Purposes of this trip:
Visit the last two national parks in the state that I have yet to visit, plus, photograph the park sign for Rocky Mountain Park that I visited 40 years ago

COLORADO: This trip finalizes my visiting all but one of a dozen national parks in the state. Three are new to me plus photographing sign at Rocky Mountain since I visited there in 1984.

MISSED VISITING:
Toastmasters International headquarters in nearby Aurora CO.

OBSERVATIONS: Some observations made while traveling in this area:

1. Colorado is really three distinct areas: flat farms in the east, farms among the mountains in the west, and, urban Denver.
2. Even at the end of April the spring blooms and tree leaves had yet to appear.

The Bests:

• Seeing snow-capped mountains. Only ones better are the mountains in Alaska.
• Often having the two-lane highways to myself

The Worsts:

• Two of three visitor centers of national parks closed for rennovations

The Totals:

• Miles Driven: 839
• Driving: 14 hours in 2 days
• States: 1 -- Colorado
• Pictures Taken: 93 (and deleted 9 of them)
• National Parks: 3 and 1 repeat -- Florrisant Fossil, Curecanti and Great Sand Dunes are new, repeat Rocky Mountain from 1984 so here only to photograph the park entrance sign. That makes a total of 234 of 423 national parks (387 in the 48 states) visited.

Remaining to Visit by State
• AL - DONE
• AK - DONE
• AZ - Some national park in the northeast part of the state to visit in 2023. Plus, will return on occasion as long as friends Diana and John live in the state
• AR - DONE need park sign at Hot Springs in May 2022
• CA - DONE but have yet to actually go into Lassen Volcanic National Park despite two attempts. Would still like to see JPL and Mt. Wilson near L.A.
• CO - Need to visit Yucca House national park in the extreme southwestern corner of the state
• CT - DONE
• DE - DONE
• FL - Likely visit Orlando where a high school classmate and a cousin both live, still want to take the ferry to Fort Matanzas, visit DeSoto National Memorial near Tamps, and, revisit a couple of places on the Gulf Coast: Sarasota (downtown), Pine Island and the Naples Botanical Gardens
• GA - DONE
• HI - DONE
• ID - DONE but would like to drive from Boise to Moscow to cover that part of the state to yet drive through
• IL - Chicago has some places yet to visit, also, maybe family history research in Danville and Pecatonica as well as Washington county (between St. Louis and Mt. Vernon)
• IN - Evansville Museum, visit a friend in Plainville, and, family history research in Ft.Wayne plus maybe find ancestral cemeteries in Brown county
• IA - DONE unless family history research in various parts of the state
• KS - I currently live here
• KY - DONE
• LA - DONE unless visit cousins in New Orleans
• ME - Revisit Acadia National Park to photograph the park sign and just see the park again (was there in 1986), also visit the area around Eastport
• MD - DONE unless to visit some national battlefields
• MA - Visit Martha's Vineyard, also, family history research plus I know many fellow Toastmasters in Boston. And, a good friend lives in this state.
• MI - DONE visit the "thumb" part of the state at Port Austin in May 2022
• MN - DONE unless decide to visit Isle Royale National Park from Grand Portage (also a national park there)
• MS - DONE
• MO - DONE, but I live too close to KCMO to avoid it
• MT - DONE unless I try a fourth attempt someday to Glacier National Park to drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road. MT does have gorgeous scenery.
• NE - DONE
• NV - DONE although I would like to live in southern New Hampshire in the summer months
• NH - DONE
• NJ - DONE
• NM - DONE but would like to drive from Deming to Alpine, Arizona to cover parts of those states I have yet to drive through
• NY - Many many places yet to revisit (from the 2015 trip) in this state
• NC - DONE but maybe visit a couple of unvisited national parks in the state
• ND - DONE but would like to drive from Bowman to Rapid City, South Dakota to cover a part of those states I have yet to drive through
• OH - Family research in several towns, one cousin in Columbus, some national parks to visit in May 2022 along with Zanesville once more
• OK - DONE
• OR - DONE
• PA - Family history research in the southeastern quarter of the state plus the north central part
• RI - DONE
• SC - DONE but maybe visit a couple of unvisited national parks in the state
• SD - DONE but would like to drive from Rapid City to Bowman North Dakota to cover a part of those states I have yet to drive through
• TN - DONE but would still like to drive through the mountains along the border of TN and NC -- two failed attempts at doing this
• TX - Brother lives in this state as does a friend, also, would like to drive from Amarillo through Lubbock and on to San Angelo to cover a big chunck on the state I have yet to drive through
• UT - Need to photograph the Zion park sign (despite two previous attempts to visit there) and actually go into the park
• VT - Want to drive entirely around Lake Champlaign, also, maybe some family history research
• VA - DONE but cousins live here
• WA - DONE but a good friend lives in Seattle
• WV - DONE
• WI - DONE re-attempt (it was pouring rain years ago when there) to visit in May 2022 the House of the Rocks and Taliesman near the town of Spring Green
• WY - DONE but would like to drive through the central part of the state e.g. Casper through Dubois then south through Afton to Rock Springs
• AB - REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to see Banff National Park and Lake Louise someday near Calgary in Alberta
• BC - Love Vancouver and Butchart Gardens plus much more north along the coast to see on Vancouver Island all the way to Port Hardy
• LB - Newfoundland/Labrador is worth one visit someday but it is a big undertaking since it takes a day each way just to ferry from Nova Scotia
• MB - Winnepeg, Manitoba is worth one visit someday
• NB - New Brunswick was gorgeous with the fall colors and I liked the three highways I drove going across the province but I never really stopped to see anything. Want to see Saint Johns and along the coast northeast of it, also the Kouchibouguac national park
• NS - Missed much here and would like to return someday, two national parks to visit: Cape Breton and Kejimkujik (dark skies)
• ON - DONE since visited Toronto and Ottawa
• PE - DONE since Prince Edward Island was unimpressive, so likely done here although I did entirely miss the western half of the province
• QC - DONE since visited Montreal and Quebec city and some towns south of them, plus, drove the entire coastline so unknown if will return here -- do not like feeling ostricized with the French everywhere
• SK - Regina and Saskatoon in Saskatchwean are worth one visit someday
• YK - Yukon is iffy if it is worth a visit someday since it is a long way to there and really nothing in particular to see or do except the scenery. Ditton Nanuvut and the Northwest Territories.