Last year, I posted about our quick trip to Colorado, but I didn’t quite get around to sharing all my pictures. Mr. Handsome spent a day fishing in the mountains with his friend who had just gotten married (Mr. Handsome was the best man). Little Buddy and I weren’t about to waste a day of vacation, so we went on an adventure of our own. Has anyone been to Royal Gorge Bridge?
Located about 90 minutes from Colorado Springs, it’s an expansive gorge with water and a train running along the bottom. The gorge is more than 1,200 feet deep in some places.
You can take a gondola across to the other side and walk back on a giant suspension bridge, built in 1929.
There is even a playground area on the other side. Every group got their own gondola, and there weren’t many people at the attraction in general.
Little Buddy wasn’t a huge fan of the bridge. He made me carry him the whole way across and didn’t even want to sit in the stroller. I think he was able to sense the danger.
You may have heard about the wildfire that impacted the area in June of 2013. While most of the other structures in the park were destroyed, the bridge itself only suffered damage to 100 of its boards.
We had a great time! Little Buddy loved having my undivided attention for the whole day. It felt very relaxing to not have anything that I had to accomplish.
Beautiful scenery!
I’m just very intrigued about a groom who goes on a fishing trip right after the wedding, instead of spending time with his wife. What did she think of it? 🤣
Haha, I know, I did feel bad for her. But even though their wedding was really small and mostly family, pretty much everyone traveled from out-of-state, so they were kind enough to spend time with the out-of-towners before we went home. They postponed their honeymoon too.
That looks so neat!! Would love to visit this place someday!
How guilty did you feel after this trip?
I would be happy to go into detail about all the precautions that were taken on our trip, but I’ll summarize it: This was at a time when COVID numbers were much improved, the outlook was good, and traveling was not being discouraged. The wedding was very small, and we were pretty much the only non-family members there. My husband was asked to be the best man, and we wanted to honor the bride and groom by attending. Our trip was short, we wore masks, and we hardly spend any time indoors (we didn’t even eat-in at restaurants). The flight and airports were very empty. Even on the airplane, we were able to sit far away from others.
I wouldn’t travel with such a young child during a pandemic, unless it was absolutely necessary. I don’t think a wedding qualifies as a necessity. Yes, I know to each his own.
I’m 3:58. Thank you for coming back and explaining, but we are going to have to agree to disagree. In my opinion, the wedding should not have even happened in the first place. Even though it was mostly family members, it still involved mixing households. The bride and groom should have waited until after the pandemic ended. Additionally, your family did NOT have to go, especially since your husband is a healthcare worker! Protecting your husband’s patients should be more important than honoring the bride and groom. It just makes me so sad to see this kind of behavior when so many people are making sacrifices to protect themselves and others. I have not even left my town for the most part in the past year! I only leave my house to go to work (essential employee), grocery shopping, or for walks around the block. I have not seen my friends and extended family in over a year and can’t even remember the last time I hugged someone. Most of my friends and family are being just as cautious as I am or even more so (WFH and getting groceries delivered).
I completely understand where you’re coming from, but everyone has a different situation/circumstance. Since my husband has one of the only essential healthcare jobs where his patients are unable to wear a mask, we are simply in a different situation. The saying “My mask protects you, your mask protects me” comes to mind. Since my husband wears a top tier medical grade mask all day, his patients are very, very safe. My husband is the one who is at a great risk. We truly don’t go out in public very often right now, and when we do, we wear our medical grade masks and maintain a social distance, per the CDC recommendations. I would really hate for you to think that we are being inconsiderate and that we don’t care about the well being of others. 🙁
Anonymous 12:10 : you really need to get out and get a life. Really! I would ever be so crabby at the world if I was you and it would drive me mentally crazy to be locked down like you’ve imposed upon yourself. Start with some small things and start participating in society again. You’ll be happier for it and your outlook on life will be much more positive. This pandemic could last years who knows. It’s mutating already. You want to be locked down for that long? Enjoy life now while you can before it gets worse. And when it does you don’t want to look back with regret that you didn’t do some things while you could! Best wishes!
Do you always wear your mask that loose?
No, I don’t. That selfie was taken outdoors in a very open area, when I was not close to others (aside from my son) so I wore my mask in a little more relaxed way. But I do know the correct way to wear a mask, and I assure you that I wear it correctly.
@ 12:10; It’s so easy to judge and criticize others isn’t it? Do you go around correcting people on their mask fittings? Seriously, get a life.
Beautiful scenery but scared of heights! Were you required to wear masks in all of that fresh air?
That was several months ago, when COVID numbers were much improved, so it definitely wasn’t as strict as it is right now. That being said, people were very courteous. There were plenty of areas where there was a lot of open space, and people took their masks off, but for the most part, guests were wearing them.
Such a pleasure to read and see pictures of another interesting place. Thank you Ellie! I always enjoy these type of posts.
We were there in 1982 and it was a spectacular place! Ellie, I feel bad that you have to keep dealing with so many continual comments about COVID! It has already been around for almost a year now and sad to say it’s not going away anytime soon, even after vaccinations. Unfortunately, it’s probably going to be a new normal that we will have to learn to live with. People shouldn’t have to keep justifying their decisions about where they go and what they do since everyone has different circumstances and different opinions. Life can’t stay on hold permanently so ultimately each person/family has to do what they feel is best and right for them and try to be as safe as they can. God bless you!
Agree 100%!
Completely agree.
Every time I read the title Royal Gorge, I see Royal George and I ask myself who is George?? Thought you’d get a kick out of that! I’ve done that on at least 3 different occasions. This momma needs sleep! Lol
That’s funny! I do stuff like that all the time. LOL
Used to live in Colorado Springs and have visited the gorge. The Colorado scenery is just absolutely beautiful! Our God is so awesome! Were you able to visit the Olympic Training Center or Garden of the gods or Pikes Peak? Since we don’t live there anymore, I wasn’t sure what was open with COVID.
We went to Garden of the Gods but didn’t make it to either of the other places. Would love to go to Pikes Peak sometime!
We were at the royal gorge and garden of the gods in October of 2019. It was so disappointing that our couple days stay over in CO (flew into Denver, on the way to KS to visit grandparents) had lots of snow so we couldn’t go up into the mtns like we wanted so we took in the garden of gods, yes in the snow! It was actually pretty stunning! There was photographs in the gift store of the snowy scene we saw. And drove down to the royal gorge via cripple creek and through ranch country. I remember driving on that bridge at the royal gorge to get to the other side when I was a little girl on a trip with my grandparents! But this time for some reason the gorge wasn’t as humongous as when I was a little girl :)) anyway, we did get to go back to CO in September 2020 for a anniversary trip and this time we got to make a huge circle and take in the mountains. Love Colorado!
Garden of the Gods must have been gorgeous in the snow! I looked up photos, and it reminds me of the Chronicles of Narnia.
Never been their before. But it looks beautiful.
I think the USA is the greatest country in the world. It is such a vast land with so many geographical features. And you are blessed with lots of warm weather, as opposed to extra long cold winters. I think because of the land and the climate your citizens can be livelier and do more than people in colder countries. I’m glad to see you take full advantage and get out and enjoy your country. Thank you very much for sharing.