MORE FUN IN COLORADO SPRINGS

April 19, 2013 – The sun’s back!

After being in the deep freeze for the past couple of days there may be life yet in Colorado Springs. Thursday (yesterday) was a ‘veg’ day and we got in some marathon card-playing and movie watching. Thank God for Walmart $5 DVD’s!

Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum

Bruce got up early and headed out to Garden of the Gods to capture some photos with the early morning sunlight…it turned out to be well worth the effort, an absolutely beautiful morning!

Garden of the Gods & Pikes Peak

Pike’s Peak

April 20, 2013…Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum

Today (Friday) was MUCH warmer and got to nearly 50F!!! But with the sunshine out it really does feel warmer. We wanted to take advantage of the good weather to go up the cog railway to Pikes’ Peak. But when we called for tickets … it was sold out!! for the 9:20 trip. And they were saying there was no guarantee they’d make it to the top. Since the clouds begin rolling in over the mountains in the afternoon we thought we’d plan that trip for another day … possibly when we’re back from Hawaii.

Instead we visited the Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum in downtown Colo Spgs which was amazingly good! Housed in the old 1903 El Paso County Courthouse, it has 2 floors and dozens of exhibits of all aspects of the region. From paintings, to old photography, to pottery, native American artifacts, info on the black American experience in the region … to guns, bikes, clothing and more. What a beautiful building with it’s marble columns, birdcage elevator and a beautifully preserved courtroom (where they filmed Perry Mason btw!). And all for free! Time well spent!

Old El Paso Court House – Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum

Birdcage Elevator at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum

No one smiled in old photos! – Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum

Red Rock Canyon

This afternoon we hiked around Red Rock Canyon which is less than 1/2 mile from our campground! What a gem! Lots of trails in a beautiful area. They used to quarry a lot of the sandstone there that was used in building many of the local homes/buildings. It’s only been a park since 2003 but very nicely maintained and used by hikers, bikers and dog walkers. The sun was out and it was a lovely afternoon!

Red Rock Canyon – Manitou Springs

Red Rock Canyon

Old Quarry at Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

Steps at the old quarry site -Red Rock Canyon

April 20th
Getting ready for the big trek to Denver tomorrow. We’ll have to winterize the RV as it’s way too risky not to with the weather they’ve been having – we’ll do that 1st thing tomorrow morning. Today is laundry, packing etc. Bruce is heading out for a bike ride at Red Rock Canyon right now while it’s relatively warm and not raining or snowing!
We’ll head to Rudy’s BBQ tonight for our last meal in Colo Spgs … have to go back for some more of that smoky nirvana. My next post will be from Hawaii! Bye for now!