Alpine Tunnel Trail

One of our four wheeler excursions was to the old Alpine Tunnel. It sits atop a mountain and the pathway used to be a railroad track that is now a dirt trail leading to the tunnel. Along the way you pass old mining sites, old water towers used to fill the steam engines, and old remaining tracks. It was neat to see everything and to see the way things used to be.

An Old Mining Site in Colorado

In the area we stayed in and rode four wheelers, were a lot of old mining sites. Here is one of them we came across by four wheeler. The buildings are half standing and equipment still remains. Makes you wonder how they got all that heavy equipment up those mountains so long ago! Also, the views are beautiful!

Riding to what seems like The Top of the World!

The trail to the top of the world, as I like to call it!

Kevin made it up!

I did too!

July 9, 2009

We rode along the valleys and mountainsides up, up, and up until we came to a short uphill trail that led to the top of a hill on top of a mountain. We put our four wheelers in four wheel drive, low gear, said a quick prayer for safety, and punched the gas until we got to the top and what we saw up there on that mountain top, words will never describe adequately! It seemed to me that I just arrived at the spot that is on top of the world. You could see beautiful mountains and trees in a 360 degree unobstructed view! My photos will never do it justice! I could have stayed there for hours just admiring the creation of our great Creator!!

The Royal Gorge in Canon City, CO

This is the famous Royal Gorge bridge - very high up!

See that little red box car in the middle of the picture? That is what we rode across the gorge in.

Here it is from inside...

And a view from it...see how little that big river looks running through the gorge?

Big Elk!

Ahhh, the walk across the bridge.

Each state had a flag on the bridge, here the kids are by the Alabama flag.

July 8, 2009

We took a break from riding four wheelers in the middle of the week of our week long Colorado vacation to go see the famous Royal Gorge. We rode the sky railway car over the gorge first, then saw some Elk and buffalo, enjoyed the amazing views, crossed back over the gorge by foot - the dreaded walk across the bridge, and then we rode the Sliver Rock train. The sky car was really a smooth ride. I expected it to sway and rock, but not at all! Very cool. We stood by an open window so I could take pictures of course! The elk we saw had the most massive rack I had ever seen! I have no idea how that animal keeps its head upright. Only God could orchestrate something like that! Now the bridge was not too bad...I did notice early on that you can see through the 1/2" wooden slats that you walk on, to offer you a view of STRAIGHT DOWN - no thanks- I just chose not to look between those slats so I could enjoy the wonderful views. Clayton wanted me to hurry up and take his picture so he could scoot on off as quick as possible, the others were just fine with it all. It was a little unnerving when a car would drive by though, as the car would cause the bridge to sway a bit - ugghh. But, we survived it, lived to tell about it, and loved it.

Air Force Academy ~ Colorado Springs, CO

July 10, 2009. Colorado Springs is on our way back home from our Colorado trip and Kevin and the boys were dying to go by the Air Force Academy, so we did! We spent our fair share in the souvenir shop - we now have t-shirts, crocs, hats, and coffee mugs. Clayton often talks about wanting to fly for the Air Force when he grows up, so he was enthralled by the jets on display! It was truly a beautiful campus surrounded by gorgeous mountains. It was well worth the visit!

Oz Museum ~ July 11, 2009

On our drive back from Colorado, we travelled through Kansas and stopped at the Oz Museum in Wamego, KS. Who knew there was a Wizard of Oz Museum? We happened to see a billboard advertisement and couldn't pass up the rare opportunity to go! It had all the main characters, lots of memorabilia, and a real Toto. The kids loved it and Toto, too.