UIAD GOES TO THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

Day 5 (D-56)  Alamosa A little visual advertisement for Alamosa, Colorado: https://youtu.be/j8y9CAGo6eI The city population was 8,780 at the  2010 United States Census .   The city is the commercial center of the  San Luis Valley   in south-central Colorado , and is the home of Adams   State University . Alamosa was established in May 1878 by the Denver and Rio Grand Railroad   and quickly became an important rail center. Alamosa is on the Rio Grande  River. _________________________________________________________ Some practical information...for packing your suitcase: Alamosa has a cold desert* climate  with long, cold winters and warm summers, and dry weather year-round .   In June, the average high of 78.4°F and average low of 40.4°F . The altitude and dryness of the air cause  day-night temperature differences  to be severe year-round. Alamosa's geography and nighttime temperatures accou...

Day 4  (D-57) Great Sand Dunes National Park Colorado has 4 National Parks.  2 for us to visit: 1.  Rocky Mountains National Park.  We'll see these beautiful mountains around us, but no time to visit the park. 2. The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve 3. Mesa Verde National Park 4.  Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (sorry, but we won't have time for this one.) You haven't forgotten what a fourteener is, have you?  If you don't remember, go back to D-3 where you'll find the answer.   Before today's information about the beautiful Great Sand Dunes National Park, here is a little music from John Denver as we take in the majestic mountains around us.   Rocky Mountain High (1976)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWooDCkkkVQ I love this song. ♬ "Cathedral mountains, silver clouds, forests , streams, blue mountain lakes ...  ♬ AND                 ...

Day 3 (D-58)  Buena Vista   /  St-Elmo, a ghost town Buena Vista is 198 km (121 miles) from Denver, about a two-and-a-half-hour drive.  https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Denver,+Colorado,+États-Unis/Saint+Elmo,+Colorado+81236,+États-Unis/@39.2650129,-106.6203423,8.31z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x876b80aa231f17cf:0x118ef4f8278a36d6!2m2!1d-104.990251!2d39.7392358!1m5!1m1!1s0x87154e2a0eef9683:0xcbb521a89103b812!2m2!1d-106.346223!2d38.703365!3e0 T he starting point's Denver elevation is 1596 m (5280 feet) from sea level. Destination point Buena Vista elevation is 2421 m (7942 feet) relative to sea level. Take a two-minute look at this mountain town, if you like, or wait until we get there.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=127&v=TEifj7o68v4 We'll continue our drive in the mountains to the ghost town of St-Elmo. The Rocky Mountains in Colorado have 53 peaks rising above 14000 feet.    In the  mountaineering  langu...

Day 2 (D-59)  Denver Denver, Colorado (population 680,000) It's a pity we won't have time to visit Denver.  We'll just sleep here.  (Just like in 2017 when we arrived in Denver, but then we went north into Wyoming.) Did you know that:  1.   Denver is called the  Mile High City  because it sits at an elevation of exactly  one mile  (5280 feet)   =  1.600km   roughly . 2. Denver is not within the Rocky Mountains. Instead, it’s near them; it's at the base of the mountain range. In fact, it was built on the high plains and is  one of the  flattest  cities in America. 3. Denver’s  bright blue sky  really is bluer than many other cities’. Because of Denver’s elevation, the air has less water vapor than it would at a lower altitude,  making for  a  gorgeous  sky! 4.  Because of  Denver’s air and altitude , golf balls go 10...

Day 1  (D-60) Our Long Journey D-1 = First day of the blog  /  (D-60) = 60 days before we leave We'll fly from Geneva to Denver with a stop-over in New York .   A long journey: more or less, 8263 km...but only 5135 miles 😁!   As the crow flies.  We'll push the clocks back 8 hours f rom Central European Summer Time to Mountain Daylight Time.  So although it will be Tuesday 7 p.m. when we arrive in Denver, it will in fact be Wednesday, 3 o'clock in the morning for us. 😴   There are four time zones in the United States: Eastern Standard Time (EST) Central Standard Time  (CST) Mountain Standard Time (MST) Pacific Standard Time (PST)   BUT they all became DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME (DST) on March 10th, 2019. Complicated? 😖 It's time to stop for today.⏰ My best, Jane __________________________________ The term “ D aylight S avings T ime” is very commonly used, especially in Australia, Canada, and the Uni...