Royal Gorge-September 2009 Part 3

Well, it’s time to wrap this Royal Gorge Trip up!

Just as a reminder, this is the third of 3 recaps of a trip that myself, my mom and my cousin Steve took last Saturday – we trekked down south to the Royal Gorge for some touristy type fun.  Part 1 can be seen here and part 2 can be seen here.  Enjoy!

SO, when I last left off, we had just watched old Doc kill Slim in the streets of the Mountain Main Camp.  Then we went on a quick little mule driven wagon ride up to a genuine (fake) Indian camp with a real (fake) TeePee!

So really, there’s only a couple of things left on our little adventure!  First: Critters!

Royal Gorge has both a petting zoo and a non-petting zoo.  Let’s take a look at the former, then we’ll take a look at the latter.

Goats!

And Llamas!

And.. uh… well… Huh.  What the heck is this thing, anyway?

Huh.  A little steer?  I honestly don’t know, and I didn’t think to ask anybody.  Oh well, moving on…

They also had some bigger critters.  You couldn’t go in and pet these.

OH WOW!  Listen, dude, I know you’re all busy and stuff what with all the lady elk running around and that neat rock you’re lying on and all – but I was wondering, could you just, ya know, for me?  Turn slightly so I could get a better shot of your, er, well – rack?

YES!  That’s it!  That is exactly the shot I wanted!!  Thank you!  I’ll leave you to… Whatever it was you were doing…  Thanks again…

Huh.  What does this next sign say?

AMERICAN BISON?!  (Didn’t I have to fight him in Street Fighter?  Oh, wait.. no…)

Yeah.  Well.  Aren’t you guys just a load of excitement-  What the heck?!  Look – over there!  Is that…?  I think it is!

WHITE BUFFALO!

In case you didn’t already know it:

“White Buffalo are considered to be sacred signs in several Native American religions, and thus have great spiritual importance in those cultures and are visited for prayer and other religious ceremonies.”

Native Americans have stories and myths built up concerning the White Buffalo.  I tracked a couple of sites down for you if you’re interested.  The White Buffalo Woman and Native American Myths.

Now, I have a story of my own to tell.  Me being me, I get forgetful about certain things from time to time and sometimes, I mix things up in my head and say it wrong.  Example: In Colorado, we have Big Horn Sheep.  A favorite pastime for many travelers to the mountains is to look for these Sheep amongst the crags and rocks of the mountains.  We also have Elk, and people like to see them as well.

Me?  I combined them and have been looking for Big Horn Elk ever since…

Silly, I know – But whenever I go to the mountains, I immediately start looking for ‘Big Horn Elk’.  Like a dork.

Anyway, lookit what I found:

Let me tell ya, these fellers is shy.  I managed to snap this one as we were passing by in a tram headed for the bridge (the plan was to cross the bridge in the tram.  A plan that was FOILED!).

We were in the tram, but there were some elderly folks looking for a ride, so my cousin and I jumped down to make room for them and then my mom did the same so we ended up walking back across that damned bridge!  Sigh.  Still bugs me that it bugged me, if you know what I mean?

Anyway, back on the other side, there really was only enough time for one more thing: the Incline Railroad.  Tired and a bit stressed over the bridge, I opted out.  I’d had enough of heights so I sent Steve and mom on with cameras in hand and here is what they captured while I drank a coke with a serviceman (he had a beer) recently returned from Afghanistan.

Well, that’s pretty much it for this trip!

Loads of fun were had by all.  I highly recommend the place should you come to Colorado.  Heck, if you come to Colorado, call me – we’ll do my three favorite places: Estes Park, Garden of the Gods/Pikes Peak and now, Royal Gorge.

I leave you with this pic of the three of us at the start of the day:

~P