Colorado Springs, Gods Garden

We left Trinidad to go north to Colorado Springs to the Garden of the Gods. This area is not marked on many maps but is to the west of Colorado Springs and a Must See. The other must do and see here is Pike's Peak. There are "Cliff Dwellings" but these are not authentic but just a tourist trap so be careful - we almost went but then realized what it was.
Colorado Springs is more beautiful than words can express and if I had to pick again where to live, this would be on the list of places most desirable to live - it's that pretty. Much of the red stone is reminiscent of the granite in Maine but is sandstone or a conglomerate of different stone with red iron sandstone sticking it all together.
Our first day at camp was fairly short since we got in a little late. The Garden of the Gods RV campground has wifi (although a little slow) and wonderful showers - the best so far. Water and sewer with every site. As a footnote, we do have a bathroom in the camper but we are not using it. We are not using running water. We use the camper as a step up from a tent. We draw water and heat it on the stove for washing dishes and we use the bathhouse for all other purposes. At this site though we did connect the water when washing dishes and we connected the sewer line to drain the water. We carry an electric space heater and we have a gas 3 burner stove. It works for us. When we took our first outing we just scouted around and did some walking.

Garden of the Gods is a registered National Landmark and the entire park is accessible by car and/or by bike and foot. After visiting the park though, it is obvious the park is very heavily used and I look for some features of the park to become off limits if they are to be preserved. The stone is fairly fragile and the wear and tear is obvious. Balancing Rock has now been cemented in place to prevent injury to people.
We went for a walk and unfortunately I couldn't walk much that day but we did get a few nice sights in.

We went to the Visitors Center there - it was very limited but we did get a map and saw a cool bird.

We decided to come back another day when I felt better. See this mountain? Keep looking at that mountain...I felt better the next day and we got to the top of this mountain - Pikes Peak.

There are two ways to get up to the top of this mountain: one is by cog railroad and the other is by toll road. Usually I would pick rail but in this case it was subject to closure by any whim so that even if it said it was running and you booked passage, it could cancel at anytime and even if you get on it can cancel while travelling and return you. In this case we decided to take the toll road. Taking the toll road you can stop at any point and take pictures and there are many pull off places and overlooks if you want to hike out somewhere. This was very preferable to the railroad where you are locked into non stop climbing and don't necessarily have time to take all the pictures you want. We took over 100 pictures and once to the top parking area, the walk is not far to the top. The summit is over 14,000 ft in elevation and we could definitely feel it. This is indeed a must do if you are in the area. It was in the 60s when we started out and there was snow in the areas that did not get sunlight but once on top the snow was several feet deep with occasional bare patches where the strong winds had blown it from the rock. Weather changes quickly on the mountain and the pictures show the difference from fair to overcast as we climbed.

There are many rock formations, rocky outcrops and overlooks that are spectacular.

There are three lakes on the mountain and of course all were frozen. There were a few brave (or unwise) folks skating on the ice. The temperature was not freezing. In fact it was above 50 and thaw was present at the very edge of the lake. There was no ranger to stop them from doing it. There is a small visitor center there but it was closed for the season.

There are several hairpin turns and it is not for the faint of heart. We stopped at the little shop where folks rest before the final ascent. Everyone there was excited and taking pictures. At this point, although very snowy, it was not cold - I was in short sleeves and not cold...but the wind had not started to blow yet.

Once at the parking area at the top, the rest was on foot - including the dog - well, the dog stayed in the car after the shot of her in the parking lot. 

There we are at the top of the world in front of a rock. It was worth it, although I could barely walk the day before, now I was on top of the world the next day - life is amazing.

Descending the mountain we took nearly as much time as climbing as we stopped for pictures and just to look and walk around. Not all pictures can be taken from the road and we surely took many on trails but most can be taken from a vehicle. I took this one coming down above the hairpin curve. Buddy stopped and backed up, turned off the engine and we waited for a car to be in the picture so there could be some scale to the picture. We like it.

 We drove through Manitou Spring, a town adjacent to Colorado Springs and we had to stop for a few mule deer beside the road.

This is a fairly old town with a lot of history and used to have a funicular that ran up to the water tanks that held the gravity fed water for the town. There is a trail there rated as extremely difficult that gains 2,000 feet in 3/4 mile and has the hazards of mountain lion, bear and venomous snakes. We didn't do that. Instead we took a side trip by following signs to Rainbow Falls. We had no idea what to expect but the falls were very pretty - although the stream is very unclean. There were young folks taking the dare to stand under the plunge of water and also daring to walk on the bridge support. It was a good place to walk the dog and gather a few stones as souvenirs.

The following and last day of the visit we returned to Garden of the Gods. This was a cold day. The truck needed an oil change and a bulb replaced - Walmart did it for Buddy and it was all done by the time the rain stopped. Good day for pictures. Beautiful place.

Balancing Rock is the main attraction. The underneath is cemented now because of risk to visitors. 

To the side of the rock is a large rock slab that now has supports under it so that kids can safely play under the outcrop. This was a crowded park considering it is only April.

Oddly enough there is a sign clearly stating not to climb on this rock but there is a stairway to climb it.

We took a fire road and we were rewarded with a great overlook from Waldo fire recovery overlook.

We stopped at the trading post which has been open more than 100 years. If you go to the area do go here. We found this to not be a tourist trap but instead a quirkish place with affordable items although we didn't buy anything but lunch. Local artists sell all sorts of items here and very little has the made in China label. Take a look at the solid wood beams in this place.

That's it for me folks. The campground does technically have wifi but there are about 40 others here and one wifi terminal - too many splits, not enough bandwidth causing this to take hours instead of minutes.

We leave tomorrow for somewhere south of here - maybe the Great Sand Dunes. It's been a real adventure and an outstanding trip. 

Here is the picture I will leave you with from the Garden of the Gods.

And the pilot and co-pilot of the trip!

Stay safe friends.

Out of Oklahoma and into Colorado!

Start this one off with a BANG - what a fine view coming into Trinidad Colorado.

But first let me say a few last things about Oklahoma. We stopped at Black Mesa Oklahoma which is in the very furthest western corner of the state and stayed the night. This part of Oklahoma is a little different and we saw some very pretty things. If you are wondering why we didn't go to Texas - we have already been a few times thus wanted to skip it to see something new. This is the same for New Mexico and Arizona. This trip is about getting to the ones we have missed. Black Mesa State Park in Oklahoma was the very last stop in Oklahoma. Great wildlife.

It was a nice park to spend a night and day. There is a small lake or more like wide stream. Antelope and Big Horn Sheep are what we saw here along with this lovely bird - it appears to me to be a flicker but I am not a bird expert. We really enjoyed seeing the antelope and the park is home to unusual rocks - hmm. Rocks, I like rocks.

We took the nature trail in the park that went around some areas birds like to visit. There was a lot of plant life and lovely rock formations but we didn't see any birds in that area although there are a lot of small birds that were present at the campsite. We made a mistake here by letting the dog off the leash. We didn't see the danger as she rarely wanders off trail (unlike me) and since I went up to this rocky area shown below, so did she and got into a lot of very hurtful cactus stickers. Buddy had to carry her back to the car where I had tweezers to pull them all out. We learned our lesson and we won't be letting her off leash again save in dog parks. 

We left for Trinidad the next day as it was the biggest town closest to us so that we could replace a turn signal bulb. These are some final pictures of Oklahoma. I want to stress again that while we would try not to return because we are not flat landers, it has its own beauty and we are glad we saw it. We were unprepared to encounter the side affects of seeing vast open amounts of flat land and what that does to your brain. The monotony of it fatigued us both and tired our eyes. We did not think it would be different than the flat nature of the desert but it most certainly is.

Our plan was to head due north into Colorado and then into Trinidad. Garmin had other plans. Some of our most interesting adventures have been when Garmin led the way - backroads off side roads and once we wound up in someones driveway because Garmin had it wrong but it is always interesting. Garmin led us south into New Mexico before turning north into Colorado but we got to see this and that was a treat indeed. I took a video of the very long train but won't embed it here since it is pretty big and I know some of you may have limited access. If you want to see it, let me know. I love trains.

Note the long extinct volcano.

And then it happened, just a couple turns and there we were!

Trinidad is just over the line in Colorado. Its claim to fame is being the sex reassignment city of the world or so says Wikipedia. It is an old coal mining town rich in history and while it has its remnants of coal mining days, it is a very well kept town. In the downtown area the sidewalks are lined with brick with Trinidad stamped into them. It is obvious they take pride in their town - as well they should. It is nestled at the foot of the Spanish Peaks on the Santa Fe Trail. The state park there is outstandingly lovely with views of the mountain. Just a heads up that in Colorado, the state parks are a little different as there are pay showers and one must make a reservation in advance. If there is an empty place, you may camp for 2 nights but must make a reservation immediately if staying longer and you cannot make a reservation at the park, you must do it on the internet or over the phone. We found that a little off putting but considering the beauty of the park, just a small thing.

Please enjoy the pictures from Trinidad Colorado - elevation is just over 6,000 feet.

This is the view from the campground itself. The moon was so bright no flashlight was necessary and I noticed Orion was just to the right of the moon higher in the sky than I was used to. The stars at night were just breathtaking - by all means, go if you can.

Here are some pictures of the mountains and a couple of shots of the town. We were so pleased to be back in the mountains again.

There are multiple rows of old coke ovens that are in the small town next to Trinidad. There are some abandoned homes obviously from the coal days and some abandoned churches and we saw a couple old cars from the 40s sitting in fields. Instead of mining now they are drilling for methane - I believe they are fracking but am not positive. 

We both are keeping well and actually better than I expected. However, today was a bad day for me. I am going to blame it on elevation and not enough rest. It's hard to rest when there is so much to see. The next blog will contain stuff about Colorado Springs Garden of the Gods. So much beauty and we are blessed and thankful to see it. 

I leave you with a funny story. We were getting some groceries at a Safeway....

The last Safeway we were in was in Hawaii and the cash card was declined because it had been flagged as possibly compromised - just Buddys card. Yep, happened again here at this Safeway. No problems, just used mine but we thought it an odd coincidence. In both cases a purchase at Walmart prior to Safeway had flagged the card. I called the number on the back of the card and they fixed it right up.

On the way to Colorado Springs a rock hit the windshield so I used the cellphone to look up and call a windshield repair company and they will be here today to fix it - what did we do before cellphones when travelling? We survived but this way surely makes it easier - Garmin makes it entertaining. One note about Garmin though - because we all have a GPS now, a good map is nearly impossible to find. We have a RandMcNally and a National Geographic but our favorite map is no longer printed and we go with the last one we have of 2011. I am very partial to a detailed printed map - I like seeing more than 5 inches of map at a time and knowing the geography of what is around me.

We are on Mountain Time - 2 hours behind the east coast. Being in the mountains, the sun slips behind the peaks early and although the sun isn't down, what I call shadow time comes early and lasts a couple hours before the sun actually sets. It is lovely.

We can see why people love it here!