Button

TRAVEL GUIDE OF EXPLORATION AND LIFE EXPERIENCES.

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON  SAID:

TO MOVE, TO BREATH, TO FLY, TO FLOAT, TO GAIN ALL WHILE YOU GIVE, TO ROAM THE ROADS OF LANDS REMOTE; TO TRAVEL IS TO LIVE.

WEST OF COLORADO SPRINGS, NEAR PIKES PEAK.

Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs is very close to Manitou Incline. You can walk through the castle for free or you can have High Tea here for $45. The castle was built around 1895-1900 for Father Jean Baptiste Francolon and his mother. He was a french born catholic priest. The Sisters of Mercy ran a Montcalm Sanitorium here so the 14,000 feet of the property was not for only the priest and his mother. It is now managed by the Manitou Springs Historical society. High Tea is held in The Queens Parlor Tea Room and the staff members dress up in period costume. The castle has lovely garden areas with benches. I could have taken as long as I wanted to wander around and take photos but I took only four photos here.

Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs is very close to Manitou Incline. You can walk through the castle for free or you can have High Tea here for $45. The castle was built around 1895-1900 for Father Jean Baptiste Francolon and his mother. He was a french born catholic priest. The Sisters of Mercy ran a Montcalm Sanitorium here so the 14,000 feet of the property was not for only the priest and his mother. It is now managed by the Manitou Springs Historical society. High Tea is held in The Queens Parlor Tea Room and the staff members dress up in period costume. The castle has lovely garden areas with benches. I could have taken as long as I wanted to wander around and take photos but I took only four photos here.

This is the Old Colorado City Public Library. It is an Andrew Carnegie library that was opened in 1905. Almost half of the libraries in USA are known as Carnegie libraries because they were built with money donated from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. The library in this photo is one of the 2,509 libraries in the world that were built by the foundation and they exist in about 15 countries, especially USA, Canada, UK and Ireland; Andrew Carnegie was Scotish.

This is the Old Colorado City Public Library. It is an Andrew Carnegie library that was opened in 1905. Almost half of the libraries in USA are known as Carnegie libraries because they were built with money donated from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. The library in this photo is one of the 2,509 libraries in the world that were built by the foundation and they exist in about 15 countries, especially USA, Canada, UK and Ireland; Andrew Carnegie was Scotish.

Manitou Memorial Park has a Park and Ride lot next to it. You can park there and use Colorado Springs City Bus Route #3 to reach Old Colorado City and Colorado Springs. Or, you can hop on the Free Shuttle Bus that will take you to either Cog Railway Depot (which you will choose to ride up to the summit of Pikes Peak), or to the Barr Trail Trailhead (which you will choose to HIKE up to the summit of Pikes Peak), or to the Manitou Incline Trailhead (see my video page for MY hike up Manitou Mountain). This photo was taken on the Free Shuttle Bus. I also used the City Bus route #3 from Downtown Colorado Springs to first arrive at the Manitou Memorial Park to catch the Free Shuttle Bus. The city buses cost $1.75 and a bus transfer is available for using multiple routes.

Manitou Memorial Park has a Park and Ride lot next to it. You can park there and use Colorado Springs City Bus Route #3 to reach Old Colorado City and Colorado Springs. Or, you can hop on the Free Shuttle Bus that will take you to either Cog Railway Depot (which you will choose to ride up to the summit of Pikes Peak), or to the Barr Trail Trailhead (which you will choose to HIKE up to the summit of Pikes Peak), or to the Manitou Incline Trailhead (see my video page for MY hike up Manitou Mountain). This photo was taken on the Free Shuttle Bus. I also used the City Bus route #3 from Downtown Colorado Springs to first arrive at the Manitou Memorial Park to catch the Free Shuttle Bus. The city buses cost $1.75 and a bus transfer is available for using multiple routes.

Just read the sign. 🙂 Hall of Mosses is in Olympic National Park. This is just west of Tacoma Washington. We stayed at the Little Creek Resort in Kamilche Washington which is located at the south side of Olympic National Park. It took us three hours the next morning to drive to the entrance of the park. We had to park on the road after passing the pay booth. I paid $20 for a National Park Pass which is good for one year.

Olympic National Park > Hoh Rainforest > Hall Of Mosses.

Olympic National Park is about one million acres. There is "old growth temperate rain forest" here that once extended from Alaska all along the Pacific coast to central California. This park still reaches the Pacific Ocean for about 70 miles of the Washington state coastline. Hoh rainforest must be named after the Hoh river that runs through here. This rainforest is on the west side of Olympic National Park and it has many trails, picnic areas and camping. Besides the Sitka Spruce Trees that I mention on my  "To Vancouver Page",  there are groves of Big Leaf Maple, Vine Maple, Douglas Fir, Red Alder, Western Hemlock, Black Cottonwood, and Western Cedar. The Hall of Mosses trail is a really easy loop trail so it will end very close to where it begins and it has very little change in altitude (just a few feet). It is just shy of one mile long; about 1.2 kilometers. 

SO, THE ABOVE THREE PHOTOS ARE ALL FROM MANITOU SPRINGS AND OLD COLORADO CITY WHICH ARE RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER. THEY HAVE SEVERAL NATURAL MINERAL SPRINGS IN THE AREA. THEY EVEN HAVE A PUBLIC FOUNTAIN THAT NATURAL SPRING WATER POURS OUT OF. THE WATER DOES HAVE AN ODD TASTE BUT IT IS GOOD TO DRINK. THE SPRING WATERS ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE HEALING ATTRIBUTES AND, FOR CENTURIES, VISITORS HAVE ARRIVED HERE JUST TO GET THESE WATERS. THE WATERS FROM THE SPRINGS WILL TASTE DIFFERENT FROM EACH SOURCE. THE WATER COMES UP TO THE SURFACE FROM CAVE AQUIFERS BECAUSE OF ITS CARBONATED NATURE. 

Just read the sign. 🙂 Hall of Mosses is in Olympic National Park. This is just west of Tacoma Washington. We stayed at the Little Creek Resort in Kamilche Washington which is located at the south side of Olympic National Park. It took us three hours the next morning to drive to the entrance of the park. We had to park on the road after passing the pay booth. I paid $20 for a National Park Pass which is good for one year.

LAN SU CHINESE GARDEN IN PORTLAND OREGON IS AUTHENTIC IN ITS NATURE AS A CHINESE GARDEN. FOUR WEEKS BEFORE VISITING HERE, YOU CAN MAKE RESERVATION BOOKINGS. THEY HAVE A WEBSITE WHERE IT IS VERY EASY TO MAKE RESERVATIONS. MY WEBSITE WELCOME PAGE ALSO HAS A LINK WITH GET YOUR GUIDE WHERE YOU ALSO CAN MAKE RESERVATIONS. IT IS OPEN FROM 1000 UNTIL 1800. IT IS OPEN EVERY DAY EXCEPT FOR THE MAJOR HOLIDAYS. ADULT ADMISSION IS $16.00 BUT STUDENTS AND SENIORS PAY ONLY $15.00  AND THE COST IS ONLY $13.00 FOR CHILDREN FROM SIX YEARS OLD TO 18 YEARS OLD. FIVE YEARS OLD AND YOUNGER ARE FREE. I GUESS THEY FIGURE THAT A FIVE YEAR OLD COULD NOT APPRECIATE THE  FACT THAT THIS PLACE IS MEANT TO "CULTIVATE AN OASIS OF TRANQUIL BEAUTY AND HARMONY TO INSPIRE, ENGAGE, AND EDUCATE OUR GLOBAL COMMUNITY IN THE APPRECIATION OF A RICHLY AUTHENTIC CHINESE CULTURE" (I TOLD YOU THIS PLACE IS AUTHENTIC)..."THIS GARDEN IS THE RESULT OF A COLLABORATION BETWEEN PORTLAND AND SUZHOU, OUR SISTER CITY IN CHINAS' JIANGSU PROVINCE...BUILT BY CHINESE ARTISANS FROM SUZHOU..." (WOW, REALLY AUTHENTIC INDEED). THE WORDS I JUST QUOTED ARE FROM THE WEBSITE OF LAN SU; www.lansugarden.org AND IT ALSO STATES THAT THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST AUTHENTIC CHINESE GARDENS OUTSIDE OF CHINA. THERE IS A WONDERFUL TEA HOUSE HERE. IT IS YUN SHUI TEAHOUSE (CLOUD AND WATER TEAHOUSE). THEY HAVE MORE THAN TWENTY CHINESE AND TAIWANESE TEAS. IT IS A VERY COZY PLACE TO RELAX WITH TEA AND ASIAN SNACKS.