Road Trip Recap {Part 4}

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is located just south of Colorado Springs.  We learned the hard way that this zoo isn’t included in our annual zoo pass, but we decided to stay and check it out anyway.  The giraffes are the star attraction here, and it was fun to watch so many of them.
           
On the mountain above the zoo, a stone tower stood alone overlooking the valley.  We asked about it as we purchased our tickets and were told that visiting the structure was included in our admission ticket.  The cashier told us that it was called The Shrine of the Sun and was also a monument to Will Rogers.  I thought that was odd, but we decided to go up and check it out.  I guess I don’t think of shrines and cowboys having much in common.

           

It was fun playing with my 16-35 mm lens here.  But you can see from the photo on the left that it does distort a bit when it’s at the lower focal lengths.  I walked back to one of the gardens and zoomed all the way in to 35 mm for the second shot.  Much better.
There is a sweeping view of the valley from the terraces.

We also visited Seven Falls state park.  The people who work there are very nice, and my kids enjoyed the gift shops, but compared to the bang for your buck that you get with the National Parks, the $27 admission fee was much too high.  In my humble opinion.


I did see a new bird there, so maybe it was worth it after all.  This is the American Dipper, and it is such a fascinating little bird.  I was looking down at the stream when I first noticed it bobbing and walking down into the water.  They walk along the streambed, completely submersed at times while they hunt for insects in the water.  It was quite entertaining to watch.

I’m linking up to Camera Critters with this post, since there are a few animal shots included.