After a quick Starbucks stop, we drove 5 miles down the road to enter Seven Falls & South Cheyenne Canyon. We climbed 184 steps up to the Nest observation platform, where we could see the falls in their entirety. After taking many photographs, we picked up our lungs & walked back down the stairs.
At the base of the falls there is an Indian Dance Area, that we were fortunate enough to come upon just as a family of Native Americans were about to demonstrate various tribal dances. At the end of the program they invited all of the audience children to join the dancers, who were also children & teenagers. Shaun happily went up & danced a ring dance of friendship.
At the completion of the show, we turned around & steadied ourselves for our next climb. Two hundred twenty-four steps took us along side each waterfall in succession, such as Shorty, Bridal Veil, Ramona, & Feather. Then we followed the 1-mile long Inspiration Point trail, which leads to the spot where Helen Hunt Jackson sat while writing her novel “Ramona”. The scenery was astounding & ever-changing as the clouds & fog shifted along the canyons. Kimi decided to branch out into video documentories, & narrated many of our stopping points along the trail.
By the time we got back to the visitors center, it was around 2:30 pm & we were hungry, having already consumed our snack provisions on the trail. We found an interesting sounding restaurant in our guide book & drove to it. The Front Range Barbeque is just on the eastern border of the area known as historic Old Colorado City, which is the original center of town. Luck was definitely on our side: 1) we immediately found a parking spot right at the corner; 2) we were seated out on the street-side patio next to the street which allowed us to 3) watch the hundred or so classic cars drive down the street as they left the Car Cruise Festival that had just ended. They had been set up on the closed-to-traffic main street (West Colorado Ave., which is where our campground is also located). After our delicious lunch, we were able to stroll down the street, still blocked off, & see the few remaining cars.
As we walked back to our rental SUV, we passed through Bancroft Park, where a young couple, dressed in regular street clothes, danced ballroom style silently while a man videotaped them. After a few minutes of watching, he asked if we cared to be in the video! Turns out the young couple are soon to marry, & this was part of their wedding video. We happily applauded them while being filmed – strangers in a park congratulating the about-to-be-newlyweds.
There’s nothing like applauding someone to work up an appetite, so we drove into the downtown area to visit Cold Stone Creamery. We have a happy memory of eating at a Cold Stone Creamery in Boston with Val, Greg & Monica the weekend we all got to cruise Boston Harbor on the USS Constitution, so this seemed like a good bet. As it turned out, there was a music festival, in Spanish, going on in the park across the street. This apparently was Festivals in the Parks Day in Colorado Springs! The kids ran their little legs off in the playground while Phil & I listened to music.
A very full day. We’re a little sad to be saying “goodbye” to Colorado Springs. There is so much more we could have done while here. We’ve already decided that we will return some day. This is definitely a city worth visting & exploring.
For photos of our escapades in the Colorado Springs area, please visit http://app.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/106189/.
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