Colorado Springs, CO — I just returned from my first trip to Colorado.  What an experience!  I’ve never seen such beautiful country!

One of the many day trips I took was through the Rockies.  It took me a couple of miles before it REALLY hit me that I was actually in THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS!  Almost a surreal experience.

The first thing I noticed was the smell.  The cool crisp mountain air filled with the fresh smell of pine trees.  It’s a beautiful entrance to one of the world’s most famous landmarks.  

Riding the Harley, you just want to look at everything BUT the road, but to have the glorious scenery wrap it’s arms around you as you ride was one of the best things I’ve ever done.  

The mountain is filled with hikers, cyclists, bikers, jeeps and cars.  The time of day I rode was early so traffic wasn’t as bad as I thought.  It was the fourth of July weekend, so I was expecting it to be more crowded.

The lakes, the wildlife, the views were unbelievable.  I stopped several times just to soak it all in and there’s just no describing it.  You get a sense of the enormity of this area and it’s just not possible to wrap your brain completely around it.  I just can’t imagine anything more beautiful than what I was experiencing.

The Rockies are a major mountain range that stretch more than 3,000 miles from the northernmost part of British Columbia, to New Mexico.  

The Continental Divide of the Americas is located in the Rocky Mountains and designates the line at which waters flow either to the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans.

If you’ve never been here, it needs to be on your bucket list.  I’ve always had a preconceived notion about what the West would look like when I got there, but I was never expecting this.

As you wind your way up the mountain range, you just don’t know what to expect at the next turn.  By the time I reached the top, I literally felt like I was on top of the world. 

On the way down, I could see the excitement on the faces of all who had entered this hallowed ground.  The deer, the elk, the smells, the view.  It was so perfect.

There were so many more places I wanted to visit, but I’ll save that for the next trip.  I will be back.  Thank you Colorado!