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My sister's lovely husband Bill took us on a tour of Colorado Springs and the surrounding area on our second full day there. This is on a back road to Cripple Creek and is overlooking Colorado Springs.
We stopped along the way to view several metal sculptures that were done by a local man. Although no longer alive, Bill said that you would often go by and he would be busy welding in his yard. There were several of these sculptures standing and one very large one fallen.
You can see the size there by the car in the foreground.
This is the Broadmoor from above. This is another famous Colorado Springs landmark but there is no way to get in and visit without booking a very expensive night! The homes around this hotel were very high end!!
More scenes from above on this dirt road that kept getting narrower and narrower until we decided best to turn around while we still could!
We headed to this beautiful falls where there were lots of wildflowers.
I many have these names wrong but this is a variety of Evening Primrose.
This is a Spring Beauty.
These are Larkspur.
Of course no trip would be complete without some new and old birds which I spotted at my sister's feeder.
This is a Lesser Goldfinch which is the variety out here in the west. Lots and lots of those were at the feeder!
This is a Hairy Woodpecker which we have around here but Gail said this was the first time they had seen one at their feeder!
This is a Red-breasted Nuthatch which was a first sighting for me -- beautiful bird found both east and west.
This is a red-shafted Northern Flicker. We have the yellow-shafted variety in the east.
This is an Asian Collared Dove which were pretty plentiful at her feeder. We have these in the east but don't think they are as common as they were out there!!
After a great dinner out, we woke up early on the next morning and headed for Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, one of the parks I had not visited on my last big national park tour ten years ago!
This was our introductory view into Garden of the Gods which is a park you can drive around or hike through given your preferences. The weather was starting to cloud up a bit by this point. It was beautiful to see these huge rock formations with Pikes Peak in the background.
At least this one gives you a little perspective on the size of these monoliths. We watched film at the Visitor Center that talked about the geology of this interesting area.
Bill and Gail fixed us a great dinner that night and couldn't have been better hosts. On Day 7, Bill drove Joan and Vicki to several sights they were anxious to see -- the Air Force Academy (where Bill used to work) and the Olympic Training Center. I opted to go to quilt shops with my sister!! In the afternoon,, Bill drove us all around Colorado Springs and area for views of more sights.
One of the rare pictures of the three of us together! This was taken in Palmer Park in Colorado Springs. This park is great hiking and bird venue and very close to where my sister lives. Bill treated us to a visit and a great spot where you could see Pikes Peak way far off. You can still see it from their front windows but the neighbor's evergreens are blocking a great deal of it now.
These are basically the same view but without the three old ladies in the foreground!
Our morning excusion was to the top of Pike's Peak via the Cog Railroad. The station is pictured here. As usual, our GPS didn't want to take us the easy way and Vicki had to finally override it so that we could safely make it to our destination!
The aspens were beautiful against the bright blue sky.
The views on the way up were breathtaking but I had to straighten all the pictures as the angle of the ride was pretty steep and so all the pictures look like they were slanting precariously. We are still below the treeline here.
This is a Marmot. We saw quite a few of these but not easy to take a picture through the window of a moving train!
This is a Ground Squirrel who stopped and posed for me! He looked an awful lot like a Prairie Dog to me!
You can see a car going in the opposite direction here. There were several places where the car would pull off onto a side track so that the trains could pass. It was quite chilly up here -- probably 40 degrees.
We had about a half an hour at the top before we reboarded the train. At 12000 plus feet it was hard to do much walking around and breathe at the same time. The views were beautiful though and you could pretty much see forever on this nice clear day. Notice the tundra at this altitude way above the tree line.
If you look right below the clouds, you will see a thin sliver of white. Those are the snowy peaks of the Rocky Mountains which I think were really very distant and not usually so visible.
On the way down, we had quite a view of the road going to the top.
While Vicki and Joan were investigating the gift shop I found the Hummingbird feeders and saw closeup the Broad-tailed Hummingbirds I had seen flitting around the railroad station.
After we left the Cog Railroad, we headed to the #1 site in Colorado Springs -- the Garden of the Gods.
This is the view through the window at the Visitor Center at Garden of the Gods. What a view for a lunch break!!
My sister's lovely husband Bill took us on a tour of Colorado Springs and the surrounding area on our second full day there. This is on a back road to Cripple Creek and is overlooking Colorado Springs.
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