I took mom and a friend to Rye, Colorado.   I wanted to see Bishop’s Castle.   This is a work in progress and exploring it was really fun.   Here we are.

Visiting the castle is free, but of course, there are containers for donations.   As you see, even picnic tables for picnics or just resting.   Notice those tall windows and the walkway around castle.   We will be there.   There are many options for entering the castle.   This is one, but not the one we used.

We walked around the castle first, entrances on each side and also in back.   We entered from a side and found spiral stairs.   First level was concrete stairs, then iron stairs.   We were inside one of the towers and it was rather dark.   Two flights up, we emerged in a large room.

The ladder reminds us that this truly is a work in progress.  From another view we saw Mr. Bishop mixing a small batch of cement, put it in a wheel barrow and head to another area.  These openings led to an outside walkway.   Let’s go mom.   Oh my, this is exciting.

We are walking around the castle.   Oh, what is that?

I believe it is a dragon.   We heard that someone donated all this metal to Mr. Bishop and he built this dragon.   We also heard that he placed some type of burning device inside, near the dragon throat.   If he wants, sometimes on busy weekends, he makes the dragon breathe fire.   From the ground we saw a metal bridge, maybe connecting two towers.   We want to find that bridge, so we start climbing again.

Soon we are climbing inside a tower, limited visibility, but what happened?   We climbed many steps, but never reached the bridge.   Well, look at that.

We are high above the bridge.   High being an important word here.  Mom had her finger over part of the camera, but you can see we are high.   That long building down there is the temporary gift shop.

In March 2018, a fire destroyed the gift shop and a guest house.  Later we will visit the temporary gift ship.  But we want to get to the bridge now.   So we climb down all the stairs until we arrive in the big room, or the ballroom.

This room is really huge.   I, Zeb the Duck, am on the floor in front of those windows.   You can hardly see me.   This is one of the few rooms in the castle.   OK, we climbed more stairs inside another tower.   Now we are on the bridge.   But, this is a bridge to nowhere.   You can see that the end of the bridge just ends.

Not connected to anything.   And not to sound like a worrying duck, but this bridge moves a lot when we walk on it.   Just glad it is not windy, also.   OK mom, I have seen enough from this bridge.   I think I would like to get my little duck feet back on the real ground.  Back on the ground seems so nice.   I like climbing and exploring, but the moving bridge did make my little duck heart beat a little faster.   Mom and her friend, with me, of course, went into the gift shop.   We did not see anything we wanted, but we did put money the donation jar to help rebuild the gift shop.   Then we went outside near the castle and put money in that donation jar to help with castle building expenses.   This is a great place and we want Mr. Jim Bishop to keep building.   This is another bridge, wooden this time, that goes into the bridge by the road entrance to the castle.

We went over the bridge and into the building.   The stairs to ground level are cement and it is very dark there.   You have the choice of stairs or walking around as we did when we entered.   Near the road we saw this.

This seems to be a model of the castle.   It is on wheels, so perhaps it goes, or has gone to fairs or other locations.   We don’t really know.  Mr. Jim Bishop has been working on this castle for about 50 years.   Each year he single-handedly gathered and set over 1,000 tons of rock to create his stone and iron fortress.   He says it is a “monument to hardworking people” and “America’s biggest one man physical project.”  When asked why, he answers “I’ve always wanted a castle.  Every man wants a castle.”  He says “I did all myself, and I don’t want any help.”   2018 was a rough year for Mr. Jim Bishop.   In March 2018 a fire destroyed the gift shop and in August 2018, his wife passed away.   And he still keeps building.   Looking back at the castle, built by one man, we admire this structure.

This is a day we will long remember.   We think you would enjoy seeing Bishop’s Castle in Rye, Colorado.   A little southwest of Pueblo, Colorado.