Royal Gorge Adventure

Saturday's adventure was a family trip to Royal Gorge Bridge, the home of the world's highest suspension bridge, spanning the Royal Gorge, our own little Grand Canyon, dug out over the millenia by the Arkansas River. It is about an hour-and-a-half drive to this breath-taking, palm-sweating, awe-inspiring wonder. We were definitely impressed and I was definitely freaked out. It is no secret that I have a nominal fear of heights that slightly hinders my ability, and desire for that matter, to participate in anything that is more than 20 feet up in the air. So why did I want to take my family to this bridge? The answer is: I don't know. It was more than a little terrifying, but also very lovely and convinced me (as I am convinced every time I swallow my fear and just go for it) that I can't let my fears keep me from experiencing great things because I am really glad we did this yesterday. Mother Nature is incredibly inspiring and amazingly beautiful; our lives are just a blink in this geological force, yet we are so fortunate to be a part of this great history and to have the gift of this short time on earth we are given!

Royal Gorge Bridge--the Arkansas river is too far down and I couldn't get both the bridge and the river in the picture from this side of the bridge.

This is the story of the gorge and the bridge and the rail road battle over who would get the rights to build across it.

The boys and I by the Colorado State Flag, all 50 state flags were hung alphabetically along the giant cables holding up the bridge. As we crossed I kept saying "Just gotta make it to Washington." And yes, the picture is accurately depicting how fiercely I am holding onto my children. I was actually clenching Zach and Josh with a vice-like, sweaty grip (Adam had Ben's hand and Luke in the backpack). They kept letting go of my hand to wipe my sweat off of their palms.

1,053 feet up, all suspension cables, and the bridge deck is wooden plank boards. When cars would drive over the whole thing would shake. I just loved that!

Ahhhh, the best state in the country, Washington...we are across, now if only we didn't have to get back across to the car!

The view of the bridge and river from the other side so you can see it all. If you look really carefully, you may be able to see river rafts down there!

There were some fun things for the kids on the other side: a Rocky Mountain Wildlife park with bison, elk and mountain goats; a petting zoo (here Josh is having a deep conversation with a goat); burro rides (the boys rode Rocky the pony and Raspberry the burro, both of whom stopped to relieve themselves along the route); and for the more daring, deeper of pocket, and 48" tall folk--a ride on the sky coaster, for a mere $25 a pop you too can be flung out 1,300 feet above the gorge. Thank goodness Adam is frugal or he would have done it.
This is how we returned to the other side, on a fully-packed red gondola swinging in the breeze over the gorge (look closely, it's there!). Surprisingly, it was easier to get across this way than the walk over the bridge. No sweaty palms this time!
Safe at last, back where we started.
Close to the entrance were a carousel, which the kids were anxious to ride from the minute we got there, and a small train taking us on a tour of...wait for it...some bushes and scrub grass.

You can see what Luke's favorite part of the day was. Look at that grin! Pure bliss.