Royal Gorge Railroad

06292018

The Royal George Route Railroad.

Hey KW, we are early for our train ride, do you want to go hiking with us.  This is a nice park with a very good trail to hike along the Arkansa River.  Let ask the gang to see if they want to go hiking.  Ok gang, the Tour guides are going hiking since we are early for our train ride.  A show of hands please if you want to go.  Ok Tour guide, its unanimous, no thanks, we will stay in the Jeep.












Mrs. Tour guide in a real working phone booth.  Just glad it was working and the Jeep is full or we may have been taking it home.  I still don't know who she was calling.


Hey Tour guide look over there, those trains are going to hit head-on.  No KW, they are on two different tracks.  Just watch as they pass each other.


Well they are very lucky.  I was watching TV one time and two trains hit  and derailed, one of then was a Circus Train and animals were running all around.  This lion ate some guy.  Both trains were mangled all over the track.  KW, that was a movie, the Greatest Show on Earth with Charlton Heston.  Well, anyway it was a head-on train collision.  Well, KW as you can see these two passed without any trouble.


Ok KW, get the gang together it's time to ride the Royal George Railroad.  Yipee, we can't wait to get our seats.


Hey Tour guide, can we order something to drink?  I think we would like a bottle of Pellegrino to share?  Sure as soon as the train leaves the station they will come around to see if we want anything.  Thanks Tour guide this is great.  Mrs. Tour guide told us about y'all getting it in Italy.  She said it was great tasting.


Hey, what are those people doing down there in the water?  They are rafting down the Arkansas River.  Well, I think I will just stay in the train.




Tour Guide taking with one of the Historians about the train.


Heading to the Royal Gorge Bridge.


The Royal George Bridge is a tourist attraction near Canon City, Colorado within the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park, a 360-acre amusement park located along the edge of the Royal Gorge around both ends of the bridge.


Now I really like riding up in this Vista Dome.  The view is great.  Hey Tour guide is that the engineer?  Hey who's driving the train?  KW, you can have the job if you want it.  No thanks I'll just ride, but I wish he'd get back to the engine.  KW, The train is stopped while he goes up to the front engine so he can take us back to the station.


Heading back to the station.


Riding on the open air car.  Hey Mrs.Tour guide, where is the Tour guide?


Oh wait, I see him.  I guess he is playing where's Waldo.


TTFN:

PS:
D&RGW Train No. 1.  The Royal Gorge Route Railroad is a heritage railroad located in Canon City, Colorado.  The railroad transits the Royal Gorge on a 2 hour scenic and historic train ride along what is considered to be the most famed portion of the former Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.

The Antiques Capital of Colorado

06282018.

Hey Tour guide, you forgetting anything?  Oh Tour guide, the jeep is packed, but we are not in it.  Come on Tour guide, this is not funny.  Mrs. Tour guide, please help us.  Hey, is anyone there?  CJ, I see Mrs. Tour guide is getting in the drivers seat.  Oh no, they are forgetting us.


The Rocky Mountains.


Don't ever drive through Denver during rush hour, or as KW said, NEVER AGAIN.


Mile High Stadium.  Home of the Denver Broncos.


Driving through Colorado Springs we pass the U. S. Air Force Academy.  Hooah Tour guide.  Aim High ... Fly-Fight-Win.


Hey Tour guide, what does that say on the water tower?


Hey Tour guide, its fat Hoodoo.


Florence, the Antiques Capital of Colorado.


Looking down the street in Florence.




Hey Tour guide, look over there, it's says NUVUE PHARMA.  What is it?  It must be cool because two food trucks are out front.  Can we go over there and get something to eat?  KW, they grow and sell weed.  Why would anyone want to buy weed?  Our yard back home has lots of weeds.  KW, it's not weeds like the ones in our yard.  Oh, ok then, what is this weed?  It is Cannabis, or more commonly known as Marijuna.  Oh ok, now I know what your talking about.  Weed, Pot, Reefer, Grass, Dope, Mary Jane .... KW, thats enough.  How do you know so much about it anyway?  I may have tried it once, but I did not inhale.


Beautiful Sunset in Pueblo Colorado.


TTFN:

PS:

KW, CJ, and LH were not left behind.  KW is so dramatic as y'all know.  I really don't think KW ever tried weed, but he does seem to know a lot about it.

Rocky Mountain High

06272018.

Leaving Nebraska.




Oh beautiful for spacious skies.
For amber waves of grain.
For purple mountains majesties.
Above the fruited plain!
America!  America!
God shed his grace on thee.
And crown thy good with brotherhood.
From sea to shinning sea!


Coming into Wyoming.


Cattle Ranch.


Horse Ranch.


Bunk house.


Coming into Colorado.


Estes Park Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park.


Mrs. tour guide stamping at the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center.


Rocky Mountains.


Rainbow Curve, 12.8 miles from the Beaver Meadows park entrance, lies on the outside edge of a wide switchback on Trail Ridge Road as it swings around a blunt ridge between Hidden Valley and Hanging Valley.


This major viewpoint at 10,829 feet is just below timberline, the transition zone between a subalpine fir and spruce forest and alpine tundra of grass and delicate  wildflowers.  The vista looks down on Horseshoe Park, an open grassy valley floored by twisting Fall River.


Fall River Visitors Center.


Heading to Longmont Colorado along the Big Thompson River.




Big Thompson River.


TTFN:

Wooly vs. Columbian

Here we go Tour guide, here we go.  Hey Tour guide where are we going today?


Didn't you put the coordinates in the GPS KW?  Oh no Tour guide, you saw how I used the map last night.  I still don't know where Neb Colo is.  Oh yeah I remember now.  Well I'll just watch you a while longer and then try my hand at it later.  Where are we going?  KW, we are going to the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs South Dakota.


Hey KW, we are coming to Dry Creek.  Hey Tour guide, Why is it called Dry Creek?  Hum, KW do you see any water in it.  Good point.


The Mammoth Site.


Skull of the Wooly Mammoth.


Skull of the Columbian Mammoth.


This is the most complete skeleton of a Columbian Mammoth.  The only thing missing is the head.  They named it Marie Antoinette.  Later exploration showed the pelvic bone to be that of a male.  They changed the name to Murray Antoinette.






Hey Tour guides, don't turn around, there is a very large wooly mammoth behind you.  Run Tour guides run.




Skull and Tusks of the Ancient Mammoth at the dig site.


Another Skull and Tusks.


Bones, bones and more bones.


And still more bones.


In the pit of the dig site.


You can almost get up close and personal.


KW, there be bones here.


That is one big Mammoth.


Everyone getting into the dig uncovering bones.






Tour guide making one of his souvenir pennies.


Hey this bone is really heavy.


We are finally dome at the Mammoth Site.  We are heading to Scottsbluff, Nebraska.  Hey tour look at all these road signs.  Which way do we go tour guide, which way do we go?  KW, you sure do have a lot of Looney Tunes friends, but you are not Willoughby the Dog.  But Tour guide, look at all those signs, how will we know which turn to make.  KW, remember, we use Eleanor.  Oh yeah that right, our GPS.


Welcome to Nebraska.


KW is trying out his photography skills on the long drive to Scottsbluff.  He has chosen black and white as his medium.









TTFN:

PS:

The Mammoth site of Hot Springs, South Dakota is a museum and paleontological site.  It is an active paleontological  excavation site at which research and excavations are continuing.  The area of Mammoth Site of Hot Springs encloses a prehistoric sinkhole that formed and was slowly filled with sediment during the Pleistocene era.  The sedimentary fill of the sinkhole contains the remains of Pleistocene fauna and flora preserved by entrapment and burial within a sinkhole.  This site has the greatest concentration of mammoth remains in the world.  As of 2016, the remains of 61 mammoths, including 58 North American Columbian and 3 wooly mammoths had been recovered.  Mammoth bones were found at the site in 1974, and a museum and building enclosing the site were established. The museum now contains an extensive collection of mammoth remains.

KW's Quiz for the readers.  Answers in tomorrows blog.

The first toy advertised on TV was?
How many bridges does the Amazon River  have?
Where is the only place that McDonald's isn't?