DAY TWENTY SEVEN

DENVER, COLORADO - HOT SPRINGS, SOUTH DAKOTA

389.3 MILES

WE SAW DINOSAUR TRACKS TODAY!! We got on the road around 10am and drove over to the Red Rocks Ampitheatre, which is awesome. They built a venue into the side of a mountain with natural acoustics due to the huge rocks on either side. It can fit about 10,000 people, and seems like it would be a really awesome experience. 

during the day, people use the ampitheater to exercise

From here, we drove about 5 minutes to Dinosaur Ridge, a site owned by a nonprofit that funds the site and operates tours throughout. It was only 5 dollars to take a guided tour on the "Vanosaurus" up the mountains to see a bunch of fossils, footprints, and dinosaur bones anywhere from 65 to 200 million years old. We had a tour guide named Dan who offered some awesome information, and let us touch dinosaur bones (and even offered us to lick them... we passed). We saw fossilized ripple marks from when there was an ocean extending through the center of the US, dinosaur foot prints and bones, and crocodile tracks. This was an awesome experience that I couldn't recommend enough!

This shale was, 65 million years ago, the ocean floor

plant impressions

two layers of sediment, one 65 million years old, the other 100 million

dinosaur bone oxidized in rock, a stegosaurus' pelvic bone

Danosaurus showing us where rock has been left crushed by a dino track

dino tracks!!!

After leaving Dinosaur Ridge, we headed into Denver for lunch at Moe's BBQ. We met my friend from high school, Dave who was really great to see! After lunch we finally spent some time in downtown Denver, which I absolutely loved. It has such a cool vibe, had beautiful architecture and nice people, and I really think this has been one of my favorite cities in the country.

 We walked around the LoDo area, ate ice cream sandwiches, and went to check out the mint. We then stopped at the REI flagship store which was super awesome. It was huge, had any outdoor supply you could think of, and even had a rock climbing wall.

 From here, we got a move on because our next destination, Hot Springs, South Dakota was 6 hours away. We went up through I25 into Wyoming, which isn't the most interesting place in the world. It was pretty, but very flat and monotonous. 

As we were driving, I noticed a sign for Lost Springs, WY which stated it's population was 4. I thought it had to be a typo until I wikipedied it, and found out that it's true. 

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRpvgR67TI14RCnVk0IinP2w_Zc72pJMExjQ5QRodHM5_ptkswg

The population from the 2010 census was 4, up from 2000's census report of 1. Upon further research we found out we were in the least populated county in the least populated state in America. 

As we continued east, the sky grew dark, and a crazy intense lightening storm started. It started downpouring, and lightening non stop for about an hour. 

The rain was so strong we almost pulled over, but really wanted to get to Hot Springs so we continued on. We finally got there around 10, and are getting ready to sleep in preparation for Mount Rushmore tomorrow!