The Colorado State Capitol

Yesterday Pat and I took a little jaunt to Denver for no particular reason. I'm glad I had my camera with me, because by the time we reached Capitol Hill the light was gorgeous. We parked the car and took a stroll around the capitol building, something I've never really bothered to do. I photographed it from every angle -- it was tough to narrow today's post down to only four shots! As you can see from the second picture, it is undergoing quite a major restoration. In fact, that's been going on for some time. I blogged about it almost a year ago, and it's come a long way but it's still not finished! In December the newly restored dome was unveiled, but it looks like there's still a bit of work left to do. I can't wait to see the finished product.

It is truly a beautiful building and it has an interesting history. You can see from my pictures that the enormous dome of the capitol appears to be painted gold. In fact, it's plated in actual 24 karat gold! This was done in 1908, using Colorado-mined gold, to commemorate the famous Gold Rush era that defined Colorado's early days. I've never been inside the capitol building, but I've heard it's quite incredible and there are free tours available. I've been planning to do a "Denver tourist day", so I'll definitely put that on the list. 

Do you see the fellow on the red bicycle? He's taking advantage of Denver's B-cycle program, which allows you to rent a bike from any of the many conveniently placed "stations" around town, and when you're finished you simply park it at the station that's most convenient to you. It's such a great idea! Whenever I'm in Denver I see people pedaling these red bicycles all over the place. We really need a similar program in Colorado Springs!