Our
first breakfast outside in the Colorado mountains! Tasted so good in the cool, dry, fragrant
mountain air! After cleaning up, drove
again to Garden of the Gods. Got there
just in time to join a walking tour led by a volunteer with the Garden. She was full of information & knowledge,
and obviously loved sharing it. Talked
of both the geology and flora/fauna of the area, along with a little human
history. Was a very leisurely, casual
walk, and at times we strayed away from her to linger & gaze at some of the
amazing formations. Their beauty just
continued to astound us, especially some of the views with Pike’s Peak in the
background. Bill was really putting to use all of his photography class input! We got within about 10 yards of a deer munching
away at some of the edibles in the Garden . . . his antlers were covered with
velvet. He wasn’t the least bit concerned
with our presence.
After the tour ended, we explored some
more on our own . . . all in the “Central Garden Area.” Then we drove over to an area called the
Ridge Trail, which was a short ½ mile loop which gave the feeling of being up
among the rocks. Was extraordinary that we had the entire trail to
ourselves! Then drove on around the
perimeter of the park – on the backside of the large formations. Again, the views from here were
breathtakingly beautiful. We parked on a
pull-out area and Bill got out the tripod to take some shots of this stunningly
beautiful view – we kept saying that it looked like a fairyland with all of the
tall spires. We heard from a couple of
different people that Bryce Canyon in Utah has similar terrain. We’ll
definitely visit there on our way back home!
After about 5 hours of walking and moderate
hiking, we were getting a little tired (not to mention hungry and thirsty), so
ate our snacks in the truck. Decided it
was a little too late to drive up to Pike’s Peak, plus was starting to rain a
little, after mostly bright sunny skies all morning and early afternoon . . .
typical Rocky Mtn late afternoon thundershowers. So decided to drive up to the Air Force
Academy. Had just enough time to view
the iconic Chapel and go inside for a little while. Bill described the campus best . . . in a
gorgeous setting, right at the base of the mountains, but seemed sterile and,
with the exception of the chapel, non-descript.
As he said, could be IBM headquarters.
Very different from the Naval Academy with all of its historic
buildings. But of course this was the
last military academy built, in the 1950’s, and was meant to convey a feeling
of modern sleekness and spare-ness, I’m sure.
Tossed around the idea of coming back to worship here on Sunday, as
we’ll be going right by it on our way north.
But probably won’t do it – would probably push us to have to get ready
in a hurry Sunday morning instead of a more leisurely pace. We’ll see . . .
Were glad to get back to our “home’ around
6:00. Pappy was glad to see us! Bill looked thru some of the day’s pictures
til he started the fire for dinner.
Grilled brats, with fresh corn-on-cob with “Caryn’s delicious glaze”,
and cole slaw. Was lovely eating outside
in the cool air. Felt very nice after
high’s today in the low 90’s.
Plan to go back right after bkfst tomorrow
to a couple of areas in the Garden we haven’t seen yet, then drive up to Pike’s
Peak. Weather is supposed to be very
similar to today’s, except with less chance of thundershowers.
