CHAPS sponsoring fundraising tour to Rockies

The Cherokee Historical and Preservation Society has teamed with Collette Vacations to take a Trains of the Colorado Rockies tour Aug. 6-14. The tour is a fundraiser for CHAPS, but seats are limited and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

All those going on the tour will fly from Charlotte to Denver, where the tour will begin. The trip provides ample leisure time to look in shops and galleries along the way. The travelers will visit Rocky Mountain National Park and cross the Continental Divide en route to Grand Lake and Grand Junction. Dinner will be enjoyed one evening at a vineyard.

Mesa Verde National Park is also one of the tour stops. There participants will see the Spruce Tree Cliff Dwellings and Cliff Palace, two of the largest cliff dwellings built between 1211 A.D. and 1278 AD.

On the seventh day of the trip, the tour goes east across southern Colorado to Canon City, home of the Royal Gorge Railroad. There the group will board a train and take a 24-mile ride, going under the highest suspension bridge in the world and enjoying some of the most spectacular scenery one will ever see.

None of the nights will be spent on the train. Two nights each will be spent in Denver, Grand Junction, Durango and Colorado Springs. Breakfast is served everyday and some dinners are included in the allinclusive price of the tour; this does include the plane fare.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the trip may call 864- 489-3988.