Where the Elves Are

From the viewing platform shown in yesterday's post, if you can tear your eyes away from the mountains and cast them downward, you'll be looking at Highway 24 snaking through Ute Pass. The buildings with the colorful roofs are the North Pole and Santa's Workshop. That's right, the North Pole is in Colorado, not the top of our planet, silly! Okay maybe it's not the real North Pole but it's a fun place to bring your kiddos year round. They'll even get to meet Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

Rock Ledge Ranch (Part 1)

Last Monday I explored Rock Ledge Ranch with Frodo, our little dog. This is a living history farm and museum situated at the southeast corner of the Garden of the Gods park. At this time of year you can bet Rock Ledge Ranch will be nearly deserted, so it's a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. I took several pictures, which I'll share throughout the week. Here's the first building you come upon. I believe it's called the Chambers House but I'm not certain. I'll try to find a little more info on it for tomorrow's blog post.

See What I Mean?

Yesterday I told you that the new visitors center on top of the mountain, nearly completed, is visible to the naked eye from all the way down here, and it kind of ruins the view for me. Today I went to the overlook to get a picture that would illustrate my point. The photo above was taken with a 300mm lens, and the photo below was taken with a 50mm lens. In both shots you can see the building. What a bummer!

A Slightly Different View, and Not in a Good Way

I took this picture of our famous vista on October 25th, 2019. The view has changed since then. What's different, you ask? They are building a new visitor center atop Pikes Peak, and it's so big you can actually see it with the naked eye. There's always been a building on the summit but you couldn't see it from down here. I suppose if you looked very, very closely, you could just barely identify the roofline peeking ever so slightly above the summit, but you really had to be trying. And that was just fine with me. Look at this picture. Do you see a structure? No? That's how it should be, but alas, things change. If you check out THIS blog post from a couple of weeks ago or THIS one from December, you can spot the new visitors center if you know where to look. You can really see it in THIS shot. Needless to say, I find this situation very annoying because every time I look at Pikes Peak now, I see a stupid building that should be invisible! It actually sort of ruins the view for me. What a pity they didn't think of this before they broke ground. You're probably now staring at the blog posts I linked to and asking where the heck this building is, so I'll try to get a snapshot of the mountain tomorrow with a high powered lens so you can see what I'm talking about. Then you'll understand why I'm so irritated!

The Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun

I have lived here practically my entire life, and I've never been to the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun. This is a disgrace. Thankfully I had a chance to remedy that situation on Saturday, when some clients asked me to do engagement portraits there. I was very excited about this! Unfortunately, when we got to the Shrine, there was an attendant on hand who forbade me from taking any kind of portraits or professional photos, so my clients and I had to put our heads together and come up with another location -- but not before I grabbed a few snapshots for the blog!

Five stories high and completed in 1937, the Will Rogers Shrine was built by Spencer Penrose. Not only did he build it, he's actually entombed there with his wife Julie, along with two other close friends. So it's not just a shrine, it's a mausoleum. I didn't know that. I also didn't know that it contains a chapel, several pieces of renaissance art and furnishings, and a handful of historic murals depicting the history of the city and region. And of course a large part of the Shrine is dedicated to the life history of Will Rogers, who died during the construction of it. His sudden demise inspired Penrose, a close friend, to christen the tower in his memory.

Anyway, since I was on duty and had important pictures to take elsewhere, I couldn't hang around and check it out; we were only there for a few minutes. I'll have to go back to the Will Rogers Shrine another day and take my time exploring it. Meanwhile, you can find more history about it on the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo website HERE.

Mr. Penrose himself. He's the man who built the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the Broadmoor, among other notable things in our city.

Here's a look at it from the zoo parking lot. By the way, the view of the city from the Shrine is stupendous.

The home of Molly Brown

After checking out the Denver Modernism Show on Sunday (see yesterday's post), Pat and I had a bite to eat at Pete's Kitchen, our favorite Denver diner. While we were eating I mentioned that the Molly Brown House had crossed my mind recently, and I understood that it was reasonably close to Pete's. I've always wanted to tour it because I'd heard it was haunted (oooooo!), and of course also because I'm slightly obsessed with Colorado history, as you know! If you don't know who Molly Brown was, here's a one sentence description: Born of humble means, she became wealthy when her husband struck it rich in the gold mines of Leadville, Colorado; she later became famous for surviving the Titanic disaster and was posthumously nicknamed The Unsinkable Molly Brown. If you saw the blockbuster Titanic movie, you may remember that she was portrayed by Kathy Bates.

Anyway, with a little bit of googling we found that the Molly Brown House is mere blocks from Pete's Kitchen, so off we went! It only took a couple of minutes to get there. Since it was late Sunday afternoon, the place was closed, but I was able to get some nice pictures of the exterior. One of these days I'll take the time to actually go in there and take the tour. I'd love to see the interior and learn more of its history.

Tourists, we've got 'em!

We've got lots of 'em! For instance, this cute lady patiently posing for her husband in front of the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel. I don't mind tourists at all. After all, especially in the last couple of years with all the traveling we've been doing, I've certainly been a tourist myself many times!

A familiar sight

I was at the Air Force Academy yesterday morning, to do some engagement portraits at and around the Cadet Chapel. I got there before my clients, so I took a picture for you. One of the doors is open because some tourists wandered in (and back out) and left it ajar. That actually bothered me, so I walked up all those stairs to close the door, but my clients showed up at that moment and there was no time for me to take another picture with the door closed. So today you get a picture of the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel with its door open. Cheers!

Las Vegas trip [Part 1]

Last Wednesday we drove 816 miles to Las Vegas for the 19th annual Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend. It was a blast! I plan to blog vacation pictures for the next several days, starting with these photos taken on the first two days of the trip. The photo above was taken west of Denver on I-70, between Idaho Springs and Copper Mountain. So funny -- those bighorn sheep were in someone's yard! Now that's not something you see every day.

It's always gorgeous driving west on I-70! This is (I think) west of Vail, nearing Glenwood Springs. As you can see, we still have plenty of snow in the high country.

It takes about 11 hours to drive from Colorado Springs to Vegas. We were pretty wiped out when we got there late on Wednesday night, but the next day we were ready to do some exploring. After checking with the convention, we decided to drive to Hoover Dam. What a cool place! This is one of a pair of heroic, winged Art Déco statues, designed by Oskar J.W. Hansen, that adorn the dedication plaza.

I guess I have a healthy fear of heights, because I was definitely hesitant to go all the way up to the wall to take pictures. I had to inch my way into position! By the way, that's the Colorado River way down there. It's also the border between Nevada and Arizona. Oh and yes that's a bridge way up there in the background. People were walking on it and driving across. (Oh hell no.)

Hoover Dam was built in the mid-1930s and controversially named after unpopular president Herbert Hoover. By the time it was completed, he had been out of office for a couple of years. The stock market crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression occurred during Hoover's presidency, and he was a strong proponent of prohibition. No wonder he wasn't reelected!

Don't worry, Hoover Dam authorities, I have no desire to get up on that wall!

No sir, not getting on the wall, no thanks. (Gaaaaah!)

If you're a regular CS Daily Photo reader, you know how much I love Art Déco! Hoover Dam's architecture and design elements made me swoon!

Take a step to the left and you're in Nevada. A step to the right, you're in Arizona.

Art Déco is so beautiful!

This large relief by Oskar J.W. Hansen is dedicated to the workers who died in building the dam. There were 112 fatalities officially associated with the dam's design and construction, and dozens more deaths attributed to "pneumonia" that were probably actually due to carbon monoxide poisoning. The companies that employed the workers likely didn't want to be on the hook for those casualties, so they found a way to blame pneumonia instead.

I finally get to be a tourist, and what do I do? I take photos of tourists! Actually, this lady was making it hard for me to get a picture of the dedication plaza, so instead I took a picture of her taking a picture of the dedication plaza.

The Starsmore Discovery Center

This is a place you should definitely check out, and bring the kids! The Starsmore Discovery Center is a fantastic public nature center in beautiful Cheyenne Canyon. It's great for hiking, bird watching, learning about our local history, and just enjoying the outdoors!

Mark this one on your calendar! They do the Hummingbird Experience every spring around Mothers Day, and it's free!

This great water feature is inside the building. And no, that is not a real rattlesnake!

The United State Olympic Committee

I'm sure you know that the US Olympic Training Center is located in Colorado Springs, but did you know that the US Olympic Committee is headquartered here as well? It's on the corner of Tejon and Colorado, downtown. I think the Olympic presence one of the coolest things about our city. Champions abound!

The Pioneer County Office/Doc Garvin's Cabin

This little old cabin sits in Bancroft Park, in Old Colorado City on the west side of Colorado Springs. Believe it or not, this unassuming building was the first "capitol" of Colorado! You see, in 1862, when Colorado was still a territory, our second territorial congress convened in Old Colorado City (then called Colorado City), in Doc Garvin's cabin. Conditions in there were so uncomfortable, everyone decided to hightail it to Denver after only five days, thus Denver was christened the capital city! Its glory days were brief, but the cabin managed to survive decades of varied use (the morgue, the county courthouse, home to various families, a Chinese laundry, an opium den, a pastry shop, and years of vacancy), until Thayer Tutt, Jr purchased it in 1929 for $40. It was relocated to the Broadmoor, where it sat on the golf course and was used for storage (!!!), but eventually its historical significance earned it a spot in Bancroft Park in 1961, mere yards from its original location, after a brief spell on Capital Hill in Denver. I think it's a very interesting story. This little cabin played a big part in our state's history!

Durango

This week I've been blogging about the short trip that Pat and I made to the Four Corners region in mid-September. It's a long drive from Colorado Springs to Kayenta, Arizona (475 miles, to be exact), and Durango is a good place to stop for a breather in between -- it's the "almost there" point when you really need to stretch your legs and grab a cup of coffee before that last leg of the trip. And on the way home, Durango is the last glimmer of "civilization" (i.e., there's a Starbucks) before the 314 miles of largely mountain driving and tiny towns between it and Colorado Springs. So we made it a point to stop there on both stages of our trip. I've been to Durango before but I don't really remember much about it. What a cute town! It definitely has that "old west" look to it that so many Colorado towns have (including Colorado Springs). Durango is really booming now, very trendy and popular. It's also a tourist destination, in large part thanks to the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, the authentic steam locomotives that have been in operation since the 1880s. You can ride a frontier train -- it's the real deal! I have heard that it's a particularly beautiful journey. This part of Colorado is indeed spectacular, especially in September. I really want to go back there and take the train someday!

Durango's hip downtown is centered around the railway. The trains even have loud whistles, just like the old days (and I do mean loud). I think it would be extremely nice to live in beautiful Durango, but those railroad sounds would take some getting used to! I apologize for the haphazard quality of these photos. The first three were taken on the way to Arizona, and the last photo was taken on our way home, and in both cases we were really just desperate for a bathroom, a bite to eat, and some coffee!

I found this very intriguing! If you live in Colorado Springs or are a regular follower of this blog, you know that General Palmer was the founder of this city. Why is his name emblazoned on a hotel in a town over 300 miles away, on the other side of the state? I was so curious, I called the hotel and asked. They told me that General Palmer brought the railroad to Durango (as he did here in the Springs), and he opened the hotel there that bears his name.

I confess that we were waiting in line in the McDonald's drive-through when I took this picture out the car window! Ha ha! (For the record, I had french fries for dinner. Very nutritious.) How could I possibly resist grabbing a snapshot as the train slowly cruised  by? This guy has definitely been working on the railroad all the live-long day, and he has the grimy coveralls to prove it.

The Cliff Dwellings at Mesa Verde

The last official stop on our whirlwind tour of the Four Corners region last month was the Cliff Dwellings at Mesa Verde, where an ancient Puebloan civilization thrived for over 700 years. I visited there years ago with my family, but Pat had never explored Mesa Verde, so this was a cool experience for him. We did not plan on taking a tour of the Cliff Palace ruins, but as we were admiring the spectacular view from the overlook and regretting not buying tour tickets, a Dutch couple offered us theirs for free, saying they realized too late that they didn't have time to use them. That was so incredibly generous and unexpected! It ended up being an extremely fascinating experience, both from an archaeological and a photographic standpoint. It has been years since I was there, and I had forgotten how small and narrow the space is in which these people lived -- they must have been exceptionally tiny, not to mention sure-footed, because it would be very easy to slip and fall off into the abyss if you weren't careful. Our Park Ranger tour guide was extremely knowledgeable (and funny). We learned a lot.  I highly recommend taking a guided tour if you visit Mesa Verde.

Just as our tour was about to finish, the skies opened up and a deluge of biblical proportions hammered down onto the group. It was like Niagara Falls, just crazy amounts of rain all at once! As long as we were under the overhang, we didn't get too wet, but another tour group was bearing down on us and our Park Ranger clearly wanted to get out of there, so we had no choice but to trudge through the rain. There is only one way out, and it involves narrow stone steps, wooden ladders, and a steep, rocky incline. All of this would be challenging enough in good weather, but when you're going up and up and up, and torrents of rain are pouring into your eyes, and you're just trying not to slip and fall... it was crazy! To compound matters, I was carrying two expensive cameras and a couple of equally expensive lenses, and I was very concerned that they were going to be ruined. Thankfully one of the bodies and lenses fit into my waterproof messenger bag, and the other camera survived the deluge (there was much wiping off and lens cleaning in the car afterward!). So yeah, we got wet. REALLY wet. But it was worth it!

This photo was taken with a fish-eye lens, looking out into the canyon with my back to the ruins. As you can see, the clouds were threatening to let loose at any moment.