7/3 Chatfield State Park, Denver

Arrived here after a short drive from Colorado Springs and some needed shopping.  Nice campground with full hookups on cement pads and gravel patios--much like the sites at Cheyenne Mountain.  I like this kind of site because it is so much cleaner.  No need to put a patio mat out or a doormat to catch all the dirt and junk that normally wants to track in.

After resting and cooling off, I got my bike out and went for a long ride.  This state park is on a reservoir right inside the town of Littleton, which is a suburb of Denver.  Hard to believe it is so close to a big city.  It is quite large with over 200 campsites, a marina, and a boat storage area. 

Asphalt on bike trail was not in as good a condition as the roadways in the campgrounds or the campsites themselves, so my ride was a bit bumpy.

 

I have no idea what this thing is on the other side of the reservoir.  Will check tomorrow.

 

There were a lot of these noisy guys around.  Found out they are black-billed magpies.  Fairly big birds with long legs and very long tails.

I need to get out and take some photos of wildflowers tomorrow, and maybe find some more birds.  Scared up quite a few what I think were white-tailed desert cottontails.

Which reminds me.  I bought the Florida and Southwest versions of these Audubon regional guidebooks and really find them handy.  Not only are the small, but they include all kinds of animals, insects, birds, flowers, trees, and other things for an entire area.  Roughly 450 pages, with front and end flaps you can use to save your place.  I have the one for the Pacific Northwest being held for me at a nearby Barnes and Noble store and will pick it up tomorrow or Friday when I go to the Denver Botanical Garden.  There is one for California that I am going to look for later.