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I flew back to Finland on 30 November. It had been a bleak fall over there but right before I left, a big snow storm hit the southern parts of the country and it was very winter-like when I arrived. The next few weeks were also very nice as the temperature stayed below freezing and the snow kept coming and coming. On Christmas there was roughly 70cm (28in) of snow in the Helsinki airport which is a lot more than usual this time of the year.

Before New Year's that all changed though as it got warmer and rained for quite a few days melting much of the snow into a slush which then froze during the night. That's one thing I don't like about the winter in the Helsinki region. Some years we get almost no snow at all and the ground stays bare without the need to add some gravel to provide grip. You can ride your bike through the whole winter and whine about the depressing darkness with your colleagues at the water cooler. Other years we get the proper winter with lots of snow and the temperature constantly stays below freezing making it a very beautiful place. Most years, however, it's a mix of these two and it's either trying to wade through the slushy streets dodging the splashes thrown up into the air by the passing cars or then just trying to stay on your feet on streets that would require skates rather than shoes.

Moab, Utah

During the long Memorial Day weekend it was time for the last roadtrip before heading back to Finland. I set off with a colleague and his family to Moab, Utah which has two national parks right next to it - the Arches NP and the Canyonlands NP. Moab had been one of the places I had been recommended by many people but I'd managed to skip it so far so this was a perfect opportunity to go there. During our trip to Las Vegas back in March we had passed by quite close but since then I hadn't even crossed the Utah state line once.

Passing one of the ski centers along the way

My colleague and his wife had two kids (aged 4 and 8) which naturally slows down the travel. We set off on Wednesday around noon after me spending the morning in the already really quiet office. Memorial Day is one of the two biggest holidays in the US and most seem to take the whole week off and spend it with their families and friends.

We decided to spend the first night in Glenwood Springs which is about half way to Moab. Had I been travelling alone, I probably would've driven straight to Moab but at least this way we stopped just before it got dark and could rest for the next day. On Thursday we continued our way and turned south from the I-70 to a more scenic route following the Colorado river and the canyon that it had carved along the way.

After checking into the hotel and grabbing something to eat, it was time to head off to the Arches National Park. It is home to dozens of naturally formed sandstone arches. Some you could see from the road winding through the park but for some you would've had to hike quite a bit to see. With the kids, any long hikes were out of the questions but there was still plenty to see and with the sun going down, there wouldn't have been enough time for much of that anyway. 

Mesa Arch in the Canyonlands National Park

On Friday our destination was the Canyonlands National Park which covers a much larger area than the Arches NP. The park is divided into three sections and we only visited the first although saw quite a bit of the other two in the distance. This area offers some astonishing views of the, well, canyonlands that mother nature's forces have carved out through the years. The scale of it was mind boggeling and even though I'd been to the Grand Canyon, the Black Canyon etc, it didn't take anything away from this experience. All these national parks are there for a reason and have their own unique characteristics.

Green River is somewhere down there

On the way back we also passed by the Dead Horse Point which is so named because of an old legend of some cowboys leaving a group of horses to the upper mesa which then died of thirst staring at the Colorado river since they couldn't find a way down. This is where the closing scene of Thelma and Louise was filmed and this area in general is certainly familiar with anyone who's seen some John Wayne or Indiana Jones movies.

Double Arch

On Saturday we decided to go back to the Arches NP for a couple of hours before starting the way back home. We spent the night at Glenwood Springs again and the kids got to splash around in the Glenwood hot springs. On Sunday we set off relatively early and managed to avoid the crowds on the I-70. We drove through the Glenwood Canyon once more and on the way I just stared at the scenery and tried to soak up all the images to my head knowing that soon I'd have to leave all this behind me.

A spooky face

During this 10 month long expat I managed to visit seven different states (CO, UT, WY, SD, NY, NV, AZ), 11 National Parks (some of which more than once), several National Monuments and other interesting places as well as pretty much scouring the entire state of Colorado. I could have easily added Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Idaho and Montana to the list of states just by driving through them or by taking small detours but I didn't want to do that just for the sole reason of getting them on the list. Looking at the places I would've liked to go to but never did, two jump out. Going to San Francisco CA would've required a longer holiday than what I had time for and the Dinosaur National Monument along both sides of the Colorado/Utah state line would've been a good destination in the summer when the days were much longer. I have a feeling I might return to this beautiful state before not too long so maybe I can scratch that off my bucket list fairly soon as well!

Old Bent's Fort & Final Look-See at the Rockies

With just two weekends left, I knew I had to get out and experience some new things while I still had the chance. The trouble was that I didn't really know where to go. I had already been to most interesting places in Colorado and only had the weekend to spend. I seriously thought about going to the Dinosaur National Monument which lies both sides of the the North-West Colorado and Utah. However, the Colorado side is closed and with the ever shortening days, it was just too far away.

Pike's Peak seen again between the rocks in the Garden of the Gods

On Saturday morning I set off south and stopped at the Garden of the Gods yet again before deciding where to continue. Pikes Peak? Been up there twice and it's frigging freezing up there now. Manitou Springs with the caves and the Mesa Verde reconstruction? Meh. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo? I actually thought about that quite a bit but in the end I decided to head off to the South-Eastern Colorado to see the Old Bent's Fort.

Old Bent's Fort is a reconstruction of the old trading fort next to the Arkansas river along the Santa Fe Trail. At first it may appear quite small but at the time of its building, it actually used to be the largest building between Missouri and the Pacific Ocean.

A conestoga wagon and a cannon in front of the fort

This is not exactly the peak season for tourism and luckily there were only two of those irritating reenactors who pretend to live in the time period and explain things like we were all living in the 19th century. Even though there were less than ten other visitors in the fort at the time, with some clever planning, I could avoid their stupid presentations and stories.

I saw some pictures filled with dozens of reenactors doing their thing in the courtyard in the peak tourist season. I'm glad I avoided that.

The fort was rebuilt in the original location a few decades ago by the National Park Service based on archaeological excavations, diaries and sketches like the one seen below. If you are interested in history, this is definitely a place worth checking out but if that's not your thing, driving roughly 410 miles might not be the best of ideas.

The Arkansas river flowing close to the fort. This river carved out the Royal Gorge Canyon that I visited back in August.

On Sunday I decided to head off to the Rockies for one more time. I haven't really been up there since it started snowing and as the upcoming extended Thanksgiving weekend was already fully booked up, this was really my last chance.

There's yet another pic of the Chapel on the Rock  with Mt. Meeker (13,911' / 4,240m) in the back

Bear Lake in the Rocky Mountain National Park. It was hailing quite a bit when I arrived at the parking lot and it continued on and off for the next few hours

The Nymph Lake is just half a mile away although quite a bit higher up and walking in the slippery trail with my summer shoes was slightly difficult

Air Force Academy, Bishop Castle and Garden of the Gods redux

During the week, I heard from a colleague about a strange castle high up in the mountains that some eccentric bloke has been building for decades. After some brief research in Google, I headed off towards southern Colorado. On the way I stopped at the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs which I had looked at ever since I came to Colorado but wasn't sure if it was open only for US citizens or not. At the gate there was a brief id (and car) check but that's it. Visitors are naturally only allowed in certain parts of the academy.

There were a lot of old and current planes on display like this F-15A Eagle

F-105D Thunderchief

The chapel can be seen from I-25

B-52 with the rainy Rockies in the background

On the way to Bishop Castle, I passed by the United States Penitentiary in Florence. Its supermax high security wing is called the Alcatraz of the Rockies and houses the most dangerous prisoners in the US. Some of the current and past inmates include names like Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, and Timothy McVeigh who carried out the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

I reached Bishop Castle around noon. It is by far the biggest wtf place I've ever been to. The guy who has been building it since 1969 is indeed quite out there as can be seen from several of his hand written notes in and around the castle. You can see the entire thing from every possible angle in about an hour but you'll most likely leave just being puzzled by everything. W-T-F?

One of the towers is about 50 metres tall and you can climb all the way up there

I guess he didn't vote for either Obama or Romney

Umm...

Okay...

Dude.

The second tower. The whole metal cage was shaking quite a bit in the freezing winds

I don't think this would pass all the building codes

Drive carefully

On the way back I decided to stop at Garden of the Gods even though the sun was going down fast and I had already been there back in February. Not many places can boast of having such a gorgeous public park that's free for everyone.

Pikes Peak between some of the rocks

Kissing Camels

Cathedral Spires and Three Graces

Balanced Rock

Devil's Tower

Saturday was a very nice day since I managed to get to all three sites I had planned on visiting during the weekend. Therefore on Sunday I decided to set the course towards Devil's Tower in North-Eastern Wyoming. I had been debating for months whether to go there or not. It's basically "just a rock" and far far away from home. However, now that I had already done most of the trip, I went for it. It's only about two and a half hours away from Mt. Rushmore but in the wrong direction so I knew that the trip back wasn't going to be much fun.

The daylight savings had just ended (a week later than in Europe) and even though this meant I could sleep one more hour before getting up, it also meant that the sunset was an hour earlier. Driving in pitch black is not my idea of fun especially after Saturday when I saw tons of deer on the road during the day and some more after driving back from Mt. Rushmore to the hotel in total darkness.

The first glimpse of the tower with the max zoom on my camera when approaching from the East

The restroom in the visitor center had a scoreboard for the elections. I'm not sure who this Obomma guy is but he doesn't seem to have much support in Wyoming.

 

You can take a quick walk around the tower if you so choose. It was a cold, rainy and a windy day but having come so far there was no question whether I'd do that. The quick walk turned out to be not so quick after all since this just-a-rock is ginormous. Its summit is 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and it takes a while to get around especially when you're taking a million pictures along the way. It is a popular rock climbing destination although in this weather no one was stupid enough to try.

The foot of the tower is filled with massive boulders that the erosion process has carved from the tower. They might look like pebbles in the picture but that's only because of the giant seen in the background

This is a sacred place for many Native American tribes and many visitors leave prayer cloths in the surrounding trees

Here you can see the column structure. How does that happen?

Seriously, how does that happen?

Oh, ok. Wait... what?

Some of the stake ladder used by William Rogers and Willard Ripley when they first climbed the tower in 1893

There's also some red stuff close by but meh... seen so much of that in Colorado already :)

Why did the turkey cross the road? The upcoming Thanksgiving Day?