Highway scavenger hunt – Shoes

Taking a pause from road trip posts to ponder highway debris. Shoes are the most common item Gary and I see on our adventures. But honestly, I could write a whole blog about items left along the highway. Meh, I have enough blogs. Besides, this type of post fits right into our silly adventures. Now, about those shoes....

What's up with all the shoes on the side of the highway?

Did you ever notice that it's usually a single shoe?

What happened to the other half of the pair?

Is it out there somewhere searching for it's mate?

Is it hanging from a telephone line, the victim of a playground battle?

Nah, I guess the other shoe would be needed for balance, wouldn't it?

Anyway, it does make you wonder who in the heck is tossing all these random shoes out the car window, doesn't it?

The nuns at my Catholic grade school probably would have collected them for children in third world countries. I'm picturing impoverished people running around with mismatched shoes. I know. Funny/not funny. But still......

“And they'd be grateful to have them,” says Sister Mary Virgo, shaking her finger at the brainwashed, long forgotten, good little Catholic girl in my head.

Discarded highway shoes are kind of like pennies, aren't they? They add up.

Once when I was a kid, I made it my (also long forgotten) goal to always pick up found pennies, because who knows? I might find a hundred dollars worth in my lifetime. A hundred dollars was a huge sum for me to think of back then.

Similarly, if I picked up all the shoes I've seen along the side of the road since I was a young child, well, that would be a lot of shoes. Might even find a match eventually. Stranger things have happened. Hey, if I included those shoes that kids throw over the telephone lines, at least I'd have some matching pairs.

I wonder what Sister Mary Virgo would do if I showed up at the convent with a truckload of scavenged highway shoes?

Would she send them to the needy like she said she did with our leftover lunchroom sloppy-joes?

At least the shoes aren't as perishable.

In all seriousness, though, I do feel very badly for people in some other countries. Imagine how they would feel about this post. Imagine how they would feel about people so well off that their shoes have become a common, laughable, disposable item. We don't think of ourselves as rich, do we? But in comparison, we're millionaires.

We are so lucky. Or not. Because while shoes are commonplace for us, apparently, mindfulness is in short supply.

South Valley Park was not our destination, but....

Ha! I suppose that could be the title of any of these posts if we simply inserted the name of the place we ended up in. Gary and I do a lot of meandering. Spontaneous is what we do best. It's a good thing too because we are not planners. At least not with our down time.

On this particular day, we had decided to take a drive through Deer Creek Canyon. It's one of our favorite scenic drives. Along the way somewhere, we came across the scene above and a pull off for South Valley Park.

Colorado is chock full of these gorgeous little scenic parks with trails. We haven't “done” one yet that was a disappointment. Most of them contain an “aha” moment or two. Some contain thousands of photographer's dream scenes. In South Valley Park, there were so many that I had to reign myself in, as always, just so that I could enjoy the experience of the day.

We started up a bit of a slope in this forested area and immediately encountered some friends of the non-human variety. I didn't get a shot of the fox or the coyote we saw, but look what was hiding among the trees. Can you see the little family?

Colorado translates to “colored red” in Spanish, I'm told. And it's no wonder. Red rocks are everywhere, although there are areas with varied landscapes as well. South Valley Park was red all over. Even the trail paths were of typical Colorado red clay.

Here's the big guy up close.

We also had the privilege of walking beside views like this.

And this.

And up sloped trails beside rock formations like this.

There's another shade of red rock in South Valley Park. Next to the red clay rock, it's my very favorite. I love the marbled look of it. It often forms cave like crevices, which appeals to my inner explorer.

If you ever see branches blocking a path, along a Colorado trail (or any other trail, I suppose) it's a subliminal hint to keep out of the area the path leads to. In this case, it was a trail leading to the cave opening above on the right. I imagine this was to prevent injury.

Just before the sun began setting, we came across this cool branch “snake” that I deemed snap-worthy.

Check out this cool dude taking a break next to the scary branch snake.

 

And then, there were these guys. Not the greatest pictures, but a wonderful part of the trip, nonetheless. We run into huge herds on occasion too. Once we were lucky enough to film elks locking horns in such a group. 

As you can see, these deer were in the parking lot, so we were almost back to the car. But Colorado had other ideas in the form of a spectacular sunset that prompted us to head back into the park for a grand experience. Plus, you know. Pictures. I took a crap ton of them to be sure I would get at least a few shots to remember.

I think I did OK.

This one was when the sunset first made an appearance. It was a small fraction of what was to come. 

Once I took that shot, I turned around and saw this.

Then, I turned again and there was all this.

  I swear, you guys, I must have taken 50 pictures of that sunset. Here's a few more.

We looked back one last time. Our hiking day ended with this view in our heads.

And of course, as usual, we got to drive home through even more of colorful Colorado. It really does live up to the name, doesn't it? Love my home state more than words can describe!

A spontaneous road trip and a birthday surprise

For the record, this is not me.

I'm not much for being the center of attention, you guys. Gary knows that. So, quite often, for my birthday, we just take a drive up into the mountains. There may not be a single picture of me on a lot of my birthdays. Instead, there will be a lot of pictures taken by me. It works. I'm not all that photogenic anyway. Ha!

Anyway, on my birthday in 2014, we took one such trip, at the end of which, was a little town called Walden. 

There we encountered, quite by accident, Gary's cousin that he forgot he had. She took his card at a restaurant where she was the owner/operator and sole employee, saw his name and said, “Hey, you're my cousin, cuz. Surprise! LOL

You just never know what's going to happen on one of our adventures. For some stupid reason, I didn't take her picture either. We did, however, have a nice walk around town before heading back. It's a great little town. Chock full of action. (NOT) And that's just the way we like our towns here in Colorado.

Naturally, I also did not think to take a picture of all the crumbly old main street buildings, which were so old west, it would have been easy to believe we had gone back in time. You see, at that time, the adventure blog wasn't even thought of and I was pictured out from all the photos I had snapped on the way.

So, aside from Marty Moose there, I only took this one picture in Walden, looking out toward the mountains over the Lake? Pond? Swamp? I don't know, you guys. Typical, right?

It's not even that great of a picture. What was I thinking?

Luckily, I can redeem myself because on the way to Walden, I took some beauties. So here's my best picks of those pics. Please don't ask where along the way we were. I have no idea. I just takes 'em as I sees 'em.

Except for this one, which was the beginning of the trip. 

Still, don't ask me what road this is. LOL

And the last one, which was taken just before we arrived in Walden, of course. And they are in order. So, if you're an avid Colorado traveler, you may be able to discern our route, I guess. Otherwise, why not just enjoy them without the labels and such? That's the best way, anyway.

Oh, and by the way, just so you understand how incredibly awesome I am, but mostly in case you're wondering why some of the trees are blurry, a lot of these were actually taken from the car window, while barrelling down the highway. Don't worry. Gary was driving. 

Yup. It was a beautiful birthday! And seriously, do visit Walden if you get a chance. And if you do, don't be like me. Take some pictures of the actual town. Because who knows? You might need them for a blog some day.

The day we went to jail with John Wayne and my grandson

Follow the arrow to find John Wayne. Oh ya, he was there in all his cardboard glory.

Gary and I don't always take road trips alone or even together. In fact, a lot of the time, the kids and/or grands tag along. Sometimes we all get into trouble.

Once, we even ended up behind bars with the grandson and John Wayne. Actually, that's how you start out at Argo Gold Mine Tours up in Idaho Springs, Colorado. After that, they let you out to explore the mine and such. 

If you promise to behave, that is.(And if you make it up the cliff of crumbling, shifting mine tailings on the rickety bus to the entrance.) 

It was not as bad as "Oh My God Road" but still a seriously freaky ride! I would have taken a picture, but I was too busy holding on for dear life. LOL

Ever wonder what it's like inside a mine? Nathan's ready to show you now.

 Come on in!

Outside the mine, the guys start down the trail to see the rest of the tour.

I lagged behind to take some pics of typical and not so typical Colorado forest growth.

Our tour continued along the top of the cliff trail where you can look down on the staged wreckage of ancient and mysterious mining equipment. (Mysterious because we are clueless about mining.) Later on, we got to experience it up close and personal. We could have explored it before we went to jail, but decided the anticipation factor would make it more fun.

We also decided to mosey down (see how I used old west speak there?) the path a bit before entering the main building. Mainly because I had no desire to come back up the stairs to see what was on top. As you can see, I wasn't the only lazy one in the bunch.

I wonder what those old time, hard working miners would have thought of this pair?

Seriously? Bwa ha ha

Anyway.... We hiked it down a short trail where we encountered a few displays like the one the guys are lounging on, plus a mine entrance that was closed due to a back in the day mining accident. and the old mine office. Pretty cool stuff. I absolutely love old buildings, history, etc.

On the way back to the building we came across this grindy thing in the next pic.

Incidentally, I thought it was awesome that I'm from NY and there was a lot of mining equipment made there and shipped here, just like me. Ha ha 

Remember, I warned you, I am NO Rick Steves. I have no idea what most of this stuff is and it's not all labeled. That doesn't make it any less cool, though. So here it is. You figure it out. LOL

OK, now here we go, inside the main building where I'm guessing the ore was processed and the miners hung out, spitting “tobaccy juice” swapping horror stories, and avoiding going home to the “little woman” after a grueling day of risking life and limb for a few nuggets they didn't even get to keep.

(Sounds about right anyway.)

Inside the building above, there was a crap ton of this cool old stuff, including a seemingly bottomless pit with a swing over it. I cannot for the life of me remember what that was for, even though there actually was an explanation for it.

Just a couple more cool displays

And outside, well, we were hoping to go gold panning but Boooooo!!!!! The dude was eating lunch or some such thing. Imagine, the nerve! Eating lunch in the middle of the day! How rude! Anyway, there was this stuff to look at, so we managed to entertain ourselves.

Some of us, more than others, as you can see from the center photo

This pretty scene greeted us as we made our way to the car for the return trip.

Pretty sure Nathan had a good day!

Bishop Castle in San Isabel National Forest, Colorado

Once in a while, one of the places I've been pestering Gary to visit with me, turns out to be a real gem. Such was the case a couple years ago when we (finally) drove up to Bishop Castle. The place is absolutely astounding, considering it was hand built. The pictures don't do it justice. I believe that I actually gasped when we pulled up to it. It's enormous!

Now, a warning. I also gasped when we walked over the drawbridge, but not in a good way. The sewer authentically reeks of the middle ages. LOL

I gasped some more from being out of breath when we ascended the staircase that leads to the catwalk. 

And more when I entertained the thought of walking the catwalk, because, looking down through the metal work was a dizzying feat all in itself. It just wasn't happening with Lupus. 

And Gary, being the gallant night that he is, refused to storm the catwalk without me. So maybe sometime in the near future when I'm having a good Lupus day, we'll give it another go. At any rate, we still had spectacular views to enjoy. 

The inside of the castle provided us with the opportunity to view something else entirely. Much of the window space showcases amazing stained glass. For a price, you can even have your own stained glass art designed and placed in the castle.

This was my favorite of the larger pieces.

Most of the smaller ones like these were dedications or memorials.

A touch of history:

Jim Bishop has been building his castle in San Isabel National Forest, Colorado since 1969. He bought the land that the castle sits on at the ripe old age of 15 for just $1250.The year was 1959, a time when all things were possible. His dream then was not a castle but a getaway for hunting, fishing and climbing with a friend.

Bishop Castle had humble beginnings as a Colorado cabin. Observers mentioned the stone structures resemblance to a castle. From there, the dream grew into what it is today.

Jim Bishop has built this Colorado castle on his own, brick by brick, working a little at a time. Castle features include towers, wrought iron stairways and a fire breathing metal dragon. His father helped him up until 1971. He has tried (without success) to use hired help. For the most part, he's hand built every bit of Bishop Castle. He's still adding features to this day.

The castle turrets are spectacular stone structures with wrought iron stairways reaching up to as much as 160 feet tall. The metal art at the top and the stairways are an example of the handiwork Jim Bishop learned while working at his family owned iron shop in Pueblo, Colorado.

The fire breathing dragon is an exciting feature of Bishop Castle. It's made from recycled metal hospital trays. The dragon is powered by a burner from a hot air balloon. Mr. Bishop is planning to improve the dragons fire breathing power with the help of his son.

Mr. Bishop has recently added a sign garden to his Colorado castle. Signs make clear that Jim has no lack of disdain for the government and it's heavy regulation. They are basically his musings on this theme.

Mr. Bishops political dissent may be the reason his castle is not listed in Colorado guide books. It hasn't been subject to building inspections. Bishop Castle is a work of art, not a building. When visiting this tourist attraction, you are asked to sign a guest book that serves a dual purpose as a disclaimer in case of injury.

Bishop Castle has a gift shop attached. Items for sale include castle themed dress up clothes and props. There are also some political items and the usual Colorado souvenir fare. There are no admission fees for Bishop Castle. Donations are welcome. They're put toward construction costs.

Get to Bishop Castle from Denver, Colorado by taking I-25 to the Colorado City exit. Go NW on Highway 165 for 24 miles. You will see signs from that point.

Incidentally, one of the best things about Bishop Castle is the location. The San Isabel National Forest area is also known as “The Wet Mountains” due to the fact that it has a more moisture dense climate than most of the Rocky Mountains. It's quite similar to (but as most of the Rockies, much higher in altitude than) the Adirondacks in my home state of NY.

So, when we traveled to Bishop Castle, we also found a whole new region to love and explore. On the way back down, we took a back route so that we could stop at Lake Isabel. We were happy to discover several nice campgrounds en-route and also right along the lake shore. One of these days, we'll remember to book early. But until then, we're still happy with this beautiful day trip drive.