The Royal Gorge

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Some pics I took at todays adventure at the Royal Gorge

More to come on this  on the web site.  However, I thought I might start with these. The ones here don't really show you the depth of the canyon but those on the web will.  The day was awesome - temp perfect.  The bridge in case you don't know is the longest suspension bridge and is over 1000 ft from the canyon floor.  The Arkansas river created this canyon - well, a long time ago - even older than I am if you can imagine.    You can walk or drive across the bridge and as you walk you will feel it sway and bounce.  Pretty erie, but I guess you get used to it.  People have been doing it for years and so far it hasn't broke.  One of the park workers told us that on a windy day you can see the bridge bounce up and down and sway.  I think that would be time for me to just watch.

In some of the pictures you'll see the "Coaster Ride".  This is like a huge swing you and up to two buddies can enjoy.  They harness you into this thing, pull you way up in the air then let you go.  You swing out over the canyon while laying prone in the harness.  I was ready to go, but no one from my party wanted to give it a try.  I'm probably a better person for not doing it.. I think you need a strong heart or a weak mind.  Probably both! 

Check the picture from the bottom of the canyon toward the bridge - right into the sun.  One of those speciality things.. trying to be artsy.. sort of an interesting shot I thought.  The clock at the bottom is only one of 4 working water clocks in the world.  You'll be able to see the exact time / date / year ... pretty neat as clocks go.  The other picture here - of the snow capped mountian - I was walking down the road when I happened to notice it through those trees.. .so, stopped to take a shot through there.. again, I thought it was interesting.   Hopefully, you will too. 

I'm still working on the web site at this point and am attempting to create an album with just the Gorge, and I've not figured out all the little quirks of Photobucket.  But until then... thanks for checking in.. enjoy the pictures and let me know what you think.

Joe

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Pikes Peak Trip

Took a train trip up Pike's Peak.  The train car is in the picture at some point on the album.  I included a couple of pics here - the rest can be found on the PhotoBucket site - http://photobucket.com/albums/y237/traveler25/     Feel free to browse.  

The trip was Ok... Coming back down the seats started to get hard - wooden seats tend to get uncomfortable after a while.  Anyway, still had  a  good time.  Got into the cloud (i.e. fog) up about the top of the peak so didn't get many good shots.  But here's a few ... enjoy.

Shrine of the Sun

Some views from the Will Rogers Memorial here in Colorado Springs.  That's me.. and Colorado Springs in the background and the big Rocks are part of the Garden of the Gods.. which is probably around 5 - 8 miles from this location.  I'm up about 8,000 feet and the memorial is a site built by a local businessman back in 1937.   The story goes that he wanted the shrine to himself, but people told him that wasn't in good taste.  So, since he was  a good friend of Will Rogers he dedicated the memorial to him.  Even though the businessman and his wife are buried at the shrine.. actually called the Shrine of the Sun. 

So, I took a quick trip up there this evening (Friday the 13th) and got some good pics of the area.  I placed them out in a different site .. http://photobucket.com/albums/y237/traveler25/    I may use this one for a while. .. see how it works.  I might be able to get pictures directly to the blog this way.  So, this is a bit of an experiment with blog and pictures.  

In any case,, enjoy ... check the url for more pics and let me know what you think.  

Oh,,, by the way... when I leave Colorado Springs next week, I'll go to San Antonio for a couple of weeks prior to going to Germany.  A change of scenery is in order I suppose.  We are about wrapped up here at Ft. Carson and next week there will only be 7 of us onsite.  I guess they were leaving the best for last.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Enjoy thepics... and thanks for checking in.

Joe

Some views from the Will Rogers Memorial here in Colorado Springs.  That's me.. and Colorado Springs in the background and the big Rocks are part of the Garden of the Gods.. which is probably around 5 - 8 miles from this location.  I'm up about 8,000 feet and the memorial is a site built by a local businessman back in 1937.   The story goes that he wanted the shrine to himself, but people told him that wasn't in good taste.  So, since he was  a good friend of Will Rogers he dedicated the memorial to him.  Even though the businessman and his wife are buried at the shrine.. actually called the Shrine of the Sun. 

So, I took a quick trip up there this evening (Friday the 13th) and got some good pics of the area.  I placed them out in a different site .. http://photobucket.com/albums/y237/traveler25/    I may use this one for a while. .. see how it works.  I might be able to get pictures directly to the blog this way.  So, this is a bit of an experiment with blog and pictures.  

In any case,, enjoy ... check the url for more pics and let me know what you think.  

Oh,,, by the way... when I leave Colorado Springs next week, I'll go to San Antonio for a couple of weeks prior to going to Germany.  A change of scenery is in order I suppose.  We are about wrapped up here at Ft. Carson and next week there will only be 7 of us onsite.  I guess they were leaving the best for last.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Enjoy thepics... and thanks for checking in.

Joe

Photobucket

This is a test post from Photobucket.com

Springtime in Colorado

Ok, enough already with the friggin snow. It's the 1st of May. It's still snowing. I think it's God's way of getting even with me. Last year I spent a good portion of the winter in LA. I recall talking to people in Oklahoma at the time - (January - February) and relating the fact that in LA the temp was in the 70's or so, while at home (Okla) they were freezing, cold, and having a general winter of it.

So, now, here I am still in Colorado and it's still snowing on May 1st. While the weather is somewhat freaky even for this area the locals indicate that snow this time of the year is "not all THAT unusual"... Enough already.

I did take a quick ride up the mountain this morning. It was dry here at the hotel when I left and a couple of my co-workers and I took off for a short adventure. The idea was to run up to the Broadmore Hotel. A local landmark that was built in the early 1900's and is one of those old great hotels, still running and is a nice place to stay. We did make it to the hotel and did a short walking tour of the place and it is an impressive place. The owner of the place built a shrine for him and his wife way up on the side of the mountain. According to the local hotel folks, it was decided that it wasn't in good taste to build yourself a shrine - this is where he and his wife are buried. Anyway, since it wasn't a cool thing to do, the owner dedicated the location to Will Rogers - of Oklahoma fame. Apparently they were pretty good friends.

Today you can take the tour of the "Shrine of the Sun" as it's known for about $12 bucks - which we did attempt to go see this morning, but due to snow / fog and probably generally bad roads the place was closed. Maybe next time. I'm not sure I want to spring for the fee in any case.

In order to at least salvage some of the morning we did take off up the mountain. The truth is we thought we were headed to the Shrine, but took the wrong road. We don't need no stinkin maps! That trip took us up and around the mountain where I did get a couple of photos that will be posted out on my Yahoo site. ( http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/kwh5999/my_photos )

As the altitude rose and the temperature dropped the road became some what slicker and we got to a point the tires were just spinning. So rather than risk sliding off into the ditch we opted to turn around and ease back down the trail. And it was a trail as we were on a fairly narrow dirt road and the car - a little Ford Focus which by most car standards isn't really considered an 'off road' vehicle. Even though it is a rental. I thought rentals were always 'off road vehicles'.. .guess not. I did, however, manage to get dirt and mud all over both sides of the car. Gives it a lot of character. Hertz has people to clean them, so I’m not too worried. I feel it is my give to Hertz to help people remain actively employed. It’s the least I can do.

Well, Guess that’s my latest update for now… Y’all take care out there.. and thanks for checking in.
Joe