Good Morning from the Colorado Mountains

Waking up in the Colorado mountains for the first time in my life was a true priceless moment. Gorgeous start to the morning with sun shining and Phoenix just digging in the fact we have a mission of find shower at some point today! 🙂

Being a Monday this forest road was quite busy and kicking up dust with every passing vehicle. So another quick oatmeal breakfast it was, camp was packed and ready to go by 10 am. Original game plan for the day was Pike’s Peak we opted to skip that endeavor due to Phoenix’s cold already making it hard to breath(did not want to go any higher in elevation for the day and all that damn dirt) and the suv was already getting one hell of workout and still had a couple weeks of adventure left to go.

Royal Gorge was our next discovery! The 2.5 hour drive from our camp on Forest Road 550 to the Royal Gorge Park was something out of a movie. Every view was spectacular, I had found home I kept thinking. Breathtaking snow cap mountains in plain sight, sea of land still untouched by human, services far and very few in between. Indescribable feeling.

Royal Gorge Bridge and Park simply put is so breathtaking your heart has a real chance at skipping a beat. Before the bridge the gorge itself is rich with history. Paleontologists have found several species of dinosaurs just 3 miles from the park, Indians hunted and camped in hidden canyons along the way and 1877 came the railroad war. You can find all this and more on the Royal Gorge Bridge For the love of mother nature put this place on your Bucketlist.

Admission was $27 per adult and Phoenix (age 2) was free. Once through admissions we went straight for the bridge. A lot of cute places to take your family picture but my little family…..Phoenix…..just doesn’t cooperate. Hold on to your hats and anything loose the wind when crossing the bridge is fierce, loud and nerve-racking at times. O yea and remember to breath! You’ll see why!

Only way to see the insides of this magnificent gorge is rafting the river or taking a train ride. We had been talking about splurging a bit on something fancy turns out adventuring through this gorge on our first family train ride could possibly be it! Keep following along to find out!

The Royal Gorge Bridge host every state flag so its just a must to represent your home state. We were literally called cheeseheads while snapping this pic lol. Phoenix stayed hidden in the stroller because of the wind, I do want to point out he did remarkably well! After picking our jaws up we headed to the other side where a variety of activities awaited.  Right at the other side is a tent with live music an amazing and soothing touch. Phoenix loved the Tommy Knocker Land layed train conductor, attempted to ride the carousel,  absolutely loved the slides and wore himself out on the 3 story playground! He totally killed crawling on the cargo net but the carousel on the other hand not so much lol. Thankfully he was the only one on and the lady was nice enough to stop the ride.

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Once Phoenix had enough we headed for some food, opting to eat with an incredible view. Obviously the prices are definitely tourist prices so keep that in mind and what we had was a backyard BBQ menu. Pulled meat of choice, potato salad, chips polished off with sips of a new beer. All with this view…..

I mean how many times in life will you have this view?

Taking our time on the way back across the bridge to really take in what seems so unfathomable. Looking back on the pictures still astounds me.

Stopping for some delicious ice cream on this heated day was a perfect end to the wonder we experienced. Gobbling quickly before it melted all over. Passing through the visitor center/gift shop on the way out I would pick up the perfect trucker style hat that I still wear everyday!

Again I highly suggest this place be on your Bucketlist. If you do not have a Bucketlist you should definitely start one and get on it! Royal Gorge Bridge offers a free gondola ride with purchase of ticket. Feeling real adventurous pay a little extra money to try out the Skycoaster or Zipline.

Thank you for following along. Keep checking back for the other half of this day and more!

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28 Days till #rvlife!