Day 2 ~ The Royal Gorge

Day 2.....Yawn, we're so pooped out from yesterday but nevertheless we woke up early and got the day started. We had a great breakfast. (if you travel you should defiantly look into staying at the Embassy Suites) We were out the door by around 7:30 am an on our way to Canon City. We went on the Royal Gorge Route Railroad. When we arrived they had lost our tickets that I had prepaid and ordered.....GEEZ... We finally got on the train and there were hardly any seats in the first 3 sections so we found a car on the train that there were only a hand full of people. It worked out great b/c there were so few people on this specific train car that the boys pretty much had free reign to walk around. The gorge was beautiful. The route follows the Arkansas River and is set in a beautiful canyon. We were fortunate enough to see white water rafters and guys kayaking. On the way back Levi went out to the open air cart to take in the view. He captured some really great photos. Finally I took the boys out there and we enjoyed the last little bit of the tour from the open air cart. A really nice gentleman who worked on the train took a pic of all of us.
















After our train tour was over we went to the visitor center and a park nearby where we had another picnic. This town was a little freaky in my honest and humble opinion b/c there were literally prisons everywhere. We asked why there were so many prisons there and were told there were 13 total and that they house the worst of the worst. Never really figured out why there were so many but I can only assume that it's b/c there's no where to run. One of the city's attractions is a prison museum.. JUST WACKY... Now I'm not a hater don't get me wrong. My B.S. is in Criminal Justice from the the University of Central MO but I just found it a little odd to have a museum dedicated to prisons although many of my colleagues would find it fascinating.

Talk to the hand Daddy!


The Royal Gorge Bridge and Park was our next stop for the day. Can I just say I couldn't be happier that I had a 50% admission discount coupon. While there we had a day of first for the boys. While Jackson has always ridden the carousel, we had never before been able to get the twins to ride. To my surprise Landon was thrilled to hop on for a go. Logan sat the first round on the bench. After we rode the first time he decided he wanted to try. I lifted him onto his horse and away we went. He was scared out of his mind and kept telling me, "Mommy, I'm so nervous." So cute! I'm so proud of him for sticking it out for the entire ride even if I did have to hold onto him w/ all my might. (he didn't want me to let go) Next we did the incline railway. I thought for sure I'd be scared but surprising the worse part about it was loading and unloading.. What a mess it was. At the bottom we were able to see the river really well. After returning to the top we took the shuttle across the bridge. She dropped us off where we took a short wagon ride pulled my mules. Next we went to see if the boys would ride the burrows. Jackson went first.. err.........he sat on the pony and got straight back off. Next Landon wanted to go... I honestly didn't think any of them would ride as they've never wanted to ride pony's in the past. The line was starting to back up so the worker suggested 2 adults could walk w/ the burrow and that would move the line faster as she wouldn't have to go each time. Well there weren't enough adults as we had 3 kids and only Levi and myself. However we met a super nice couple from Belgium. Our husbands teamed up. They took our two boys around then their two kids. It worked out perfectly. I wish we had gotten their contact info for the next time we go abroad.. I bet she is a scrapbooker. We ended up spending more time w/ them at the park. He spoke 5 languages and I think his wife spoke three. We then caught the shuttle back across the bridge and took the boys on a small train ride similar to the ones you'd ride at the zoo. Well we ended up w/ our first battle wound there. Landon fell and tore up his knee. Wouldn't you know we grabbed the wrong back pack from the car and didn't have any of our first aid w/ us. Luckily there was a nice man who offered us a wipe and a band aid. Once we got back to the car I doctored him up and put some cream on it. Poor guy...it's been several days and it's still a pretty icky scab.


















To finish the day we drove out of our way to eat somewhere we thought looked cool...Solo's.. Well while it looked neat the food was kind of terrible. I don't know if it is the altitude or what but food in KC just tastes better.


So back at the hotel; the boys are going bananas to go swimming at the pool. Levi took the twins and I stayed in the room w/ Jackson b/c I wanted to watch the finale of the Bachelorette. I missed the first hour. :( So am I the only person out there SHOCKED that she didn't choose Jason? I thought he was going to be the last man standing. I was sort of bummed at first...(I hope he'll be the Bachelor on the show soon) Anyway, so DeAnna picked Jesse. Surprised, but they seem to be so in love and hey what more can you ask for. Enough said.. We called it a night and headed for some shuteye before our next adventure.