The River

Four major rivers have their headwaters in our home state of Colorado: Rio Grande, Arkansas, Platte and Colorado. We have camped or hiked at the headwaters of both the Rio Grande and the Colorado, camped along the Arkansas in Arkansas where it is the route of major river barge traffic, walked along the Rio Grande in New Mexico and experienced it in Texas where it is the international border with Mexico.

We have rafted on the Colorado in Grand County near where we lived in the 1980s and in Glenwood Canyon.  We have seen the beautiful work it did in creating the Grand Canyon. The river supplies water to 7 states and Mexico and we know there is not always enough to go around. So we were surprised at how much water there was in the riverbed at Laughlin. This was our first glimpse of the waterway.

The water is amazingly clear.

Several of the casinos in Laughlin are on the waterfront and there is a Riverwalk giving people access to a view of the river and the casinos. One casino had murals depicting the history of the area and the Colorado River is prominent in many of them.

Here are a couple of views of the river showing a scenic cruise boat and the marina.

In other places, there is a lot of green along the trail.

The Riverwalk was a good place to get away from the traffic while getting some exercise.

Main Street of Texas

That is what they call Congress Avenue in Austin. From the State Capitol on the north to South Congress across the Colorado River, there are many different sights and opportunities. The skyline reveals numerous new skyscrapers. Mixed in are historic buildings that have been preserved and are still in use.

This is the Congress Avenue bridge across the Colorado.

This is the Austin skyline from the bridge.

This burger bar is so popular, office workers from nearby buildings join long lines to purchase their food--just so they can eat it standing up on the sidewalk.

When I researched the ten top tourist attractions in Austin, South Congress was at the top. We had to go there. One shop was Allen's Boots. Are they ever beautiful--and expensive. Those for women are often more colorful than the men's.

Other shops were more off-the-wall. One was called Uncommon Things and were they ever!

Tesoros had goods from all over the world, including these containers made from old tires.

One of the employees of a costume shop was as flamboyant as the costumes they rent.  Click the photo to enlarge and get a better look.

Other than the boot shop, we weren't impressed with South Congress Avenue. However, we did enjoy our long walk from one end of the street to the other and back again.

Goosenecks State Park

When I hear the word meander, I think of wandering slowly or aimlessly.  Rivers meander, too.  In Colorado, I have seen slowly meandering streams that are good places to catch trout and that eventually smooth out a meadow.  But water doesn't always meander slowly; it often makes major changes in the landscape--like when it forms the Grand Canyon.

In the far south edge of Utah, near the eastern border with Colorado, the San Juan River has meandered for millions of years, resulting in a twisting, curving river that advances only 1.5 miles west over a distance of over six miles.  This is what we saw when we visited Goosenecks State Park.

The close view above shows how the river cut out layer after layer of rock over the years. The water is dark red because there had been a heavy rain the day before, washing lots of the nearby red soil into the river. Below, you can see more canyons toward the horizon.

In this photo, the meander to the right is visible. 

We walked along a point of land to the left till we came to a point where the river meandered further to our left. Looking across the area, we could see many canyons formed by the power of San Juan River water.

Years ago, we camped in Dead Horse Point State Park near Moab, Utah. There, we could look down on similar views made by the meandering Colorado River.

There is a campground at Goosenecks SP. Some of the sites overlook the river. But they are just barren spots on the ground with picnic tables and fire rings and a few trash cans. There are no hookups and you have to bring your water from somewhere else. No campsites were occupied when we were they, but it looks like your neighbors would be very close if it was full. We enjoyed the view but wouldn't be interested in camping there. You might see great sunrises and sunsets, I imagine.