Colorado

Historic mural depicting the early Colorado Telephone Co, along with an original manhole cover, in the entrance way to the Telephone Building.

Historic mural depicting the early Colorado Telephone Co, along with a telephone booth , in the entrance way to the Telephone Building.

Historic mural depicting the early Colorado Telephone Co, along with a telephone booth , in the entrance way to the Telephone Building. Telephone service is now provided through CenturyLink.

Raymer, CO. The building to the right of the car is a relatively new post office. Photos are from a trip to Denver and the Great Plains.

Raymer, CO. See detail with adjacent Raymer photo. Photos are from a trip to Denver and the Great Plains.

Raymer, CO. See detail with adjacent Raymer photo. Photos are from a trip to Denver and the Great Plains.

Raymer, CO. A tiny village on the southern edge of the Pawnee National Grasslands. The town does have a number of residents, but no active commercial space. I was surprised to see that the town had not developed since the Grasslands have become very active with energy (oil and wind) development and the nearest residential areas for workers are 60 or more miles away. Photos are from a trip to Denver and the Great Plains.

The abandoned outbuilding at the house in the nearby picture. Note the wind turbines in the distance.

An abandoned outbuilding at the house in the adjacent picture.

An abandoned house in the middle of the Pawnee National Grasslands. Per Wikipedia the grasslands were active with farming and ranches at a fairly limited level prior to the Dust Bowl, with less after that. There still appears to be a very small amount of cattle operations active in the grasslands.

Looking south across the Pawnee National Grass(gas)lands, the electrical lines in the foreground appeared to be part of the wind turbine installation. In the large version of the picture you'll see three drilling derricks stretched along the right side of the road, a tanker truck at the first curve, and the bare outlines of a burning flare in the distance.

Not to be forgotten in the Pawnee National Grasslands are the many Minuteman missile sites, remnants of the Cold War. Each site is about the size of the lot for a small house and, during the Cold War, contained one Minuteman missile with a nuclear warhead.

In the distance from the drilling area in the Pawnee National Grasslands, the well-known birding area of Pawnee Buttes and then more wind turbines.

Oil/gas operations, with wind turbines in the distance, at Pawnee National Grasslands.

Denver Convention Center blue bear statue. The statue is titled "I See What You Mean", as a symbol of curiosity.

Denver Convention Center.

Denver Convention Center.

Theater District / Convention Center light rail station. The rail line goes inside and under the Convention Center