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| Bishops Castle..... Quirky, labour intensive and as one review says whimsical !! It's all the work of Jim Bishop who in 1959 purchased a parcel of land to build a family cabin, it's still a work in progress.... |
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| You can just see Yorkieman looking up thinking strewth is someone walking across the gantry ??? |
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| And yes there is and no we don't not after seeing how flimsy some of the grating is !!!!! |
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| Part playground and part medieval fantasy.... |
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| Entry is free and at own risk.... |
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| He is now advertising the castle as a wedding venue.... |
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| We did walk out on some of the lower gantries and up via the inside narrow stone steps (much like Cologne Cathedral !!) to the higher levels.... |
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| Like it or not it is indeed a work of "art"....and at 9,000ft elevation it is a beautifully cool 78F/23C temperature... The song for today... Castles in the Air...Don McLean... |
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| A fun morning and a lovely scenic drive to get to it..... Also time when we get back to Canon City to park at the depot and catch the 3.30 Royal Gorge Train.... |
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| As I mentioned when we visited the Royal Gorge Bridge Park a few days ago the railroad runs through the gorge alongside of the Arkansas River.... |
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| Rafters enjoying the Arkansas River.... |
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| Entering the narrower area of the gorge.... It's a two hour round trip and although we have comfortable assigned seats we spend most of the journey on the observation deck taking in the views and listening to the information about the history of the train and area.... |
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| The first sighting of the suspension bridge... |
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| Suspension bridge, gondola and the frame of the Skycoaster..... |
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| I was quite surprised to have captured these guys as the train was moving and I had just a glimpse of them between the bushes... |
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| This is part of the old "wood stave pipeline" For over 70 years Canon City's water supply was carried 8 miles through this 30 inch redwood pipeline until abandoned in 1974... |
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| One of the "Hanging Bridge" supports....an engineering marvel of 1878.... The gorge was too narrow at this point to build a conventional track and a hanging bridge was devised... |
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| The gondola looks rather vulnerable from this shot !!! On the return journey we stop under the suspension bridge.... This is a tradition that was started by Teddy Roosevelt in 1905 when he and his entourage stopped for a picnic and from then on when he rode the train he would have it stop for a short while at the bridge...the stop is now set at 5 minutes... |
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| In a few days time we will do the Tunnel Drive hike and cross this trestle bridge.... |
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| Back home and our lovely view as the sun is starting to set...... |
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| Being a bit nostalgic so added in yet another pic of our rig as not too many more weeks of owning our home on wheels... I'm loving the setting sun effect.... |
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| We were back home in time for cook out and grilled pork chops and corn, one of our favourite staples.... And another fabulous sunset on a great day... Until the next post... The Very Happy Campers.... |
Hi Sue + Michael,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info.
Bishops Castle is certainly in the Marmite category.
Train journey looked good.
Bit of a blip in the weather today (Friday), but forecast good for weekend.
Out for lunch with Richard + Wendy on Tuesday for a catch up.Hope there are pork chops on the menu.
Cheers,
Ann + Dave X
HI Ann & Dave...
ReplyDeleteYes definitely in the marmite category !!! He is also a very outspoken chap about most things according to his "notices"
The train was fabulous....great to be outside and almost be touching the walls of the gorge in places...
Have a great weekend and catch up with Richard & Wendy on Tuesday, give them our love....
M & S xx
How fascinating - another of your adventures I bet 80% of Americans know nothing about. You are going to miss all this stuff, hope you have plans to replace it? Still lots to see, do and learn in Europe. I would have loved that journey on the train, not because I'm a train "freak" but for the appreciation of man's ingenuity and the ability to solve problems. And how about the water supply pipe? Amazing. Carry on you too, weather here magnificent, in the past two weeks I have worn only shorts, cant rememer a time......
ReplyDeleteAlan & Maxine xx
We are certainly going to miss it but hopefully we will still travel to US and Europe...
ReplyDeleteWe are cooler now that we have a/c and also dip in temps to 90F and thunder storm this evening....
Certainly another 1976 summer over there....enjoy while it lasts...
M & S xx