Taos to Manitou Springs

A cracking start to the day though when we went to Michael's Kitchen in Taos for breakfast... and I think it was our first and best breakfast of the trip. The place was packed, and even though it is a fairly large place, we had to wait for a table for ten mins or so. But if you are ever here in Taos, go here. 

Then we headed north - as we had done the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge we had no need to step out of the car again, so it was a slow drive over and we headed into Colorado. The scenery was beautiful - probably the best it has been so far but that was about to be knocked out of the park.

Turning right at Salida and following the US-50. right next to the Arkansas River meandering right at the roadside was simply breathtaking. Luckily the traffic was moderate, meaning we were going at a fairly sedate pace, which allowed us to take in the view that was constantly improving at every turn and every crest. It was simply breathtaking. 

But then of course, we reached Royal Gorge Bridge & Park. Lynn is not really good with heights, Ella shows some bravado, and I constrain my fear! Thus, the girls were not really looking forward to this, though Lynn, to her credit, was determined to face the fear head on and embrace the sights we were about to experience.

Royal Gorge Bridge is bloody high! But being high, it is truly spectacular. Apparently it can be closed a lot because of the weather but today we were fortunate. It is expensive, a definite tourist trap and the America the Beautiful National Park Card is not valid here, but it is worth it. Due to Lynn's fear, we did not push things and therefore did not venture onto the Gondola nor the zip-line. Which is fortunate to be honest as we witnessed one guy stop on the zip-line about 3/4 of the way across. He was rescued though, but it took immense effort by him to regain momentum - but that sight put me off. 

The Skycoaster (middle pic below) - which is a fancy catapult swing type affair looks fun if you are into bunny jumps etc - but it was a firm NO from me!!

Lynn did exceptionally well and tackled the bridge with some determination that underlines why I like her being my wife. So much so, we celebrated her getting to the edge of the bridge (remember in Chicago she couldn't do so when we were up the Willis Tower) with an ice cream!! 

We were then headed to Manitou Springs where our hotel was for the next two nights. However we had one further visit - to Skyline Drive which is a most treacherous single lane mountain pass just west of Canon City. It is described as a white knuckle single lane pass that follows a razorback ridge... and it aint wrong! 

I intended to utilise the Insta360 camera and the car mount so we could get some awesome footage - however I bought a very cheap suction mount from Amazon and it was rubbish - so poor Ella had to hold the selfie stick up out of the window. Lynn however hid herself in her hat... she was not impressed!!

Once we were through here it was straight on to Manitou Springs all the while having a new passenger attached to the outside of the window.  We easily found out apartment and wander into town led us to the Border Burger Bar which served the biggest and nicest burger I have ever had!