Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs

We woke up to another beautiful day in Colorado.

Today, we planned to go to Garden of the Gods and then head over to Manitou Springs.

We arrived at the Garden of the Gods and took the auto tour drive through the park.

It's an absolutely beautiful, peaceful place to be!

The kissing camels

We took several of the walking trails through the park

View through the opening of Balanced Rock on the right.

We stopped for another picnic lunch at the park in Manitou Springs and then headed to the

The visitor's center and museum are housed in this Pueblo dwelling with these wonderful views.

 After touring the museum, we headed to the cliff dwelling that the Anasazi Indians lived in over 700 years ago.

The Manitou Cave Dwellings was opened to the public in the early 1900's.

Some of the rooms and tunnels were large enough for all of us to walk through.

It was a great place to explore!

Our next stop was the Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs.  Construction began in 1895 by Father Francolon and his mother.  They moved into the castle in 1897, but then left to return to France in 1900 and never returned to Colorado.

Miramont means to look upon the mountains.

The house was really gorgeous.

The fireplace in the parlor, it is said there are hidden compartments built into it.

The dining room.

 The staircase.

Miramont Castle was a neat piece of Colorado's architectural history.