Visiting the Source of all the Comments



PS Move game shot- silly!

Anyone who has been really following this blog might have noticed comments being posted after each entry by "Greg" with the Eagles icon.  Well I finally made it to visit him, my father.  He lives in Parker, Colorado, and has been eagerly awaiting my pass through the Rocky Mtn region.  I arrived late after getting through some heavy snow from Wyoming and just settled in.  We went to go see Saw Final Chapter the following day because, I know, I know: surprisingly I hadn't seen it yet.

              

Thursday was my first visit to the Royal Gorge, a huge canyon with the Arkansas River snaking through it.  I believe it when they say it's packed with people during the peak season, but I liked it empty.  Even though they don't run the train rides or do any of the wild west shows and all shops but one are closed, the feeling as if the entire park was ours and having no one run into you as you try to take a good picture was great.

 

There is an air tram that takes you across the gorge about 2200 ft over a good 1178 ft to the river, using a huge cable.  Pretty cool.  Then you can walk along a wildlife area that houses huge elk, bighorn sheep, and bison (including a white bison who just recently had a calf).

 Wander down into the old west area with a jail, old mine, sheriff, and an area where you can participate in ax-throwing.  Again, the place was all closed for the season, so it really felt like a western ghost town, which was awesome.

Next came time to walk the suspension bridge- over 1200 ft across, first built in the early 1900s.  It was amazing to see the different views over the canyon,  including the "JFK" mountain in the background (mountain that resembles the profile of JFK, laying down on his back).

The incline is the steepest rail transport that brings you down to the bottom of the gorge on a pulley system, and then you are able to stand near the river along the railroad tracks.  You feel tiny looking up at the air tram cable and the now miniature bridge you just walked across.

 

Anyone have 1200+ ft of fishing line?



After leaving the Gorge, we made our way into a couple old mining towns via a scenic byway.  Victor and Cripple Creek are little towns that kept their nostalgic feel after all these years.  Victor more so than Cripple Creek, having little shops and a beautiful City Hall and an active mining company right along side of it.  Old mine shafts still line the hillside and run down shacks here and there.

Cripple Creek is more full of the old saloons, and now casinos line the streets as well.  But it still houses the old railway that runs through Victor and also has a lot of horse & carriage usage on the streets.

And this guy's been ridin'
since the mining days!

 Went into downtown Denver for dinner at a contemporary pizza place called the Mellow Mushroom with the most bizarre ingredients I have ever heard of in a pizza place (curry chicken, tofu, feta cheese, cucumbers... to name a few), as well as the traditional toppings too.

Friday was my tour day: a tea tour and a wine tour in Boulder.  Walked through Celestial Seasonings tea company to learn about the process and different herbs and saw the packaging assembly lines such, followed by free tastings of any of the flavors.  I had forgotten how much I liked drinking tea, and found some new flavors :) 

There is also line called Fast Lane, which is a black tea that contains 110 mg of caffeine- wow.  That's just under a double shot of espresso... where was this tea back when I had to hull through the never ending width of Texas? 

Two miles down the road is the Boulder Creek winery.  A small place that takes 6.5 minutes to walk through, but really nice, smooth wines. 

 We tried all 9 on the tasting menu and I ended up buying some bottles to bring back with me (Syrah, Murphy's Blend, Zin Port, White Merlot, Viognier, and Reisling- it's not too often I find a Reisling that I like from the US!).

I figured since I have driven down the middle of hundreds of wineries across the country, it was time to stop at one (all the of ones in wine country were still closed during my passing- poor timing).  So, my touring ended here- I did a brewery tour during my last trip out to CO. 

Walked down the streets of downtown Boulder to look at all of the little shops and restaurants.  Even being a college town, the strips had little cafes, used bookshops, and ice cream so it was nice.  Played with my dad's dog, Bear, for the night and got ready for the drive ahead.

Now, wish me luck on my drive towards South Dakota... I might be in for some Christmas!

(a.k.a snow)