Chubby Chicken in the Garden of the Gods

I am fascinated by big red rocks, I was in total awe when I saw the Garden of the Gods.  This land was a sacred place for the Indians and I totally understand why.

In the 1800’s it was purchased by Charles Elliott Perkins who gave it the name “Garden of the Gods” after he heard one of his friend saying that it was truly a garden fit for the Gods.  The land was given to the City of Colorado Springs in 1909 by the children of Charles Elliott Perkins at the condition that it remained a free city park accessible to all.  It offers the best hiking, picnicking and horseback riding in the area.  The rock formations are over 300 million years old.

Part of the Garden of the Gods

From what I was humbly able to understand when I watched the movie at the visitor center, the movement of the  tectonic plaques of the earth pushing against each other a long long time ago, formed the first Rockies (according to them, there are 3 Rockies formation eras).  Erosion by wind and water dissolved  part of the rock and transformed it into sand.  The sand was pushed downhill by the water and the wind where it accumulated until the pressure of the accumulated layers of sand formed sandstone.   Subsequent earthquakes broke the sandstones and part of them were tilted upward.  (That’s a very simplified explanation)

Whatever it was, I totally agree with Charles Perkins’  friend, it is really a garden fit for the Gods.  An awesome feast for the eyes.

Part of the Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods with Pikes Peak in the background

Does anyone know what kind of bird it is?

Funny thing happened at the Visitor Center, when in the movie room, the host asked where people were from, and sitting right in front of us, there was a mother and her daughter from, you guessed it….  Tallahassee!  It’s a small world!