Friday, December 18, 2015

Colorado Quiz - A Little Fun for the Holidays

OK folks... I feel like things have been way too heavy here in CatLady land lately, so I decided that perhaps it was time to lighten it up a bit.

I'm not sure why this idea came to me... something about shoveling snow reminded me of a post that Dar over at An Exacting Life did about Canada a while back - so I decided that perhaps it would be fun to do a Colorado trivia version.

These questions range from the historical to the bizarre, I was mostly aiming for fun stuff that's familiar to anyone living in Colorado, but might be unknown to other folks. So let's find out how much you guys know about my beautiful state!

I'll give you the answers in the next post... though I'm sure most will be revealed in the comments section.

So without further ado...




1) Which state on this map is Colorado? And what important geological feature runs right down the middle of our state?





2) What does this symbol mean?





3) What is a 14er, and how many of them are there in Colorado?





4) Before he entered politics, what was the career of Colorado Governor, John Hickenlooper?





5) Why is Denver called the "Mile High City"?





6) The word "TABOR" has two important meanings in Colorado. What are they?




7) Who is "Number 7" and why do we care?




8) What happened in Colorado in 1859?





9) What iconic park was this photo taken in, and why is it important to Colorado music fans?





10) What are Rocky Mountain Oysters, and would you eat them?





11) Who is this man? And why is his face familiar to long-time Colorado residents?





12) Why on earth did the Colorado Department of Transportation replace the mile 420 road sign? (If you've read my blog for a while, you'll know the answer to this one - and yes, it's for real!)





13) What is this, and why would you see one in Colorado?






14) What does this coin have to do with Colorado?





OK... that's about all I can think of for the moment. I'm not sure if these will be really easy or really hard - can't wait to hear your answers... No cheating now!



30 comments :

  1. I'll take the easy ones:
    1 - Rocky Mountains
    3 - Mountains 14,000+ feet high
    5 - 'cause Denver is the mile high city (but Purgatory is 9,300 feet high)
    10 - bull calf testicles. Never had an opportunity to try 'em, but I would
    12 - 4-20 / marijuana
    13 - cattle guard

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ack! Just found your comment - somehow blogger flagged you as spam. How bizarre. Anyhow, congratulations on all these right answers, especially the 14ers one, only one other person got that!

      Delete
  2. Oh dear, my knowledge is very poor! I know roughly where Colorado is on the map, but not sure which one it actually is!

    5) I guess it is called mile high city because it is on a plateau and quite far above sea level...even a mile above sea level?!

    13) looks like a cattle grid- is is actually to keep livestock in the right place or is it for some other purpose?!

    I won't even guess the rest!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not bad for someone who lives on the other side of the planet! Answers coming in the next day or so... :-)

      Delete
  3. 1) 40, and erm, the Rocky Mountains?

    5) I assume it's the elevation.

    10) Calf testicles. I'd probably try them.

    12) Probably the same reason stoners overrun my town on April 20th every year.

    13) That looks like a cattle guard, which my dad says they won't cross because they're afraid their hooves will go through the gaps.

    I have no idea about the rest.

    That was fun. I'm from way up the coast of California, and have only vague memories of a brief visit to Colorado in the early 90s (I was maybe 7 or 8), and there being lots of snow on the ground, even though it was sunny. It is cool and damp here year round, but almost never snows, so it made a big impression on me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sarah, Yup... we are totally spoiled in the sunshine department with over 300 days per year of sun! When it snows we generally get a storm that dumps a few inches, then the sun comes out and melts it all off the next day. I went to college in upstate NY and it was a shock to the system! It felt like it just drizzled snow all winter long with no break in the gloom. Oy!

      Anyhow, I'll reserve comments on the answers until my next post... :-)

      Delete
  4. Hey people........keep your answers to yourself!!!! I know NOTHING! So I await the answers with bated breath.

    ReplyDelete
  5. My apologies......answers were encouraged. In that case.....go ahead! lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Looking at other people's answers is half the fun! I'm enjoying seeing which ones people get and which ones they don't. Who knew that cattle guards were so ubiquitous?

      Delete
  6. Okay so I had my first laugh of the day when I read this. I was reading the questions and answering a few, like number 40 and the Rocky's run straight through (my favorite thing), Denver is the mile high city because your are a mile above sea level living in those mountains. Then I come to the mile marker sign...let's just say it's a good thing I wasn't taking a sip of my tea at that moment.

    Anyway, the mile marker question reminded me of a street sign in the town I just moved away from, Lay Rd. You may recall my mentioning the town is a college town so every year when the college kids returned sure enough that sign would disappear during the night. There is a church on that road that doesn't like the meaning behind the word Lay and has been fighting the town to change the name of the road to Redemption Road, they have yet to win.

    So your mile marker, was it disappearing or were the pot heads using it as a shrine to party by?

    Now as for number 7, that's Peyton Manning and according to NFL stats on Osweiler, Manning is your only hope of a Super Bowl win. My son was reading stats on Osweiler last night and called to tell me he has the worst stats for a QB in the league. Even considering how bad the protection is it looks like Peyton's experience and skills make up for it and led you to a play off spot.

    I can only recall Black Canyon and Mesa Verda park and it doesn't seem like that photo came from either.

    As for the rest, TABOR is familiar but I can't put my finger on why, and the others, I have no idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's a town in Michigan called Climax. No idea if they have a hard time with stolen signs ...

      Delete
    2. I'm avoiding commenting on the answers so I don't give anything away, but when I was in college there was a line in the Alma Mater song that went like this:

      Colgate, Alma Mater, fairest theme of all our lays.

      Now... I'm SURE the word "lays" MUST have some perfectly legitimate meaning there that's not giggle-worthy, but I assure you, none of us knew what it was!

      Delete
    3. A sign with the word climax would never stay put in a college town, too funny

      Delete
    4. OK... I'm thinking that it's a good thing that the "Climax Mine" here in Colorado isn't located in a college town! :-)

      Delete
  7. That was pretty interesting. I think I know about 1/2 of them. So as not to confuse other people with my right (or wrong) answers, I'll just wait for you answers. I'm going to try the quiz on my husband tonight. He usually is good at these kinds of things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh... but I'm so curious to know what you think!

      Delete
  8. 1)40
    2)Argyle ahead
    3)a perpetual adolescent
    4)Career of Hickenlooper: um, trying to convince people his name isn't Lickenhooper?
    5)a mile above sea level
    6)I'll get back to you on that
    7)and that
    8)gold in them thar hills
    9)Rocky Mountain high ... in Colorado ... (sorry, my inner John Denver is coming out!)
    10)If Sarah is right, I am NOT eating them. Nuff said.
    11)Siegfried and/or Roy's grandpa?
    12)Ooh, I remember this one! Mary J, weed, etc.
    13)a bridge over troubled waters
    14)dunno

    I think I got 3 or 4 right. Thanks for the fun and I look forward to finding out the correct responses!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Argyle ahead" You're makin' me laugh! I thought that one would be really easy... oh, silly me!

      Delete
    2. Oh, it's a reference to skiing difficulty level, isn't it? I've never been downhill skiing and at this stage in my life, I doubt I'll try it.

      YOU made ME laugh with this. Fun! When do we get the answers????

      Delete
    3. I've got the answers post ready... just waiting until later today to post it in case there's anybody else out there who hasn't had a chance to take the quiz yet!

      Delete
  9. I know very few of these:
    1a) #40.
    2) Argyle. (Just kidding, I don't know it.)
    5) One mile above sea level.
    9) Red Rocks (State?) Park--they have concerts there, is there some other reason? (I got to go there when it was empty.)
    13) Cattle guards were also my guess.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha, just figured out my comment had not gone up. Kris wins on #2!

      Delete
    2. Ha! I can't believe nobody knows what double diamonds means! I'm wondering how many times I've used that reference online and left people totally confused. Perhaps I'm more of a Colorado girl than I realize!

      Delete
    3. Okay, here it goes.
      1. #40, Continental divide
      2.Double diamond ski slope
      3. Mt. Peak over 14,000' 6-8? My husband helped with this one.
      4. Howdy Doody stand in. (Look at that face.)
      5. The elevation of the city is at one mile high.
      6. ?? Name of a mountain, What you call a neighbor who grows tatoes.
      7. Football players number. Peyton Manning or John Elway
      8. Gold Rush
      9. ??
      10. Steer testicles, No.
      11. He looks very familiar. Siegfreid or Roy?
      12. THe number of the bill for legalization of pot.
      13. Cattle guard. Yes, they are everywhere.
      14. Minted in Denver. Notice the small D below the neck.

      Delete
    4. Woo Hoo! Have you lived here or something? Pretty impressive...

      Delete
    5. Besides going through the airport, the only time I've been in Colorado was for a geologic field trip about 25 years ago. I'm very interested to see what the real answers are.

      Delete
  10. O.K. I'll try one more time. No idea why my answer to your quiz has not appeared. When I "published" it there weren't any other answers. If this doesn't appear I'll give up. Tired of sending me to spam.

    "Lay" in the sense you are looking for means ballad, as in Scott's "Lay of the Last Minstrel"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, hopefully now that I told Blogger that you weren't spam it won't send any future comments to the spam folder.

      And thank you so much for the "lay" info! One would think that as a music major I should have heard that before, but I never have. It does make the alma mater a little less fun though. :-)

      Delete
  11. Okay, I'm from Canada so some of these are pretty obscure, but I think I've got a couple right.
    1 - I thought 39 but 40 looks right now that I see the other answers, and I knew about the Continental divide.
    2 Black diamonds have something to do with ski slope difficulty level
    3 No clue
    4 Bible salesman?
    5 A mile above sea level
    6 no clue at all!
    7 guessing a foot ball player's number?
    8 gold rush?
    9 don't know the name, perhaps a rock concert venue
    10 knew about the testicles and no I would not try them
    11 Richard Simmons with a tiger????
    12 the road department got the distance wrong and Coloradans are very very accurate?
    13 Yes cattle guard, friends of mine have one in Ontario in their farm driveway
    14 No idea

    Fun quiz, I love trivia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard Simmons with a tiger... Oh my!

      Overall, pretty impressive for a Canadian! Answers coming soon...

      Delete

I welcome your thoughts so please leave me a comment and I promise I will respond.

On older posts I've had to enable comment moderation to prevent spammers, so don't worry if your comment doesn't show up right away - unless you're just commenting for the sake of embedding a link, in which case I really wish you wouldn't waste your time or mine because I'll just delete it.

Thanks, and have a fabulous day!