A park at one end of Canon City provides easy access to the beautiful river that runs through the city. The same river travels under the royal gorge bridge a few miles away.
This town is on route to many destinations my family would travel for weekend camping trips or day hikes when I was young. The land is beautiful. Deer walk around freely. The pace of the city is slower than in Colorado Springs which is one of the many reasons my parents like it here. I appreciate the different advantages of both locations.
Canon City feels like stepping into history in many ways. As an old town which served as a transportation hub during times of the gold rush, the town still resembles a scene from an old western movie. The ancient unused prison at one end of it stands as a foreshadowing of the many prisons which would exist in modern times nearby. (NOTE: After writing this blog, I learned, the ‘ancient’ prison on one side is ruins which are uninhabited, and on the other side is still an active modern facility operating in the prison system. I am correcting what I previously said that the facility was unused.)
Yet the town exists like so many other towns throughout the state and country. Children go to school. Shopkeepers of small shops tend them each day. The city caters to tourists and those traveling through on the highway.
A large plaque on the side of one of the beautiful vintage buildings downtown give names and brand symbols of the local very active modern day ranchers. The city is not only featured in many westerns, it in many ways still resembles one.
It has been a good home. Thanks to Canon City for hosting my parents for many years and for the short time I have been here too. I am happy to contribute to the community’s elderly population in my current job with the CNA skills I have.
A few minutes by the river reflecting, resting, taking a breath is golden. All is right with the world.