Day 1 - To Cheyenne
Summer Vacation 2017, “Out West!”
Day 1 Itinerary:
Ballwin / St. Louis (STL) to Denver (DEN) to Cheyenne, WY
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1)Fly to Denver, visit Costco after landing, to stock up on snacks
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2)Drive through surprisingly heavy traffic up to Fort Collins
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3)Then enjoy the beauty of Cheyenne
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⁃See the current UP / Union Pacific Tracks of the first trans-continental railroad
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⁃Enjoy a nice turkey dinner per Abby’s request.
Thank you, Mrs. Kohler, for driving us to the airport!
Before the trip, we were undecided for several months on whether to drive all the way from home or whether we should fly from St. Louis (STL) into Denver or Rapid City.
When we saw how few points Southwest requested for flights into Denver, we decided to fly, and we’re glad we did... we saved ~ 14 hours driving each way to/from Denver!
Photos:
image source: https://www.flystl.com
St. Louis Lambert International Airport’s Terminal 2 (formerly East Terminal) has some new art, called “Spectroplexus.”
One of our signature family photos from departure day.
An F-15 Eagle took off while we were waiting in the boarding area.
I have seen one take off and go vertical straight up over the runway... but this was more of a “normal” take-off.
Our Southwest 737
Flying over downtown Kansas City, MO, and Kansas City, KS, which are on their respective sides of the Missouri River.
Landed in Denver (DEN) ...
... the GPS / altimeter confirms we are over a mile high!
Denver airport art, above the up escalators rising from the train to baggage claim:
We rented from National.
The Chrysler Pacifica minivan was brand new - so new it only had 5 miles AND we needed to pull some of the plastic off the dashboard... the plastic that protects the shiny surfaces before delivery.
Awesome! Great van... and brand new!
The drive from Denver to Cheyenne is about 100 miles.
The high plains, northbound on I-25:
Abby’s posting says it all:
A cell phone tower disguised as an oversized bison (buffalo):
The Wyoming Welcome Center - quite the modern architecture
The train tressle in Cheyenne, seen just before we got to our hotel:
As we landed, Abby shared that she wanted some “crispy turkey” for dinner.
Thanks to help at the Fairfield Inn & Suites, we were guided to the incredibly nice Hathaway’s. The turkey was great! And one side of the entryway has this status of a Native American, and other side has an Emperor Penguin.
On the way back to the hotel, we drove around downtown Cheyenne, where we saw this awesome statue, “Fast Food.”
A double-stack UP / Union Pacific train slowly rolling through town, just across the street from the Fairfield Inn (you can hear the train from the room, but you need to listen for it; it’s not “noisy.”)
A time-lapsed photo of a cargo UP / Union Pacific train rolling through town.
Captured using the NightCap Camera app.
Half-second exposure. Time Lapse - long exposure.
Note: we captured all other photos using ProCamera, by Cocologics.
See also http://vanvooren.us/Photography for more photography links
Links to the rest of this travel journal:
Home to STL to DEN to Cheyenne, Wyoming
Day 1 - Thursday, June 15, 2017
