Florida is very, very flat. If you drive, you can find some hills here and there, but like Wisconsin, most places are wide open spaces. I think what we love about Colorado is that it does go from extremely flat, depending what direction you are coming in, to hills, mountains and canyons.  I am pretty sure Craig and I never stop smiling while visiting Colorado simply because we love staring at the Mountains and landscapes. 

A beautiful invite to Estes Park is Big Thompson Canyon, laid out like the red carpet at the Oscars. Connecting from Loveland to Estes Park, a drive through here is something written in a John Denver song.  The first time we drove through here a couple of years ago, we were in awe of the twists and turns of this road.  A beauty during the daylight hours, I would be honestly terrified to drive this at night. Its an awesome drive, but it reminds me of driving through the TN Mountains back and forth to WI. You get used to the drive, but when you first do it, for me anyways, it’s a lot of slowing down and doubting my gas pedal. Craig did a great job driving it so I made sure to take pics and videos.

Sadly the locals here know the Canyon for being the scene of one of the deadliest natural disasters in Colorado history. On July 31, 1976, the skies opened and dumped so much rain on this road, and inside the canyon, that it claimed 144 lives and caused $35 million in damage. The Big Thompson River that runs right next to the road overflowed and engulfed the road. Flooding happened again as recently as 2013 causing 8 fatalities and more than 2 billion in damage.  So as beautiful as the area is, a lot of death here and I am sure, a lot of sadness for many who lived through it or lost loved ones.

A beautiful place to drive through and pay respects to those who moved on, Big Thompson Canyon is a definite site to see while in Colorado!

Published by Amy Joy

Inspiring adventure and joy, one day at a time. View all posts by Amy Joy