Friday OT - Stealing the Show

[somecyguy]

Spouse and I were road tripping from New Mexico back to Iowa a few years ago and other than hitting RMNP, it was a pretty wide open schedule.
I was looking for a way to kill time and so we ended up stopping at Chimney Rock National Monument in Southern Colorado. This is not the famous Chimney Rock from Oregon Trail in Nebraska, but an old Pueblo Indian settlement with a large number of ruins to explore. The interpreter was fantastic! She walked us through how the buildings were placed specifically to the constellations and other important astronomical observations.
It was just a random stop and it ended up being our favorite from the trip. Would encourage anyone to stop.

Durango gets all the publicity, but Chimney Rock is a really cool area with fewer people.

 

[carvers4math]

That Einstein statue is one of the cool, lesser-known things to see in DC. And it is really in a convenient location.

That’s the kid who went to a college where Einstein spent a few winters in the 1930’s. Statue must have rubbed off on him.

 

[VeloClone]

We stopped in the Black Hills on the way home from Yellowstone/Grand Teton in 2020. We only had 2 nights and 1 day scheduled there, but we enjoyed it so much that we went back in 2021 for a week. Plan to go back this summer too. We've biked on the Mickelson trail, and did a bunch of hikes in the Black Elk Wilderness (have climbed Black Elk Peak twice - once on the regular route from Sylvan Lake and another route where you come in from the north. It's much longer, twice the elevation, and you have the trail to yourself).

From north Iowa, it's only a 7-8 hour drive and you're in legitimate mountain terrain. It's such an easy drive, reasonably priced, and you get a very Midwestern vibe yet. I love it.

I've hiked to the top of Harney Peak twice but never Black Elk Peak. I should go back and do that.



When we took a trip to the Black Hills several years ago daughter wanted to go to Belle Fourche to see the Geographic Center of the Nation monument. After that we were planning on going over to Devil's Tower. Instead driving around the northern portion of the Black Hills National Forest in NE Wyoming I decided to drive through it. It is undeveloped and all gravel roads with nothing but nature with wild animals and grazing livestock. It was a great diversion with practically no traffic.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

We are Geocachers...if you have never heard of it, google it. Short form, you use GPS coordinates to find hidden objects (real objects for the most part, unlike Pokemon Go).
Tracking down those caches has taken us to some very interesting places, and we've met some nice people too. They are a great way to stretch your legs on a long road trip; there's at least one at nearly every rest area on the interstate highways.

Fun fact - there are over 1100 caches located in and around Ames.

 

[diaclone]

Chicago August 2019. Drove from Omaha metro. Arrived late afternoon/early evening at a hotel by O'Hare. Unpacked and then hopped on the L to downtown just to walk. The gem was a taco place called Dos Rios. They don't take cash and the tacos were great. Ate at another location on a different day near Hancock Tower. Great, fresh, food,