Sunday, May 2

On Sunday, we made our way from Co. Springs to Creede. After changing course to take a more scenic route, we made the Royal Gorge Bridge our planned pit stop.

We started the visit with a ride across the gorge on the aerial tram. Mom and I reminisced about a scene when I was much younger when I screamingly refused to get off a tram at (edit) Cannon Mountain. I'm sure she was glad I didn't scream or refuse on this day.

This photo shows where we're headed... packed into the car almost to capacity at 27 persons plus the conductor. The limit is 34.

The view from the other side, with the tram headed back to it's starting point.

A view of the bridge...

This, my friends, is the Skycoaster. It basically slingshots you out over the gorge, which certainly provides a unique view. My sister was all about doing it, but Mum was apprehensive to say the least.Unfortunately for Mum, "all about it" trumps "apprehensive," and so my sister flew.I taped the initial slingshot part and then took pictures (like the above).

After the flying, we headed down to the bridge and made our way across. It's not as long as it looks, but it is a suspension bridge... which means when vehicles pass you going across it, it moves a lot more than other types of bridges. Plus it was windy.

The view from one side of the bridge...

Back on the road we saw plenty of views of the snowcapped mountains, traveled through various passes, and across more flat earth, though this time the flatness was edged with mountains.

As we started to get close, the land became more valley like, and though it had been precipitating a bit, the sun began to shine...

And finally we were on the outskirts of Creede.

The town itself is at the close of the valley, where two cliff-like formations come together. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by Karen's boss, who knew it was us when he saw two unfamiliar cars drive into town. After a tour of the theatre, dinner, and moving in of Karen's things into her "summer home," we settled in for the night at The Old Firehouse B&B.
It was warm and cozy and we were so glad to be there, looking forward to checking out the small town in the morning.