Garden of the Gods

We went through the Garden of the Gods http://www.gardenofgods.com/, which is a phenomenal display of red sandstone rocks in various formations.  It was donated to the City of Colorado Springs by the children of Charles Elliot Perkins.   These sandstone rocks are just amazingly beautiful.  What is more amazing is that the City of Colorado Springs continues to abide by the donor’s request that these geological formations are available to the world, at no cost.  The City of Colorado Springs has added additional features which can command fees, but the spirit of the donation is being maintained.

We were able to find an area in which we could have a late afternoon lunch picnic.  That was really special.  A great bonus to our trip to the Yellowstone!

Trip - Day 8

July 20, 2017

Today we drove into Colorado Springs, Colorado https://coloradosprings.gov/ from Casper, Wyoming.  It was a much shorter driving day than we had been doing, but still put us in comfortable range to reach Lubbock tomorrow.  We saw antelope again today!

We were able to take the bypass around Denver, E470 https://www.e-470.com/Pages/PayingTolls/Paying-Tolls.aspx.  We kept waiting to see toll booths, and were ready to pay, but no booths were present.  We figured out, finally that we were a License Plate Toll customer, and my traveling companion would receive a bill in the mail about the toll.  It looked like it might only be $1.55, but I assured her if it was more, I would be willing to pay my fair share.  

We took a tour around the Garden of the Gods http://www.gardenofgods.com/, after a brief stop in the visitor’s center. We had a picnic in the free city park, donated to the city by the founders.  I had a left over salad for my picnic.  I had never even heard of the Garden of the Gods, so if my traveling companion had not known about it, I would have missed it. 

On our way out, we went through Manitou Springs, which was an awesomely interesting looking town, touristy and old west combined.  The Manitou Springs http://www.manitouspringsgov.com/ and Pikes Peak Cog Rail starts in Manitou Springs. 

We had an early night in the motel tonight.  For dinner, I had the rest of the Indian Taco I had ordered the night before, and could not finish!  Once again, it was nice to have internet access. 

Event Probability vs. Event Risk

I am reading Fault Line by Sarah Andrews, first published in 2002. Ms. Andrews writes a mystery series with the main character, Em Hansen, a geologist as the amateur sleuth.  This book is set in Salt Lake City, and has a lot to do with earthquakes.  I would not think of Salt Lake City and earthquakes, but they have the Wasatch Fault https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasatch_Fault, so there you have it. The concern about an earthquake during the 2002 Olympics was noted http://www.sltrib.com/home/3791904-155/new-earthquake-study-says-utah-is.  There was none, not during, not before, so the premise in the book is pure fiction, but it is interesting.

This article was recently published about the earthquake risk in Salt Lake City http://www.sltrib.com/home/3791904-155/new-earthquake-study-says-utah-is.  It addresses some of the political issues that the book references.

One of the points made in the book is the difference between event probability and event risk.  I have noticed a change in the way weather events are being forecast.  I am not sure when this changed, but it has.  Now, when there is a weather event, the forecasters on NBC http://www.nbc.com/ and The Weather Channel https://weather.com/ talk not so much about event probability but event risk.  The definition:  is this event going to happen, vs. how many people are going to be impacted.  The latter is more dramatic, for sure.  I am not sure if it makes more sense to broadcast this way.  Except, reading the book, you appreciate the fact that event probability is not exact science while risk is estimated numbers if it does happen, and that is the real concern.