A Round Trip

Friday, July 31, 2015
Ken and I were up early this morning so we could take our motorhome up to Frederick, Colorado to finish the repair job on our bedroom slide.  It is about a 100 mile drive one way and we had a 9:30 am appointment.  That wouldn't have required such an early rising except we had to pass through both Colorado Springs and Denver downtown areas during rush hour.

The maddening part is we got there and they ended up not starting till 11:00 am.  But they did get the job done and we can now open our slide and pull it back in and lock it.  All important things!!!!!!

The drive back was again a slow one due to two different accidents that had everyone gawking so we were slowed down to a creep.  Still we were back by 3:30 pm and set back up for the night.

What an exhausting day for Ken to drive 200 miles and end back up in the same place he started

We did enjoy a trip into the historical Colorado Springs (less than a mile from our campground) with Frank and Bette where we enjoyed walking around and checking out the old buildings and peeking in windows as well as a delightful pizza at an Italian spot with a gated court yard where we sat next to a little fountain.

The Royal Gorge

Thursday, July 30, 2015
Today was our last full day here in the Colorado Springs area before heading East and away from the mountains so we decided to spend the day just soaking up the mountain beauty by heading to the Royal Gorge which is just west of Canon City.

Our drive took us through the very scenic front range

There were hundreds of the mountain sunflowers in the fields and alongside the road

and views like this of the mountains in the distance

After about an hour and a half of driving we arrived at the Royal Gorge Park and Bridge.  What a sight!!

At the very bottom (over a thousand feet down) we could see these rafts going down the Arkansas River in what appeared to be very challenging water. Railroad tracks run alongside the river for the Royal Gorge train that takes people through several times a day from Canon City. (we weren't able to take that trip)

From outside of the park we could see the gondola cars going across the gorge and knew we had to go in to take a ride and get better views.  Besides we wanted to walk across the bridge.

The outside deck gave some fantastic views of the park and its facilities

As well as this neat water clock on the deck

We could also watch people taking the zip line across come in

But we could also get on the gondola cars which is what we most wanted to do

On the other side, we started the very steep walk downhill toward the bridge.  One of the things we could see was signs still of the devastating fire that went through here in 2013 destroying most everything except the bridge (though some of its boards were badly burned)

In the distance we could see this ride that swung people out over the gorge

We also passed a large kiddie playing area with a carousel, slides, net and climbing area and bouncy horses as well as picnic tables with beautiful views.

  Below that area were a couple of buildings with among other things a little theater where they had an aerial act, magic performance and movie.  We watched the short acrobatic act and left.

The wild flower plantings around this spot were very pretty

and we now were close enough to the bridge to get a good view

Along the bridge were each of the fifty state flags

And some fantastic views of the gorge and the Arkansas River below

After lunch on the deck of the visitor center, we decided to ride the gondola back and forth one more time before leaving just so we could enjoy the view  yet again.

After that we took the ride on the little train that goes around about a mile of the area with cute little points of interest.

On our return, we again enjoyed the beautiful scenery as the sky got darker and darker and we could see rain in the distance.

In Canon City we saw a sign for a river walk so followed it and discovered a lovely walking path right next to the Arkansas River so we could actually be beside it not 1000 feet above it.  We felt like we'd come full circle in our travels since we camped on that river back when we were in Little Rock, Arkansas in early May.

We also passed a restaurant/gift shop that has closed with this huge rocking chair in front of it.

Frank and Bette were not with us for this trip as they were getting the oil changed in their MH and were going to visit a friend in Canon City tomorrow while we were traveling to the repair shop so they figured they'd visit the gorge at that time.  It seemed strange not traveling together.

The Air Force Academy

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

The USAFA resides on over 18,000 acres of land with beautiful views of the Rocky Mountains. It has a huge variety of outdoor athletic fields along with educational buildings and two very long dorms. There is also thousands of acres of trees for fostering wild life and providing field training areas.

After driving an area open to the public with over views of different parts of the campus, we parked at the visitor center to see the movie about life at the academy as well as visit the museum area and take the guided walk to the chapel. 

It was interesting to discover that presently the superintendent of the school is a woman - the first one in that position after 18 men.

Pictures and displays told the story of the Academy - its creation, goals, and so forth.  Frank was interested to see this picture of the original buildings in Denver used by students before this campus was built.  He lived in them about a year and a half later while stationed in that area.

But by far the best part of the visit is seeing the gorgeous chapel which sits on a huge raised mall area from which you can see the mall below with dorms on two sides and educational buildings at the end and a plane on each corner of the grass mall.

The chapel itself has four different worship areas 

The largest is the protestant one that holds seating for 1200

Its stained glass windows progress from dark to quite light going from the back to the front - the emphasis being on the light at the worship end.

In the second pew from the front is a very tall candle (it can be seen above) representing those military presently being held as prisoners of war.  The huge organ with all its pipes is visible at the back in the balcony

The huge cross at the front leans slightly forward and is held in place by wires so it won't sway

Below this chapel is the Catholic chapel

with the stations of the cross between each of the narrow stained glass side windows yet intermingled with the glass

It too has a pipe organ in a balcony

In this lower level there are two other much smaller chapels - one for the Jews

with this center piece in the worship area that represents the ten commandments with the first two Hebrew words of each in the circles

And nine paintings on gold leaf backgrounds portraying qualities each person should have (the gold leaf makes them each worth over a million dollars)

Very near by is the smallest of the chapels - one for Buddhists

A huge mall area with memorial statues of people and planes is on the outside (here is Frank standing by one of the ones for participants in WWI)

with several additional buildings for administration and cafeteria 

At the far end was this glass building shaped like the tail of a plane that is still in the process of being built

and behind it another building that included a cafeteria for the students and guests.  We decided to take advantage of it and have lunch while we were there.  This sign was inside giving artists drawings of the new building

By the time we finished touring the temperatures were dropping the winds picking up and sky getting very dark so we decided to head back to the campground. But first after several errors in turns that put us at security posts we finally found the overlook of the football stadium.  Unfortunately it was so far away it was hard to get a very good picture.

There Bette and I had fun playing several different games well into the evening.