MANITOU SPRINGS

11 April, 2013…on to Colorado Springs

We headed out of Pueblo and made the short trip north towards Colorado Springs. We are staying at the Garden of the Gods RV Resort in Manitou Springs, a community on the west side of Colorado Springs and very close to the famous, Garden of the Gods. It’s a very nice campground and not very many people here at this time of year. We had a bit of lunch and are going to see what kind of stuff we can get into while it’s still cold. It’s supposed to warm up tomorrow so we’ll plan some outdoor stuff for then.

Manitou Cliff Dwellings

It’s pretty darn cold, but we decided to go check out the nearby Manitou Cliff Dwellings. While very interesting, we found the cliff dwellings to be a little too ‘polished’, if that is the word. Unlike most other cliff dwellings we have visited in places like Canyon de Chelle or Mesa Verde, these are very very clean and well preserved. A lot of that is do to the fact that these dwellings were actually moved from their original location and rebuilt here in order to preserve them. Nonetheless, it is a very interesting place to visit and well worth the it!

Manitou Cliff Dwellings,

“This 40 room site was originally located near McElmo Canyon, which is in the southwest corner of Colorado near Mesa Verde and Dolores. The process of relocating these cliff dwellings began in 1904 and was completed in 1907 when the preserve was opened to the public. Virginia McClurg, the original founder of the Colorado Cliff Dwellers Association, hired William Crosby and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings Ruins Company to begin this process. They wanted to preserve and protect the Ancestral Puebloan architecture from looters and relic pot-hunters.. Crosby’s men faithfully reassembled the dwellings in dimension and appearance to those in the four corners region. The one thing different that they did was use a concrete mortar as opposed to the adobe mud/clay mortar the cliff dwellers used. This preservation process allows individuals to walk inside and tour through our dwellings.”

Manitou Cliff Dwellings,

Linda trying on some hats at the Manitou Cliff Dwellings Gift Shop

After the cliff dwellings we took stroll through the Manitou Springs town center checking out all the ‘little shops’. Manitou Springs is a really lovely little town with curved streets and lots of very nicely preserved, old buildings.

Manitou Springs

12 April, 2013…Garden of the Gods

Today the weather is looking great, clear skies and not too cold. We headed off to the Garden of the Gods, a truly amazing place! We spent a fair bit of time driving around taking pictures, then hiking around, taking more pictures then a trip through the gift shop and time for coffee at the cafe!

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods – Pike’s Peak in the background

Garden of the Gods

The Gift shop at Garden of the Gods

13 April, 2013

We’re still here in Manitou Springs. The weather is not co-operating tho … woke up this morning to snow flurries and 26F temps with a wind chill of 1°F! Not my idea of a pleasant temperature! We drove into Colorado Springs downtown just to see what’s there. One thing impressive about Colorado Springs is the ever present Pike’s Peak which dominates the skyline to the west. The mountain is 14,107-foot and can be seen from just about anywhere in the city.

Downtown Colorado Springs – That’s Pike’s Peak in the background

On the way back to camp, we stopped in Old Colorado City and walked around a bit…like Manitou Springs, lots of neat old buildings and interesting shops! We also found the Michael Garman Museum & Gallery. Most of my family had a few of this artists sculptures which my parents had started collecting when they lived here.