The Garden of the Gods, a free city park, with huge shafts of red-orange sandstone projecting out of the ground. This will take one to two hours.

A trip up Pikes Peak. But not with your personal car. Hope you are renting. You may also want to try the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. Depending on fall leaves, your trip could be spectacular. Either way will take about a half day.

A third possible site is the chapel at the Air Force Academy.

I personally like old town in Albuquerque and Santa Fe and Taos. When in Taos, see the Fechin house. Fechin was a Russian painter/sculptor and built his house in a southwestern-adobe style with magnificent decorative carvings. It's on the national historic register and there is a minimal admission charge. There is also a very nice new, but not inexpensive, hotel/motel behind the house. I believe it is called the Fechin Inn. The Mable Dodge house in Taos is also interesting.

Santa Fe has the Palace of the Governer's which is probably the most interesting site. There is a church with a spiral staircase which is supposed to be impossible to build; its's not. A nameless carpenter just had the skills. People are not allowed on the stair because it is unstable; my guess is that it always has been. Legend tries to indicate that a returned Jesus built it.

I don't think of Denver and Boulder as having must-see sites. There are many tourist attractions. Both can be enjoyable cities; except for Denver's traffic. Boulder is a college town. If you are interested in architecture, the modern Atmospheric Research Center outside of Boulder is noted.

It takes about two to two and one-half hours from Albuquerque to Taos (Santa Fe is in the middle.) And about five hours from Taos to Colorado Springs. Using the Interstate you can get from Santa Fe to Colorado Springs in about 5-6 hours. I nearly forgot Leadville, many people do. The town is not special, but the mountain passes you'll go through are.

Bill Wysong Manitou Springs, CO