Coors Field (Denver, Colorado)

After visiting the State Capitol, we were lucky enough to catch a baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the Miami Marlins, at Coors Field in Denver's Lower Downtown (LoDo) area. The game was a victory for the Rockies (12-5), and we had a great time exploring the stadium, taking pictures, and enjoying the great summer day. Behind the center field wall is a landscape decoration that reflects the typical environment of the Rocky Mountains. This landscape area consists of a waterfall, fountains, and pine trees. After a Rockies home run or win the fountains shoot high into the air. While most of the seats in Coors Field are dark green, the seats in the 20th row of the upper deck are purple. This marks the city's one mile elevation point.

Denver, Colorado

Mid-August 2011 brought us to the mile-high city of Denver where we spent four days in nearby Golden, Colorado. Our first order of business was to visit the State Capitol located in the heart of Denver's Civic Center area. The building was constructed in the 1890's from Colorado white granite, and was intentionally built to resemble the United States Capitol. The distinctive gold dome consists of real gold plate to commemorate the Colorado Gold Rush. The official elevation of Denver is measured outside the west entrance to the building, where the fifteenth step is engraved with the words "One Mile Above Sea Level." From this step, at 5,280 feet, the sun can be seen setting behind the Rocky Mountains. An impressive quilt display hung throughout the Capitol on the day we visited, adding beautiful splashes of color throughout.

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Trekking along on our State Capitol tours, still moving westward, our next stop takes us to Cheyenne, Wyoming on August 15, 2011. The capitol sits north of downtown Cheyenne, built in Corinthian style with a central dome and portico reminiscent of the United States Capitol. The central dome is covered with 24 carat gold leaf and has been gilded six times. The rotunda is quite stunning, with a beautiful cherry wood staircase set against a checkerboard marble floor. The bison is prominent here, as one might expect, along with the sentiment of taming the Wild West, captured in "The Spirit of Wyoming", a bronze sculpture depicting a cowboy and his horse at odds against nature and its elements.

Lincoln, Nebraska

As we continued to work our way West, August 2011 found us in Nebraska for a visit to the State Capitol in Lincoln. At 15 stories and 400 feet tall, the capitol building in Lincoln is the second-tallest statehouse in the United States, surpassed only by the 34-story Louisiana State Capitol. It is the tallest building in Lincoln, the third-tallest in the state, and the nation’s first statehouse design to radically depart from the prototypical form of the nation’s Capitol. The 14th floor (at 250 feet) is an observation deck, providing panoramic views of the surrounding area. The interior is beautifully ornate with mosaics, tile work, and sculptures found throughout. Following our visit to Lincoln, we made our way to Omaha to visit with our good friends Jim and Marti, fellow RV'ers we met the first year we were on the road.

The Farm (Summertown, Tennessee)

For over 40 years I've followed the news of The Farm, an intentional community based on non-violence and respect for the Earth. The Farm is located in Lewis County, Tennessee, near the small town of Summertown, and I never imagined I would someday be in a situation that would put me within striking distance of this community. (One of the greatest perks of this lifestyle, by the way, is finding yourself close to places you've always wanted to visit!) Founded in 1971 by Stephen Gaskin and 320 San Francisco hippies, The Farm is well known amongst hippies and other members of similar subcultures as well as by many vegetarians. The Farm has gone through many transitions over the years, with an evolving philosophy and fluctuating population. At its peak, the Farm claimed somewhere between 1200 and 1600 members living on the main property; today there are approximately 175 residents.

The Farm has been involved in many enterprises, with its own electrical crew, composting crew, farming crew, construction & demolition crew, clinic, firewood crew, alternative energy crew, motor pool, laundromat, tofu plant, bakery, school and ambulance service. It established The Book Publishing Company, which published the works of the Gaskins and other Farm members. The Farm's midwifery school and Ina May Gaskin's seminal book "Spiritual Midwifery" are well-known throughout the world for their emphasis on maternal and newborn compassion, safety and success rates.

Dan and I spent a day in July 2011 taking a self-guided tour of The Farm, visiting The Farm Store, the Visitor Center (where we bought a tie-dye T-shirt, a hat, and a vegan Chinese cookbook), having a picnic lunch under the dome, and spending some time inside the mystical Wholeo (a geodesic dome fourteen feet in diameter and seven feet tall, covered with curved stained glass panels). This was truly a day well spent, allowing me to accomplish one of the highest priority items on my bucket list.

There is so much more to share about The Farm, but it would require a whole separate blog on that alone, so instead I will include two links that will provide more in-depth information if you are interested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farm_(Tennessee)

http://www.thefarm.org/