The first stop on our weekend trip was in Cañon City, with the goals of grabbing a bite to eat as well as scoping out the scenery in a new […]
The first stop on our weekend trip was in Cañon City, with the goals of grabbing a bite to eat as well as scoping out the scenery in a new location. With a slight hiccup in our morning commute (forgetting our National Park Passports at home, and of course, turning around to get them) pushing our arrival time in Cañon City from 11:00 AM to roughly 1:00 PM, some of our breakfast options dried up, including the local diner, Waffle Wagon.
But Happy Endings Caboose Café was also on the list of potential late breakfast/lunch options, so that’s the destination we set out for. Without doing too much research on the area, this turned out to be the perfect landing spot, with a park, river, and views all in walking distance from the unique train-style café.
I intended to get the vegetarian breakfast tacos (with eggs for some protein) but must have mis-ordered and got the lunch order of three tacos. Still hit the spot!
Arkansas River
An incredibly short stroll from the café leads right to the Arkansas River, which was flowing pretty well on this particular day.
Some ducks were streaming upstream. The white duck had trouble getting past a fast-flowing section, so the other two ducks waited for him, which was incredibly cute. More ducks to come later.
Crossing the pedestrian/bicycle bridge leads to Centennial Park.
A view from the middle of the bridge, looking West.
And looking East, to some fast-slowing rapids and a vehicle bridge.
The gnarly rapids from the side of the river.
Centennial Park
Duck Pond at Centennial Park. Swarming, with, you guessed it…
A slew of ducks, geese, and other birds.
There were so many birds, mostly geese, but with some variety. In this picture is also what may look like a human, but is actually a silly goose.
This cool-looking guy unfortunately seemed distressed, continuing to wail for some reason and paying little mind to passing humans that would scare most birds off.
Arkansas Riverwalk Trail
In addition to key information about using the river for recreation, the Arkansas Riverwalk Trail offered free honor system rentals for life jackets, which I thought was a cool public safety touch.
Though the trail technically pushed on past here, it seemed like a natural point to turn around.
Back towards Centennial Park, a large ramp access area to get in and out of the river.
The water was crisp and cold on this mid-May day.
Similar to the view from the bridge in the beginning of this photo gallery, except this one was taken at river level, from a rock in the middle of the river.
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