From July 2 – July 12, I was in Colorado. I went for the Dragonfly Society of the Americas’ annual meeting, but I spent a good bit of time exploring before and after the meeting. Daily reports to follow, but for now here’s an itinerary.
Summary:
July 2: Midday flight from Boston to Denver (Southwest, stop in Chicago). Arrived late afternoon, picked up rented Dodge Journey (not quite the mid-size SUV I wanted but it was the only thing available at Dollar), and drove to hotel in Centennial. Night at Candlewood Suites. Dinner was the next door Burger King.
July 3: Up early to Chatfield State Park/Audubon Trails and then Roxborough State Park. Afternoon at Coors Field for the Rockies game. Hit a supermarket and made a sandwich for dinner. Second night in Centennial.
July 4: Morning at Deer Creek Canyon Park and briefly Lair O’ The Bear Park (rather crowded). Tried to go to Guanella Pass in the afternoon but couldn’t get through the Fourth of July celebrations in Georgetown so had a sandwich at the sheep lookout and then got stuck in a 3 hour traffic jam. Night at Hampton Inn in Golden, dinner at the adjacent Lil’ Ricci’s Pizza.
July 5: Rocky Mountain National Park all day. Dinner at Jason’s Deli. Second night in Golden.
July 6: Pawnee National Grasslands all day. Night at La Quinta in Fort Collins. Dinner at Larkburger.
July 7: Morning at Bobcat Ridge city park. Bought sandwich from Safeway for lunch. Riverbend Park in the afternoon where I met up with a few people from the conference. Dinner with more people at Avogadro’s Number. Second night at La Quinta.
July 8: DSA field trip to Praven Lake and vicinity. Dinner at Noodles. Night at Residence Inn, Fort Collins.
July 9: DSA indoor meeting. I ran to Pawnee for an hour before. Dinner with a group at Tortilla Marissa’s.
July 10: DSA field trip in the Fort Collins area including the CSU ELC, Frank WMA, and Golden Ponds. Stopped at Cottonwood Hollow on way back to hotel. Larkburger again.
July 11: Went back to RMNP then Windsor Lake before heading to Denver. Night at a Quality Inn towards the airport, dinner at Wendy’s.
July 12: Quick walk around Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR then returned the car and went to the airport. Flight to Baltimore and home to Boston, arriving a little after 7:30.