Roadtrippin' Colorado Style

Now approaching the intersection of US 34, Business US 34, and US 36.

Isn't this the fugliest arrow you've seen?

Got all that? Good. There'll be a quiz later.

The same intersection as the last shot: this bighorn sheep isn't real.

Crappy shot, I know, but there's some info here. Note that US 36 splits from Bus US 34 right in the heart of downtown Estes. You can go either way to enter RMNP, especially since both 34 and 36 meet up again inside the park.

There's a small rize 36 ascends about 1 block after it splits from 34. And yes, that's a five-and-dime store behind the sign. That's nostalgia!

Interesting arrow sign.

Anyone else find it extremely amusing what you have to do to get to the "Learn to Rock Climb" store? Hope you brought your oxygen! :P

Now for the reason we're wandering around here. This section of SH 66 was orphaned from the rest of SH 66 when US 36 was extended from Boulder. Matt Salek explains it all on his site.

Now on the orphaned 66.

The END! of the orphaned 66, about 1.5 miles from the split off of 36. Don't know why it's on the left side of the road.

If you continue past the end, you are traveling on CR 69B. This road lasts for about another 2 miles or so before ending.

Turning around now, this is the sign we see on the opposite side of the end sign above. In fact, I don't remember ever seeing a 66 sign heading northwards on this stretch.

Now that's just unpatriotic. Once the flag starts to tear, it's time to take it down and dispose of it properly. Not leave it up and let it disintegrate.

Back at US 36 now. The truck is where we were when we turned off 36 originally. There's no way to turn left from 66 to WB 36: you have to head east.

To make up for the lost movement in the previous interchange, CDOT gave us a turnaround point just after the interchange.

Reassurance shield goodness.

Coming back into Estes.

This is the other angle of that curve we experienced a few pics back.

Close up shot of the weird arrow sign in the background of the previous pic. Technically, there's also a movement to the right at this intersection, too. I think someone thought that would be too much here.

This is actually an important enough sign to warrant the flashing light.

Estes Park is such a tourist destination that its main streets get hopelessly clogged in the summer. (I kid you not, it'll take you over 20 minutes to travel two blocks) If you don't want to deal with that, you can take the truck route.

This is the new ped signs that have been popping up in the more pedestrian-friendly cities. As a pedestrian enters the crosswalk, a sensor triggers the lights on the sign. They blink, flash, and annoy the driver enough to slow him/her down. The ped then has a chance of getting across the road before being hit. Of course, me, I go "Ooohhh, shiny and blinky" and focus on the sign. This causes me to not stop for the pedestrian, but for the sign. Whatever works, I guess.

Back at the US 36/Bus 34 split. Where'd the arrow go under the (Bus) 34 sign? And dig those snazzy street signs, man!

Another shot of the snazzy street signs. The No Right Turn sign lights up, too. The pedestrians get a full cycle on every light in Estes: when it's their turn, cars are not allowed to enter the intersection at all. In the summer, there's actually a uniformed cop at every intersection to ensure the pedestrians get the intersection to themselves during their turn.

A few things. 1) Shouldn't there be a [34] shield on the leftmost sign since we would be traveling on it? 2) Greeley needs to be scooted over a bit. 3)Shouldn't it read [36] to [7], not the other way around? 4) Shouldn't the Tourist Info sign be in blue? 5) Since all the other right arrows are angled, shouldn't the Peak to Peak sign's arrow be too? </nitpick>

So do you think our lane is continuous here? The sad part is there's still people who stop and wait for an opening.

Now on US 36. Note that Boulder is 36 miles away on 36. Errie.

You didn't think we were going to stay on 36, did you? Haven't I taught you anything? I always wander around and take the most obscure route. That's why my friends let me navigate (or naviguess, as we call it): I always have a way around any unexpected jam.

36 continues straight, bisecting Lake Estes. We're going to take 7, though. This is the BEGIN!ning of 7, too.

A rare left continuous lane sign.

It's SuperDeer! Able to leap tall mountains in a single bound! Actually, it looks like the same shop that made this sign made another mistake like this one. Look at the deer sign with your head tilted!

A distance sign. All these towns, while obviously large enough to get onto this sign, are relatively small mountain towns.

One mile into SH 7.

Originally, this sign had the Mary's Lake arrow pointing up and right. I guess that wasn't descriptive enough for us common folk.

7 has some large switchbacks on its way out of the Estes Valley.

Now this is a rock cut.

7 borders RMNP for the first few miles of its existance. There's ways into some of the trailheads off of 7, but not onto any of the roads, AFAIK.

Interesting. Normally you see either the arrow or the crosswalk on the signs, not both.

A sign showing the name of the mountain over your right shoulder when on 7.

Yeah, that one.