200s, they had migrated south to present-day New Mexico and Arizona.
We also visited the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum.
We were blessed with sunny and warm and sunny weather during our train ride on the Georgetown Loop Railroad.
We the traveled to Denver and had our farewell dinner.