Birthday weekend
Yesterday was the DM's birthday, so we had another adventure! This time we traveled an hour downriver to the Royal Gorge Bridge. I hadn't been there in more than 15 years, and the DM loves crazy touristy places, so off we went.
It certainly has gotten touristy since the last time I was there. A tad expensive, too... but still... Where else can you involve yourself with an impressive list of claimed superlatives AND kitsch, all in the same day?
We walked across the bridge: the highest suspension bridge in the world. (1,053 feet above the Arkansas River.)
We rode the aerial tram: longest single span tram in the world. (2,200 feet long and 1,178 feet above the river.)
We rode the incline railway: steepest in the world. (45 degree angle of travel.)
View from the bottom of the gorge (via incline railway).The line across the upper corner is the bridge,
the little dot in the middle of the sky is the tram.
It was a ridiculously hot day (95 F +, methinks), but we had a good time. Neither of us is much for heights, which was the irony of the day, but together we were somehow braver than normal. I still wasn't big on looking down.
The most superlative giggle of the day came from this sign, at the head of a PAVED trail to the tram loading area. Put us both in mind of Audrey II.

I'm not sure what might be more dangerous than cactus in that particular habitat (primarily piñon-juniper scrub and lots of cholla and prickly pear), but okay. We kept our guard up.
Bird list from the bridge: swallows, swifts, and vultures. Whaddaya expect?

















