Author: Lance J Orton
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We took a road trip to Colorado and after staying at the historic Beaumont Hotel in Ouray, we made a quick stop at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park on the way to Grand Lake Lodge and Rocky Mountain National Park. Grand Lake and Estes Park both border Rocky Mountain National Park as its…
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We took a road trip to Colorado and after staying at the historic Beaumont Hotel in Ouray, we made a quick stop at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park on the way to Grand Lake and Rocky Mountain National Park. The Abyssal Threshold Traveling across the Uncompahgre Plateau presents a quiet, deceptive rhythm. Rolling…
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We took a road trip to Colorado and after staying at the historic and haunted St. James Hotel in Cimarron, New Mexico, and visiting Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, our next stop was the historic Beaumont Hotel In Ouray. History of the Beaumont Hotel The Mining Boom Era (1886): Built in 1886 at…
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We took a road trip to Colorado and after staying at the historic and haunted St. James Hotel in Cimarron, New Mexico, Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve was our first stop in Colorado. Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve Geological Mechanics: The dune field covers over 30 square miles, with dunes reaching…
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We took a road trip to Colorado but before we arrived, we stopped for a night at the historic and haunted St. James Hotel in Cimarron, New Mexico. We spent the night in Jesse James’ old room but as we told our daughter, we did not give the enemy a foothold (no ghosts seen). Founded…
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First, if you came here looking for my Top 20 photos, click on this link. This first blog is about the road trip and I promise all of those will be included in the blog series. Some are below. More to come. The Case for the Highway: 35,000 Feet vs. Ground Level Sure, a flight…
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How do you cap off two amazing days in New York City? With fireworks and a 4-mile sprint to your hotel to outrun some storms. But before we get to that story, let’s talk about Central Park. Central Park: Olmsted’s Emerald Refuge The third and final morning of a holiday weekend in Manhattan carries a…
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I’m not even sure about how to write about this day. Still, months later, I fail to put it into words. It is a day I’ll never forget. It was not simply standing in front of the Statue of Liberty, baking in the morning sun during a historic heatwave in Manhattan. It was an immersion…
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🌆 The Great Escape We needed an escape. With a daughter moving out and our dog recently crossing the rainbow bridge, we needed a distraction from the changes at home. Since we did a day tour of New York City with my Uncle Roy in 2022 (he and my Aunt Jane live in Newtown, CT),…
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If you want to experience the absolute full-scale majesty of Yosemite in a single day—and you have the raw endurance to survive 50,000 steps, 20+ miles, and 4,500+ vertical feet (ignore the AllTrails #s)—there is only one route to take. The legendary Grand Tour loop is a monster of a day hike that stitches together…