I am going to condense 2 days into one blog because I spent last night doing homework and never got a chance to blog. But the good news is, I am caught up for the week on my homework and I can relax the rest of the trip.
Yesterday we got into Colorado Springs just in time for lunch. As I said earlier, Scotty had a stomach bug but we thought he was feeling better. So we decided to eat at Bennigans. Not a good idea. Scotty got sick at the table before we even got our food. Brian cleaned him up. I cleaned the table up.
After lunch we went to Seven Falls. Beautiful views and luckily an elevator to take you to the top of the observation deck. There are lots of rock formations in the canyon that are supposed to look like famous people. We rode the elevator to the top and took some pictures. Then we spent some time at the bottom of the falls, chased some chipmunks, took some more pictures, and danced with the Native American dancers. We left just as it started raining.
Today we took a day trip to Cripple Creek and the Royal Gorge. On the way to Cripple Creek we turned on the Cave of the Winds Road. We didn't go to the cave, but the view of the canyon from the road was fabulous.
Our whole reason for going to Cripple Creek was to ride the train. So that's what we did first. It was about a 45 minute ride. The conductor told us about all of the gold mines that we passed and then took us to Echo Canyon where he blew the train whistle and it echoed several times through the canyon. Scotty and Boyd both really enjoyed the ride. Brian and I enjoyed the mountain scenery. I think our conductor must be a fan of Pauly Shore. He sounded a lot like him.
We ate lunch at a park in Cripple Creek. The weather was perfect, cloudy, cool, 80 degrees. Not bragging, just saying.
We left Cripple Creek and traveled on the scenic byway to the Royal Gorge, a suspension bridge built in 1929 over the Arkansas River. The bridge is 1,053 feet about the river. It is quite a tourist trap. It costs $23 per person to get in, but once your in you get to do everything there for free. We rode the carousel first. Then, we headed to the tram to ride across the gorge. The tram is about 1,100 feet above the river. It was very windy and I was sure we were going to sway in the wind, but suprisingly there was almost no movement. Thank goodness, because we were packed in the car like sardines. The other side of the gorge had a petting zoo, nature trail (elk and bison), a wild west show, and some other attractions. You can get across the gorge by tram, trolley, or walking or driving across the bridge. We decided to walk the bridge to get back to the other side. You could feel the bridge move with the wind, the people, and the cars, and if you focused on a stationery object you could see it move. Our last stop was the inclined railway, a 45 degree angle railway down to the bottom of the gorge. It travels about 1,500 feet to the bottom. Once again, we were packed like sardines into the cars. It was definitely worth it, though. The view down the side of the canyon was amazing. From the bottom of the gorge the bridge looked like a rope. We got lucky on the way back up and got the front car. Still packed in like sardines, but the view was even better than the trip down.
Tomorrow, Garden of the Gods and then up to Littleton to Grandpa's house.
Here are a few favorite pictures. The rest are at my picasa site.
