Road Trip!: Day 10--Mountains and castles in Colorado

This was our last day in Colorado. We made the most of it by traveling another 6 hours on scenic roadway in the SE part of the state, from Woodland Park to Trinidad. Our route took us through mountains and across flatlands. Well, I say “flatland,” but that’s relative to being on top of a mountain. Even the flatlands are beautiful, surrounded by the foothills of the mountains. And, by the way, even the flatlands here are at quite an elevation—maybe 5,000 feet, for example. In comparison, Lansing’s elevation is 900 feet. What’s so cool is seeing a mountain or two in the distance, and thinking what a beautiful and awesome sight that is, and then driving right through it or around it. Once again, we were delighted by the views around every bend. By the way, I like the creative and descriptive names for things here: Hardscrabble Valley, Highway of Legends, Phantom Canyon Rd. One unexpected sight we came upon is called “Bishop Castle.” A man named Jim Bishop began constructing a cabin in 1969, using the local rock as his building material. Because it began to resemble a castle, he decided to build an actual castle. It’s a work in progress, and it is something else. People do climb to the very top—160 ft. above the forest floor--but we didn’t. In the castle are stained glass windows and lots of iron work. Also, a dragon’s head, made out of recycled, metal hospital trays, juts out from the front of the castle. The fireplace vents smoke out of the dragon’s nostrils, and fire breathes out of its mouth with the aid of a burner from a hot air balloon. We didn’t see either the smoke or the fire, but it isn’t hard to imagine it. You never know what you might see on a road trip! We also saw quite a few mule deer today, and a herd of antelope. We never did see a big horn sheep, although we looked on every rocky hill we drove by. We’re here in Trinidad for the night. Tomorrow, Taos, New Mexico!