Red Rock Canyon is another jewel in the Colorado Springs park system. Jack and Sue took us out on the trails through beautiful sandstone canyons.

A small lake provides water for birds and plants. The red and green in the park contrast with the white of Pike’s Peak in the background.

Dainty wildflowers popped up where rivulets provided a source of moisture.

Stepped cliffs show the scars from quarrying operations here. Red sandstone buildings needed a material source, and this was a major source. Starting in the 1870’s, 6x7x10 foot sandstone blocks were cleft from the face of Hogback ridge. The Colorado Midland Railroad transported the 25 ton blocks for use in grand public buildings.

Our trail leaders and gracious hosts patiently waited while Mark stopped to take another snapshot.

Back in the parking lot the owner of this car had a unique way of “repairing” bumper scrapes.

One of the many projects Jack and Sue have is restoring older homes to use as rental properties. One of them contains this vintage enameled steel stove and oven combination.

At the very least they will keep the built-in salt and pepper shakers.

After getting cleaned up, we headed out to explore the old Colorado City section of Colorado Springs. Many of the buildings here are built of the sandstone from Red Rock Quarry.

First stop was the Wobbly Olive where the ladies had a good chance to chat.

Creativity in menus is something I appreciate. Here’s a little section of the Wobbly menu.

After appetizers, we wandered down the street to Pizzeria Rustica where we thoroughly enjoyed sharing a variety of their thin crust pizzas.

Back at Jack and Sue’s we started packing up the van again so we would be ready to depart in the morning.

I think we walked more miles than we drove today!