memorial weekend drive-a-round
In assembling my Colorado State Ends section, I realized I was missing some ends (Duh!), most notably in the Arkansas River Valley from the Front Range east. So, since it is the Memorial Day weekend, I thought I'd honor my American right to drive around aimlessly.
A few more highways then back north
We're currently on SH 96 right at the northern end of SH 207. We'll follow that back to 50, check out another highway, and start to head back north.
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Symbolizing the Post Office on what I believe is the wrong color. Shouldn't this be blue?
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Right at the northern END! of SH 207.
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Looking (and heading) south on 207. There was an reassuarance shield here, but it was too close to the intersection for me to get the snap and safely navigate the trun.
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At the southern END! of SH 207. I was so busy trying to figure out what the minivan driver was doing I almost forgot about this pic. This guy was doing about 10 through town, just to floor it a block before this stop sign. He hit the brakes hard, stopped, I took the pic, he turned on his left turn signal, then turned right. Gotta love it!
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Back east on US 50 yet again. 50 flies over the railroad tracks on an older overpass. The curve ahead is really tight.
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The roadgeek in me really wishes CDOT would have used the pentagon CR shields here instead of spelling it out.
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US 50 between Manzanola and Rocky Ford is a wide four lane expressway.
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Approaching SH 71.
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Sh 71 joins US 50 for a few miles.
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In Rocky Ford, we approach another short state highway, SH 202.
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Kinda at the eastern end of SH 202. Since US 50 is split between blocks here, part of 202 continues to the north (left) a bit.
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A shot at the first few feet of 202.
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Two blocks after the railroad tracks in the last pic, SH 202 turns westwards.
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Looking westward down SH 202.
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About 2.5 miles of sheer straight road, SH 202 ends abruptly. For no reason. At all.
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Looking at the BEGIN!ning of SH 202.
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Another wood rail bridge. This one has been painted recently.
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An LED flasher out here in the middle of nowhere.
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Don't let all this green fool you. Colorado is still way below average on rainfall this year. Once the snow is all melted off in the mountains and the rivers and creeks recede, all this extra green will be replaced by brown.
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At the eastern END! of SH 202. I don't know if the block between EB and WB 50 is counted or not.
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Our last end of the Arkansas Valley for today, SH 266.
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Sh 266 heads north then east while SH 71 heads south from this intersection.
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After turning north, we cross the WB lanes of US 50.
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SH 266 turns eastwards about three blocks after the westbound lanes of US 50.
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The western END! of SH 266. This is also as far east as we're going to go.
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Heading west on US 50/SH 71 now, we find another example of an oops.
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Approaching SH 202 again.
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This just looks odd having the left arrow on the right side of the assembly.
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Another specimen of a lined distance sign. I'm betting the sign is like that because Manzanola is on US 50 while Ordway is on SH 71.
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Enough of the sun in our eyes! We're truning north on 71.
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Brand spankin' new asphalt here.
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Not so brand spankin' new asphalt here.
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Approaching Ordway, which is just west of the SH 71/SH 96 intersection.
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96 multiplexes with 71 until just after the railroad tracks in the distance.
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Approaching the turnoff for EB 96.
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Since we're exiting the lush green Arkansas Valley and entering range land, crews have to be able to stop traffic during the winter.
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Okay, let's do some math: 75 miles to Limon, Punkin Center is about 30 miles south of that and about 60 miles east of Colorado Springs, I have 1/4 tank. Hmmm.... I think I better turn around and fill up the r-dub-mobile.
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Good thing I turned around, too. After filling up with gas, I noticed this. How in the world does this happen?
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Closer to the breakage. Note how part of the gate is on the other side of the mast arms.
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As close as my camera can get. I like how the gate has been tied up so it doesn't come down.
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I told you we were about to enter range land.
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A reassuarance shield. Story time, kids. Right after picturing the RR gate, I noticed a county cop watching me from about 750 feet away. When I left that area, he didn't move. About five minutes later, I passed a state trooper sitting on the side of the road facing me. I was doing about 70 (it's posted 65) but slowed when I saw the trooper. The trooper U-turned, caught up with me, and tailed me for about the next 10 minutes. Sometimes he was right on my bumper, other times he was about 10 car lengths back. I had my cruse set right at 65 by now. After 10 minutes, the trooper pulled over, U-Turned again, and was gone. What was that all about? Were they making sure I wasn't "terrorizing" the small town of Ordway or was he using me as a shield to try to catch opposite direction speeders or what? That whole situation was very nerve-wracking.
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Hey! Something to photograph out here in the vast plains.
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Or maybe not. Looks like it's a ways off to the community center.
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This is something I've seen spring up on these roads out this way. The creek's name, the mile marker, and the inventory number all rolled into one sign.
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A close-up of the all-in-one sign.
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Hmmm. US 40 is about 15 miles to the east of here right now. We must be approaching SH 94.
- Where to next?
- Page 6
- This trip's Index
- Page 8
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any of the orginizations listed within this site. I'm just a bored roadgeek with way too much time on his hands. All of the picts in this page are mine and mine alone unless otherwise noted. Remember, kids: stealing is bad, mmmm-k? I get quite pissy if things are taken without telling me. I don't like to be pissy. You won't like it either. If you want to link to this page, that's fine. Please shoot me an email beforehand so I can link to your page as well. K? Thanks. --Ryan
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