May 26, 2014 (35th Day)

We were up at 5:50 am, but the sun was already way up very early.  Very sunny and in 50˚

While Brian was preparing French toast for breakfast Anna helped Edith with Mac issues.  Breakfast was delicious.

We really appreciated Anna and Brian's hospitality and for taking us to see places while we were in town.  Thank you, Anna and Brian. We loved the time we spent with you!

Left Anna house at 9:40 am.  To kill time before we go visit and stay with our friend, Jeanette (Pleskatcheck) Scheppach in the late afternoon we decided to go to Royal Gorge to see the bridge and the gorge. While on the way there we saw the world's largest statue of a Hercules beetle. It was fenced in and it was difficult to get a close-up shot of it, but Edith managed to find a spot. 

After Erwin got his coffee fix in Penrose, CO we resumed our way.  We did not plan on stopping anywhere before Royal Gorge, but the billboard signs here and there tempted us to swing by the Holly Abbey in Winder, CO to sample their wines. After sampling some we found we liked American Vineyard Sunset (rose wine).  Two bottles of the wine and a jar of black berry and pomegranate BBQ sauce ended up in a shopping bag that went out with us to the van (we wished we had bought a case of the wine).  Next to the winery store is Holy Cross Abbey and monastery, but they were closed due to power outage somewhere. Edith went ahead and took exterior pictures.  

After meandering for a while we finally arrived Royal Gorge, found that the bridge is closed and not open to the public. Only tour buses, which charges $10 pp, can take tourists across the bridge. We decided to take the route to the Overlook area, parked the van, walked to the ledge.  Good view of the bridge, even though it is so far away, but we could see the whole thing and the gorge, too.  We saw few helicopters flying by but they were moving past the bridge too fast, and we thought it was not worth the cost. We stayed a long while to enjoy the scenery.  We even made lunch there.

Brief history of Royal Gorge Bridge:
It is a suspension bridge, is 1,260' long and 18' wide. It is the highest bridge in USA. In June 2013, the planks on the bridge and the park were destroyed by a wildfire. 48 out of 52 park building were burned down. The incline railway and aerial tram were damaged as well.  Park buildings are being built and the bridge will be open,but there was no timeline at that time, which is probably why they are charging a fee to tour it.

The gorge

Royal Gorge Bridge that crosses the gorge 955' above the Arkansas River

After checking the map as to which way we should go after Royal Gorge we realized that going back on the same route that we came on earlier was the best way to go back to Colorado Springs. It started to rain on way back.

We did not plan on visiting Garden of the Gods again, but when we found out that our friend, Jeanette, was still on her way back home from camping we decided to visit it again.  The weather started to clear up by the time we got there.  Traffic jam again! No place for us to park our camper van, so we just drove around while Edith was snapping pictures here and there. We finally saw a herd of bighorn sheep, not far from the entrance.  We managed to find a spot to pull over, so we can watch them for a while. We still cannot get over how beautiful and exquisite the place is! In case you did not know or have never been there, The Garden of the Gods is at the base of Pikes Peak.

View of Pikes Peak in the distance

More awesome pictures by Edith!

awesome pictures by Edith!

Kissing camels (see them?) you have to use your imagination a little.

Contrast in colors and kind of rocks.

Bighorn sheep

Sunshine!

Trying to kill time before going to Jeanette's condo we drove through Manitou Springs, but the place was overcrowded, so we could not park and explore. The parking spaces were minuscule and narrow, I feel sorry for residents of that place! 

Jeanette texted to let us know she arrived home, gave us her address. Off we went to her condo. There was not a problem finding it.  Jeanette was there to greet us. It was good to see her again. Jeanette was in the same class with us at Gallaudet, and Edith and Jeanette were roommates for 2 years.  Time was spent on catching up on the news, her showing us the condo, exchanging trip stories.  Let us tell you a bit about her. She is an outdoor person, loves to spend almost all of her waking hours enjoying nature.  She has scaled 50 out of 53 14K peaks in Colorado! 

Top row: Jeanette (2nd from left) and Edith (2nd from right)
Joint Representatives for Class of '69

Jeanette and Phil, suggested that we all go out to eat at a Mexican place in Colorado Springs downtown, which was fine with us because we were craving for Mexican dishes at that time.  We went to Jose Muldoon's and the dinner was excellent (we forgot to take pictures of our entrees).  Good chat and good company.

After dinner we all walked up and down the street, then Jeanette said she wanted ice cream. Edith was in mood for Starbucks caramel macchiato.

Interesting attractions as we walked along the street

How many of you know the last line of the "Humpty Dumpty" song? Well it goes like this after you sing the normal verse and then add
"So they all had scrambled eggs for breakfast again"

Another of Kempf's beautiful sculpture that is scattered around the city!

We and Jeanette stayed up to chat some more.  We exchange informations on places that we have been to.  Very gracious of her to let us spend the night at her condo.