Trip to Denver for my teen birthday
Should we climb the mountains of Denver, Colorado? Come with me as I write these rocky experiences. On July 9th at 6 AM, we flew the plane from Midway International Airport. My paternal grandmother also came since she is staying until October 2025. Once we arrived, we ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant where they served tiny but juicy tacos. On the drive, I also saw the Denver Broncos stadium. Then, we went to the Butterfly Pavilion. First, we saw the butterfly garden where I learned about their diverse colors. I also touched them.
Then, a tarantula was put on my leg.
Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula
Somebody also told us facts about the tarantula. One fact she told us is that "When it feels threatened, its back legs move fast and shoot the urticating hairs, which causes an itchy and numbing sensation." It was a wonderful experience, although it was pretty ticklish. We also saw various other types of insects. Then, we went to the pedestrian bridge in downtown.
It was basically a small connector between the train tracks below. Then, we ate dinner at BJ's and slept. On July 10th, we visited the Royal Gorge Bridge in Cañon City.
When we entered, someone recommended that we go to the bird show on the other side of the bridge. The Royal Gorge Bridge was built in 7 months and opened in 1929. The bridge was designed by George Cole and now holds more than 2 million pounds. After the 2013 wildfire, engineers put in new and modified steel cables. In today’s world, this bridge costs approximately 5.2 million dollars. On the bridge, I was stunned by the views and the distance from the ground to the bridge. We saw all the US states' flags and the US flag on top. There were also tiny gaps between the wood. If that cracked down, it would be scary. When we crossed to the other side, we went directly to the bird show. Instead of going up the stairs, people built a ramp for wheelchair users. After about five minutes, the show was not starting, and I decided to go on the Royal Gorge Train ride. We had a golf cart take us to the train since it was a hot day. There was the bold Arkansas River, determined people whitewater rafting, and all the igneous rocks. Then, we saw the bridge we were on just a few hours ago, which looked black. After some more train riding, we went the opposite direction. There, I saw some Bighorn Sheep basking on the rocks.
The wind was literally pushing me. After that, we went to an Indian restaurant in Crystal Rock. That is where my dad’s friend lives. My dad’s friend and his daughters came to the restaurant to wish me and give me and my sister gifts.
My dad’s friend’s wife is a pastry chef and gave me a delicious and creamy mango cake. On July 11th, it was my birthday, “YAY!”. We ate breakfast, and we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.
This zoo is unique because it is built on a mountain. First, we went to the third segment to feed the giraffes. We got permission to gather lettuce to feed the giraffes for free. It was fun feeding the giraffes and seeing their purple tongue.
Next, we went to see the elephants, wallabies, leopards, lions, peacocks, red pandas, sloths, and other animals of the US.
When we saw the elephants, there was a replica tree.
The assistant told us that we can pet the wallabies. My sister petted it. Next, we saw the animals of the US. Something interesting appeared when we saw the bald eagle. There was no enclosure, and no people around it, but it would not fly out.
At 3:00 PM, we had to leave the zoo to go to Pikes Peak via the COG Railway train.
The bottom was all forest and rock. A funny incident happened when our conductor said, “There is a Rocky Mountain flamingo,” when in reality it was a toy. As we were moving upwards, I felt like I was going to fall. I also wore my sweater since it was getting colder as we were going higher. When we were reaching the top, there was a lot of snow. I also saw a pika cuddling up on a rock. Once it stopped, we all clapped. The conductor announced, “We reached 14,115 feet above sea level.” It was my first time reaching this elevation.
Outside, it was super frigid. We took some pictures and went inside.
We ate the traditional donuts in the Visitor Center. Their high-altitude donut recipe dates back to 1916. It was just a donut with sugar on top.
Still, it was delicious. A few minutes later, it started hailing and I could not go outside. After five minutes, the health team announced that we could go on the train. As we ran to the train, the hail smashed my clothes and quickly became chaotic. After this awesome train experience, we went to the Garden of the Gods to honor the rock protrusions.
Next, we headed to Lazy DOG to eat dinner. I ate chicken teriyaki and a chocolate birthday dessert.
On July 12th, we ate breakfast and went to Estes Park. We took a few pictures at the sign and saw baby chipmunks, a steller's jay, a turkey, and a mockingbird.
My sister fed the chipmunks popcorn. Next, we drove to Alpine Peak. Alpine Peak is around 11,600 feet above sea level. My dad drove our car safely since there was only a one-way road. We definitely were frightened, but had confidence that my dad could drive safely. The right side of the car was rocks. The left side of the car was a steep drop.
Next, we went to Bear Lake.
The shiny reflections were calm. We also saw a duck waddling around. After that, we explored, left, ate dinner, and slept. On July 13th, our last day, we went to Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge because I wanted to go there. First, we saw many prairie dogs in their burrows. Then, we saw a herd of bison running. The calves were also running.
Next, we went to Panda Express to eat lunch. Then, we went to Little Man’s to eat ice cream. It was unique because it had a plane wing on top. Next, we went to mini golf. Each hole had a theme like Jurassic Park and Jaws. Finally, we dropped our car off, went to the airport, and flew to Chicago at 1 AM.
Please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prn5b7Vr53g
to see my trip in a video version.
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