Recently the Wooster clan traveled down to Colorado Springs, Colorado for nine days. Matt was sent to a ranch conference/school so the girls tagged along.
We drove down a day early. It snowed the whole, entire way.
(Yep…that a sliver of the road showing.)
(ice halo…looks like a full rainbow around the sun. A break in the snow, driving into another snow cloud. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumhorizontal_arc )
(Colorado…I can’t see anything of you because it’s snowing everywhere!)
Driving through Denver took us a little over two hours because of all the snow, motorists and wrecks.
The next day, Wooster didn’t have to be in class until 2pm so we went sight-seeing.
First up, we went to The Royal Gorge in Canon City, Colorado.
https://www.facebook.com/RoyalGorgeBridge
For some really pretty pictures:
http://instagram.com/royalgorgebridge/
You can walk or drive across the bridge.
Just after this sign, Clara fell down and the whole experience was done for her. Plus, her hands got cold. Done.
In June of 2013, there was 3,000 acre wild fire that destroyed most of the park, 48 out of 52 buildings and most of the attractions. They have rebuilt the visitor center and some other small buildings. They are working on getting the aerial tram back up and running for the upcoming season.
http://royalgorgebridge.com/index.php/ct-menu-item-31/ct-menu-item-35
Ruby was FASCINATED WITH the June 2013 fire, how it spread, the buildings it burned, and the landscape it burned and most importantly that it was hot enough to burn the metal aerial tram. The visitor center just reopened in November and has a wall of screens that show footage of the wildfire, and what all it burned. She was enthralled. The visitor center also had maps and a new 2015 flyer. We got one, and Ruby was the guide. She has read and looked at the flyer at least 500 times.
The new tag line for the park is:
YOU WON’T BELIEVE YOUR EYES!
We heard that tag line from the 4 year old for about a week and half solid.
The Royal Gorge was royal. We enjoyed the area, the view and the bridge.
I hope you explained to Ruby that her Grandpa Wooster has helped fight forest fires in the past!
We were there about 5 years ago and rode the train through the gorge, very nice. Saw mountain goats and had a great time. It’s wonderful that your girls get to experience to many things out there!
Thanks for the comment, Robin. We kept looking around for information on “why” or what the bridge was built “for”, but never found any. We did talk to “locals” that worked there and they said that the bridge was just built as an attraction/tourism feature for the city. It’s a city park, miles from the city. We were kinda disappointed that there wasn’t different “for” or “why” the bridge was built. Nevertheless, it was a neat experience, big and different. The train was closed for the season. It would be neat for the girls to go back when they are teenagers to do the zip lines over the gorge, train, aerial trams and other things. 🙂