July 6, 2023
This afternoon we are going to go to Happy Hour as a last gathering before we leave on Monday. We went to Folklore’s Irish Pub in downtown Colorado Springs. Appetizers were half off and certain well drinks were half off also. We ordered a tater tot app with corned beef. It was unremarkable. I had to order a Guinness. What else does an Irishman order when at an Irish pub? After Happy Hour we left and decided to continue the party back home. We offered our campsite.
Once we arrived home, I built a campfire and opened up our outdoor kitchen. Its is usually stocked with various beers. I also brought out our silver label Patron. Very smooth! We sat around the fire and talked for a few hours. We totally enjoyed this and would have done more of it except the weather was a little wet most of the time. We said our byes. We still have 3 more days to work.
July 5, 2023
Today is a me day. There were a few things that I was interested in doing but Nancy wasn’t. So today is my day to explore. Nancy will have the day all to her self and she can sew. She’s been working on another quilt so she will finish that up today. She has already done a quilt and a teddy bear for the Senior Park Ranger, Michael. He and his wife are expecting their first child in October. This current quilt will be our birthday gift for Aunt Carol. The plan is to give it to her Friday when they all come over again for a cookout. Fingers crossed that the weather holds.
On to my day. I started by visiting the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Fallen Fighters Memorial. It is located in Colorado Springs in the shadow of Pikes Peak. The IAFF is the US and Canadian firefighters union. I was never in the union as they did not unionize until after my retirement. Carmel Fire Department is Local 4444. The park itself is beautiful. From the parking lot the entrance has two statues one on either side and you take a short stroll to the memorial. The memorial is surrounded by two circles. The outer circle is concrete and in the concrete you will see words like Honor, Sacrifice, Family, Courage, etc. The next circle is composed of the granite from the original walls. This park was rebuilt in 2015. There is a large statue in the middle of the memorial with walls surrounding about 75% of it. On the walls are the names of the fallen firefighters by year. Next to each name is the state and local they are from.
Carmel Fire had started their paramedic response with medics and an ambulance from Riverview Hospital. That was the county hospital. They were stationed at Station 3 which was my station. One of those medics was Dave Edwards. He was a fabulous medic and very good at his job. He was also a volunteer firefighter with Castleton Fire Department. In 1988 he responded to a residence fire. After he entered the structure, he fell through the first floor into the basement where the fire was located. He lost his life. Since then I have seen his name on the Fallen Firefighters Memorial at the National Fire Academy in Maryland. I just happened to look here and found his name. I also remembered that Carmel had lost a firefighter a few years ago. I looked for his name, Mark Robinson, and found it in 2017. I was long gone before Mark was hired.
From the Memorial, I took a short drive to the Lester L. Williams Fire Museum. It is housed in the Colorado Springs Fire Department Headquarters. It was so named for the man that was their department physician and brought a lot of the equipment back to it’s original home. The museum is filled with many artifacts from firefighting history and Colorado Springs history. I watched a short video on a multi-department response to the Garden of the Gods area on a woodland fire. It destroyed several homes but a lot was saved due to the efforts of the responding agencies.
After the museum I headed north and arrived at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame and the American Cowboy Museum. I arrived just in time to see the video on the history of rodeo. It was very informative and entertaining. When we were in South Dakota we went to a regional rodeo and enjoyed it. Then in Tombstone we watched bull riding. Both venues were a lot of fun. Back home we have a local who sponsors a Pro Bull Riding (PBR) event. His name is Jerome Davis. I am hoping to get to more rodeo events once we are home. The museum and hall of fame is loaded with artifacts and explains the equipment and clothing cowboys wear and why. There is even some displays about Olympic events and ladies in rodeo. I thoroughly enjoyed my day but after all this walking I am ready to go home and sit down.
July 2, 2023
Today was another work day but after we finished up we headed up to Monument to Carissa and Brian’s house. We are going up for dinner and to see Brian’s other brother, Jeff, and his wife Christina and their baby Freya (sp?). They live in Washington state and came down for the weekend. It was really nice to see them again. This was the first time we had seen Freya though. Cute little thing!
The true highlight was when we handed out the pottery to the grandchildren. They came out so nice. The smiles on their faces when they saw their work was priceless.
July 1, 2023
Today is a very light day at work. After work, I am going to head up to Monument and help Brian with a project at his house. The project is to vent his microwave over the stove to the outside. Right now it is just circulating the air. This set up is very common. Once I arrive we get started. The first step is to see what lies behind the microwave. The bad news is that the original plan of venting straight out the back through the wall would not work. The kitchen was not designed for that. There is a stud in the middle where the vent would go. So we looked at going up and through the back of the cabinet. We took some measurements. One big problem is that Brian could not find the adaptor piece that mounts to the microwave to which the venting is attached. They bought the house last year and apparently that piece was thrown away by the then owners. We had the manual online and looked at the process.
We thought we found a universal adapter at Home Depot. Armed with our measurements we headed off. We looked at a few options but we did not feel comfortable with how somethings tied together and wasn’t sure about the installation. We then went over and looked at an actual vent hood. Neither of us had done this type of project before. So Brian decided it might be best to have someone with experience and expertise to do this type of install. He will call someone he knows for an estimate. To complicate matters for us he would of had to buy a hole saw and the exterior siding is fiber cement and we had never worked with it before. I know it is tricky stuff to work with. This trip to Home Depot just cemented our resolve to leave it to a pro. :) Pun intended.
Nancy had texted me and said that our pottery was ready for pick up. So on the way home I stopped and picked it up. We are heading up to Monument tomorrow so we will take it then.
June 30, 2023
Very busy day today. First we have our standard site cleaning to do. Then Nancy has the 1:00 to 5:00 PM shift at the front gate. The reason is that the gate will be open from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM today. The event is actually being held across the street at Fort Carson. They are hosting a festival with food trucks, games and things for the children, etc. This is all open to the public. Then the main event is at 10:00PM. Fireworks. Due to our ideal location across the street from the fort and being elevated above the fort, we are the ideal location to see the fireworks. So as not to miss out on an opportunity to bring in a little money, the gate is open.
When we finished our clean up for the day I put some dry wood in our fire pit. Don’t know why but we have a lid that fits over the fire pit. This lid will keep the wood dry in case it should rain, as a little rain is being called for in the early afternoon. Sure enough around 1:00 PM the rains came. Naturally this would slow the gate down a little. But then an hour or so later, the sun was out again. The radar showed clear skies. Around 4:00 PM I went out and started a campfire. I had decided that tonight we would cook outside over the grill and enjoy s’mores during the fireworks. We had taken steaks out of the freezer several days ago so they needed to be cooked. Bree and I sat outside after starting the fire and I was enjoying a cup of coffee. Rough life, huh? Then I heard the rumble of thunder. I threw another log on the fire and hoped I could get dinner cooked before the next rain. Once Nancy came home I put the steaks on our tripod. The tripod is something left over from our early tent days. It is a tripod with a grate that you set up over a campfire to cook on. It is wonderful. I also decided to cook up some potatoes with onions and peppers. So I put those in a cast iron skillet and set those to the side over the campfire on the fire pit grate. The thunder rumbled more and the sky darkened. I managed to get dinner cooked and then I covered the dry wood and added another log to the fire to see if I could get it to stay hot enough for s’mores.
Fortunately it never really came a bad down pour. At 6:30 PM we had been invited to the Camper Services building for a get together hosted by Carla and Angel Amen, our fellow work campers. They host one every year to coincide with the fireworks. Even though we had eaten, we went. We met a few of their friends and family. It was an enjoyable evening. Even though we were full we thought we would try some of their dishes. They were wonderful. And I picked up a few new recipes. ;) We left the catering and came home. The weather was clearing so we decided to sit outside by the campfire to wait for the fireworks. Fortunately I had dry wood and the fire had continued to burn. At 10:00PM the bugle started playing Taps at Fort Carson. That must have been the cue as the fireworks commenced. We sat our site and looked out at the fireworks. It was wonderful. The fireworks continued for a solid 15 minutes and then the grand finale. What a great night! And then it was time for s’mores. Nancy likes to soften her chocolate over the campfire so the tripod gets lots of usage. After the s’mores it was almost bed time so I cooled the campfire and we went inside. Have to work tomorrow!
June 28, 2023
Tonight we are taking the four grandchildren to a place called Color Me Mine. It is a pottery painting studio. Well, we met them there as Carissa and Brian brought them. The studio was loaded with various items of pottery that you can paint and then they will glaze and fire them. You come back in a few days and pick the finished product up. They also had several pieces finished to give you ideas. Georgeann chose a BB-8 to paint. The top portion comes off and it is a container. It just so happens that Grandma chose the same item but she is painting it for Andrew. Lachlan selected a large mug and painted it in the Indiana Jones theme. I believe he was going to gift it to his Dad. Emmeline is really in to panda bears. They didn’t actually have pandas but they did have a bear lying on its back playing with a cub. She painted it as a panda bear. Ellia was adventurous and chose a guitar to paint. Daddy plays guitar so she decided to do that. The guitar is about 18” long. It is really cool. And then I selected a container in the shape of an X-Box game controller. I chose this for Braxton. He enjoys playing video games. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to put on our 3 coats of paint. We all finished then in one sitting. Everyone had a great time, talking, laughing, discussing paint schemes, etc. They really enjoyed themselves. As did we.
When we were all done we walked down the street a little to the Cold Stone Creamery. Nancy and I had not eaten any dinner yet. The kids were going to get ice cream and eat it on the way home. I think the popular item was milkshakes. We said our byes in Cold Stone and went our separate ways. Nancy and I had a ways to walk back to the truck so we discussed what we wanted for dinner.
Once in the truck we looked up various restaurants close by. We decided to try Rock Bottom Brewery. My flight here consisted of a Watermelon Hibiscus Blonde, Liquid Sun, Gila Pale Ale, and Lighten Up! Kolsch. They were good. The Watermelon Hibiscus Blonde was only okay. It sounded better to me than it tasted. Nancy ordered a Cheesesteak sandwich and I ordered the Brisket sandwich. We thought we would each eat 1/2 of our order and then try the other 1/2 of the other one. Nancy didn’t care for the BBQ sauce on the brisket sandwich so I only had a bite of the cheesesteak. It was okay, a little dry for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the brisket sandwich.
Maybe I should be writing a brewery travel blog. :)
June 27, 2023
We have reservations for the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo today. We can enter at 9:00AM. The zoo lives up to its name mountain. It literally sits on the side of Cheyenne Mountain. We first entered and walked arounds the gift shop and kind of got the lay of the land. That is when we spied a couple of golf carts with signs on them that said “Shuttle”. Nancy went over to one of the drivers and got the scoop. It would cost us $3 each for all day access to the shuttle service. He said that most people will ride the shuttle up to the top and then walk down viewing the exhibits. The zoo is divided into two sides so they would do one side, walk down, then shuttle up to do the other side. Sounded like a great plan to us so we paid our $6 (money very well spent!). Here’s a map of the zoo.
We started our walk down through Australia Walkabout and then found our way into the Asian Highlands. Next was the Rocky Mountain Wild section. After looking at the bears and domestic goats we opted for some lunch. It was time to sit down for a while. We found the Rocky Mountain Wild Barbecue Company. We ordered a brisket sandwich and a drink and enjoyed a pleasant view in the shade, while we ate.
We were almost done with one side of the zoo so we continued our journey through Water’s Edge: Africa and Primate World. We then walked back to the shuttle pick up area where a very nice zoo employee radioed the shuttle to wait for us. We hopped on the shuttle to take a ride back down up and then down the mountain. Some individuals on the shuttle were heading toward the exit so we just rode.
Then is was our turn to ride the shuttle back up to finish our tour of the zoo. We first started with the elephants and rhinos at Encounter Africa. There were a few other animals there but the larger animals were the main draw. On the zoo map you will find all of the animals listed in each area. Our next stop was the African Rift Valley. The main attraction were the giraffes. You could feed them, pet them. Some were very photogenic and would pose. We found our way through this area and were back at the beginning.
We surprised ourselves. We spent over 5 hours here at the zoo. That was a long time for us. The weather was warm but absolutely beautiful. We purchased a couple of gift items and found our way back home. Very tired but it was a most enjoyable day.
June 26, 2023
Today we are spending the afternoon with the grandchildren just to play games and have fun. We had a great time. Air hockey was a big hit. I played Ellia and she beat me 10 to 7. We had dinner together and before leaving I told Ellia that I wanted a rematch. It was a fun day.
June 25, 2023
Time is running out on our stay here in Colorado. Our daughter, Carissa, had told us the Trading Post, in the Garden of the Gods was really cool. It has a lot of very nice hand crafted items. Of course those fine pieces of art also come with a fine price tag. We ventured back in the park to discover for ourselves. She was correct. Some very beautiful work. We did not buy any high end pieces but we did get some fudge and some popcorn.
We left the Trading Post and went to the Ghost Town Museum. It is a totally indoor town that allows you to step back in time about 100 years. It was very cool. We toured the town and also a residence of that same time period. I had to stop by the firehouse and take a few pictures. I thought it was done very nicely. As you exited, there was a brief video on pioneer living. And then as usual, you exited into the gift shop. We strode around for a few minutes and then decided it was time for food.
We were just on the outskirts of Old Colorado City. In Old Colorado City there was a nice place to try. It is the OCC Brewery. The food was good and the beer was good. My flight consisted of Monk By Day, Kyle “Love” It, Westside Pilsner, and My Brothers Keeper. Nancy tried a special drink. It was a cucumber, minty wine drink. It looked good. She said it was okay. For our food I had the Korean-Style Cheesesteak Sandwich. It was very good. Nancy had the Colorado Bison Slider. She again said, “it’s okay”.
June 24, 2023
Today after work we went back up to Monument but it was to celebrate Aunt Carol’s birthday. Brian and Carissa made a great meal and we had ice cream cake for dessert. It was another nice family get together. When I say family, I am talking about the Hendrickson family. Brian’s aunt, Carol, moved to Colorado also, last year. His brother Scott was already in Colorado. So they are the Colorado Clan. I can’t remember if I have explained this already. If so, I apologize. Anyway you cut it, it was a good time.
June 23, 2023
I have a lot planned for today after work. First, is replacing the door set on our bathroom door. During my hip replacement recovery the door handle also doubled as my handicap rail. Apparently it finally just gave out. I had ordered a new one from Amazon and it is a nice quality. That was job number 1. Next on my list is to replace the cabin air filter in the truck. I didn’t even know it had one. I just happened to be searching for something on YouTube and discovered the video on how to replace. one. It was very easy so I ordered an air filter from Amazon also. It took about 10 minutes to replace and it needed it badly.
With those chores out of the way were ready to head to Monument. One of the twins, Emmeline, attended a theater camp. She is a very theatrical person. Loves to dance and sing and entertain. The camp is having a musical based on The Wizard of Oz and The Wiz. Emmeline is the Mayor of Munchkinland. She did very well.
Afterward we went to Arlene’s Beans for dinner. It was very good. The specialize in New Mexican food. And after dinner we stopped in to Lollies’ for some excellent ice cream. All in all a great day!
June 21, 2023
We were supposed to work today but the load was very light and the Holmes’ gave us the day off. So we decided to take advantage of it and go to the US Olympic / Paraolympic Museum. It was very interactive and well worth the $20 entry fee for seniors. You walk in and once you pay, they give you a lanyard and a card. You now go to a bank of computers and enter your name, email address, etc. The reason for this is that this information is tied to your ID card that you are wearing. At a lot of the displays there are readers and will greet you personally. These readers will also track your scores on certain areas and will send you an email afterward. It is very cool.
After your computer entry, you move to one of several 10 feet tall screens and it will tell you about every Olympic athlete in the Hall of Fame. Of course you have the option to move from one to another. Or select by name or sport. Once an athlete is chosen, it gives you a brief bio and a brief bit about their accomplishments or reason they are in the Hall of Fame. Some contain brief videos. For me, as a youngster and teenager, I watched the Summer Olympics each time they played. I remembered so many names. It was great.
Next you went to an elevator and it takes you to the 3rd floor and you work your way down. It starts with the history of the Olympic games. I believe it is the next floor down that you encounter a very interactive area. First you can run a short dash. This is where your ID card comes in. Once you finish the race, you go to a kiosk and it will read your card and you select if you were in Lane 1 or Lane 2. It records your time. There are many other “training” activities to try. You can try your luck at a reaction area. There are five zones that you have to try and block like a soccer goalie. There are no actual balls hurtling at you but it is done with lights and sound. Not easy at all.
If you want something a little less physical, you can try and decide the best action of a Paralympic ice hockey game. Or move over to try your hand at slalom skiing or a luge. My favorite was electronic archery. They always give you pointers and how to play the game. You also have a practice round and then it keeps score. This was really cool.
There are a lot of very cool artifacts on display and a lot of great memories. The one thing I was surprised that wasn’t displayed more prominently was the 1992 Dream Team. There was a small picture and a brief blurb. At the end of the museum, you enter a theater and watch a brief video on what it means to be an Olympic athlete. When the video is over you exit through to the Gift Shop and then you exit the facility. We also found out that you can tour the Olympic Training Center. Very cool day.
One of the great things about being an RVer, especially a host, is that you meet so many nice people. We met and talked to John and Jeanne, who were in the site across from us. We decided to go to dinner tonight. We went to the Phantom Brewery. Of course I had to try a few different brews by ordering a flight. I tried the Dos Lunas (a Mexican Lager), Alpenglow Hefeweizen, Boxcar Amber Ale, and Northstar Pilsner. All were very good. For food I had the Brisket and Pimento Cheese sandwich. Nancy had a Beet Salad with Shrimp. Both of us thoroughly enjoyed our food. And it was a wonderful evening with our new friends. We finally decided to leave the restaurant and it was a real good thing we did. Our timing couldn’t have been better. Just after we got inside we had a downpour! And surprise, surprise we had hail! Ironically there was nothing showing on radar. It just popped up out of nowhere. Still a wonderful evening.
June 18, 2023
Happy Fathers Day to all you Dads! We worked this morning but this afternoon, Carissa and Brian and the grands are coming down to have a cookout to celebrate not only Fathers Day but also Nancy’s birthday. Her birthday was Thursday. Carol, Brian’s aunt, and Scott, Brian’s brother also came down. We had a really nice family get together. We cooked hamburgers and hot dogs over the campfire. Had lots of potato and macaroni salad. The grandchildren had a blast playing corn hole, practicing volleyball, and exploring the trails behind our site.
After dinner and some more exploring, it was time for dessert. What else could you have for dessert but s’mores! The grandchildren loved roasting the marshmallows, or maybe I should say burning the marshmallows. The graham crackers and chocolate are just icing on the cake, so to speak. I’m not sure but I think Georgeann ate the most at 5 but Lachlan, Emmeline, and Ellia each had at least 3 maybe. Ellia gave her last one to Daddy but wanted to roast more marshmallows. They enjoyed themselves enough that we are going to try and do this again sometime before we leave to go back home.
June 11, 2023
Today we are heading back to Manitou Springs to meet Carissa, Brian, and our four grandchildren, Georgeann, Lachlan, Emmeline, and Ellia. The destination is the Manitou Penny Arcade. Penny is a very gigantic misnomer. It took us both a while to find a place to park but we finally did. We met at the arcade and found an ATM and a change machine. The games take nothing but quarters. We all walked around and the kids tried a few different games, here and there. Ellia seemed to enjoy rides more than games but whatever makes them happy. The biggest hit of the day was air hockey. It started with Grandma playing Lachlan. He was really enjoying it. Grandma told Carissa that maybe they need one for their basement. She replied that Brian was already on it. Then it was time for Grandpa to play Emmeline. Then Georgeann played Ellia. Then we continued to walk around and play games. Eventually it was time to go so the kids were told to choose a last game. A couple of them wanted to play air hockey again.
They wanted to walk a block or two to the Sasquatch Sign Shop. Nancy and I had been in there a couple of days ago. They have a sign for just about anyone or anything. I’ll attach some photos here. We decided to go to Old Colorado City for an early dinner. We went to Front Range BBQ. It has appeared on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I was really looking forward to the meal. I, of course, ordered the triple meat platter to try the various items. I had ribs, brisket (what else? :) ) and burnt ends. I had their baked beans and the Southern Side of the Day, collard greens. The meal was good but I found the ribs to be a little dry. The burnt ends were good but really charred. Nancy again opted to have a grilled cheese but we also had fried artichoke hearts as an appetizer so she had planned ahead. They were good.
As we were dining a storm pushed in. Surprise! Surprise! We are talking thunder, lightning, and heavy down pours. We finished eating and paid and did so between downpours. Since we did not get a chance to walk to a good ice cream place with the grandchildren, Nancy and I attempted to find an ice cream shop on the route home. We found a Josh and John’s Ice Cream downtown. This is the same shop we had experienced in Manitou Springs last week. We got some pre-packaged and headed home. The grandchildren had a good time and it was nice spending time with our western family.
June 10, 2023
Nancy took care of a neighbor’s dog a few days ago and today they are leaving. But they are going to move out of their site on time and stick around to do some hiking at the campground or something. So they offered to return the favor for us. Since we have Bree taken care of today we opted to go to Cripple Creek. It is about 1 1/2 hours to get to the town. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t see the donkeys that will sometimes roam the streets downtown. This weekend is Rodeo Weekend. We were a little too late to see the rodeo. The other major attraction in town are casinos.
The drive enabled us to see a lot of beautiful scenery and a few angles of Pikes Peak. We had to stop a couple of times to allow the mule deer to cross the road. The town is in the Rocky Mountains and it is very hilly with steep streets. We found a place to park and walked down to the main street. Our first stop was the Brass Ass Casino. It is one of three in connected buildings and operates under an umbrella of Triple Crown Casinos. We walked around for a few minutes. We spoke with a lady and asked her some questions. The next thing you know we were signing up for our player cards and received a free gift. The gift will come in very handy here. Umbrellas. :) We set our limit and went to the Ultimate Texas Hold ‘em table. They did not have 3 card poker any longer. We played for a while and decided it was time to get something to eat. We had also played a couple of slot machines in Midnight Rose. We found a restaurant in the casino called Dynamite Dick’s. Nancy opted for the salmon and I had some excellent Brisket Mac N Cheese. It was awesome. Nancy enjoyed her salmon. The mac N cheese had brisket, BBQ sauce on top with a chili chutney and fried onion straws. Absolutely delicious. The chutney added a lot to the dish. Drinks were free in the casino so Nancy brought hers with her and I opted for water.
Nancy decided that instead of going out to a seafood restaurant for her birthday this would be her seafood dinner and the day at the casinos. After lunch we walked a little and stopped in a couple of shops. We crossed the street and went into Bronco Billy’s. We sat down at the 3 card poker table. We played until we reached our limit. Casino Del Sol in Tucson was much nicer to us than Cripple Creek. We searched for a reasonable dessert place. We decided our best option was going to be Perkins. They have great pies. We order a slice of Apple Crumb Caramel and a slice of Oreo Cookie Silk Pie. The apple pie was both of our favorites. The Oreo was okay. Another item checked off our list. Tomorrow will be a family day!
June 8, 2023
We finished work today and decided that since the weather was very nice we would venture out again after lunch. We opted to go back to the Garden of the Gods to finish our tour. We arrived and took off from where we left off. We made a few stops to see Balance Rock and the Scotsman. It is a beautiful park. As normal now, as we finished up sight seeing and was headed toward the exit, we heard thunder and felt a few drops of rain. That was our cue to exit. We made our way out of the park in a different direction today and headed home. As we were exiting the park, the rain started and then we ran into some hail. Very strange weather.
June 7, 2023
Angel and Carla made it back last night but despite our offer to work, they told us to take the day off. We relented and assured them we would work tomorrow. So we decided to do some touristy stuff. Nancy has been wanting to see cliff dwellings since Arizona. We were going to go when we went to New Mexico in April but those plans just didn’t work out. As we left the campground I spotted a white cloud behind the mountain and it was such a stark contrast, I just had to take a photo. So today we are heading to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. The site is actually an area that was chosen in 1904 to relocate some ancestral Puebloan ruins. These ruins date back to 800 to 1,000 years ago. The ruins came from McElmo Canyon in southwestern Colorado. It is located close to Mesa Verde. These ruins are much easier to explore than the ones in Mesa Verde National Park. It took them 3 years to complete the relocation.
It is a self guided tour with narration if you desire. You can listen at each stop and it explains what you are looking at and why. There are actually signs at each stop also. You can enter the structure and even climb to a second floor if you so desire. Some spots are narrow but I fit through just fine.
After walking through the dwelling we ventured to the Gift Shop/Museum. It was large and covered a few floors. As we were walking back to the truck we could hear distant thunder. This seems to be a recurring theme here.
We decided to go into Manitou Springs for lunch. Nancy had chosen a restaurant and when we got into town we found it a little difficult to find a place to park. We drove through town and then turned around to go back toward the restaurant. We found a spot on the street and took advantage of it. This was still 0.3 mile from the restaurant. We started walking and stopped in front of Manitou Brewing. We looked at the menu to see if this would be a better option. I left the decision up to Nancy. She came up with another restaurant called The Keg. As luck would have it, The Keg was directly across the street so we crossed and went in. Lunch was good. Nancy had a bison burger with blue cheese but it needed mayo. I had one of the specials, Prime Rib Grilled Cheese on Sourdough. It was very good. For me I had to try a local brew. I had an Avalanche Amber. It is a product of Breckenridge Brewing just south of Denver.
We meandered along the shops after we ate lunch. One store we ventured into was a sign shop. What ever your interest, they had a sign for it. I found a few that I found very funny. You can see the pictures and decide for yourself. Also found a few that would describe one or both of our children. Another shop that we just had to stop in was The Candy Bar. They had a wide variety of candies and what I would call “penny candy”. Penny is no longer applicable but I’m old. We did purchase a couple of items of items. They also had a wide variety of truffles. As luck would have it we were parked in front of Josh and John Ice Cream. For several years running they were voted best ice cream. We had to see for ourselves if this was true. We each got a double dipped cone. We can understand why now that it is such a great place. I have not seen such a variety of cones in one ice cream store. The selection was great. After our dessert we weighed our options. We contemplated going to Marimont Castle but as it was getting a little later in the afternoon we will leave this for another day. We opted to take a drive to another attraction in the area. We found Helen Hunt Falls in the North Cheyenne Cañon Park. After a little research I discovered that the falls are named for Helen Maria Hunt Jackson, not the actress. Helen Hunt was a poet and writer and activist for better treatment of Native Americans. We made the short walk up to the top of the Falls. It was a very neat place. Guess what, it started to rain so we headed back to the truck and headed home. I’m starting to see a weather pattern here.
June 3, 2023
We had to work this morning. Angel and Carla are on a vacation back home so Steve, Karen, Nancy and I are picking up the slack. We finished in time to grab quick showers and then off we went to see our granddaughter’s dance recital. Emmeline is a natural ham. She loves to perform and dance. So while her sisters and brother each have their thing, Emmeline has dance. It was a very cute show. It was also very long. The studio must have hundreds of children. The show lasted about 2 hours but it was very nice. Of course Emmeline was a star!
After the recital we went back to Carissa’s house so that we could celebrate Lachlan’s birthday. His birthday was a couple of days earlier but today is the day to celebrate with dinner and dessert. His choice for dinner is tacos. The boy loves his tacos. For dessert we had ice cream cake. The meal was delicious. It was great spending time with the family and gave us a chance to talk and share stories. It was a great day.
June 1, 2023
We survived the holiday weekend and found ourselves as tourist again today. One of the things I like to do is to visit local Harley stores and get poker chips. Sometimes shirts, depending on how much I like the design. I have to be very choosy now. It just so happens that we are situated between two Harley dealers. We headed south to Outpost Harley Davidson in Pueblo, Colorado. We walked around and looked at a few bikes for grins and giggles. It was interesting to see the electric Harley. Not a traditional look of a Harley but kind of neat just the same. Nancy has decided, since her fall and subsequent back issues that she will not ride 2 up with me. She will ride with me on a trike. They are very nice, comfortable, etc. but they are very pricey. Additionally I’m not sure I’m ready to give up 2 wheels. Time will tell.
Since we are in Pueblo we decided to check out the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo. It is a one mile loop of concrete walkways with shops and restaurants around a waterway. There are boat rides available if you so choose. We had Bree with us and she enjoyed the walk. The small section we did walk around was a beautiful fountain. The Pro Bull Riders (PBR) Headquarters is also right off this walkway. They had just moved from Colorado Springs.
Another statue feature was the history of the Goodnight - Loving Cattle Trail. I found this very interesting. In brief, the trail started in western Texas and the cattle were driven to Fort Sumner, New Mexico and then north to Denver, Colorado where they were shipped out by rail. In the concrete walkways you will also find imprints of horseshoes or animal tracks. Very cool park. There was a wall visible from the park but not actually on the riverwalk that was very cool also. See the pictures for the saying.
After walking a little bit we found a place to eat with a patio for Bree. It was the Brues Alehouse. The prices are a little high but the food was wonderful. Of course I had to try their various brews. Nancy opted for a grilled cheese with fruit and I opted for a Bacon Chile Burger. The grilled cheese was loaded with cheese. Nancy enjoyed her lunch. The Bacon Chile Burger is two smash burger patties, with bacon, aged white cheddar, two big jims, and mayo on a Brioche bun. I learned that big jims are chile peppers. They are very good, especially on top of bacon and a burger. For my flight of beer I got 4 - 5 ounce pours. I chose the Haus Lager, Brues Especial (Mexican Lager), Lagerhaus Wheat, and the Bruweisse Here (Hefenweizen). I enjoyed them all. They even served Bree with a bowl of water.
After lunch we walked around a little more until we felt that the weather was about to turn ugly. For our return to the truck we crossed over the waterway via the Veteran’s Bridge. On the bridge are plaques of local servicemen from all branches and all eras. It was very nice. After fueling the truck we headed home in the rain. It has been raining a lot since our arrival. Another location with unusual weather.
May 25, 2023
Today we decided to be tourists again. The morning started off by us taking out the trash. Nancy took a bag and set it on top of the truck bed and then came back to get another load while I locked the door. All of a sudden I heard her yelling “get out of here”. I thought she was yelling at Bree. No. She wasn’t. She was yelling at either a crow or raven. Both are large black birds. Apparently right after she left this bird decided to peck at the bag to see what it could get. When she came around the corner she had to yell at it to chase it away. However it did not go far. We could see it in a tree nearby. We started the truck and drove to the dumpster. The bird followed us and sat in a tree near the dumpster as we threw the trash in the dumpster. I thought it was hilarious.
After the bird incident we went to The Garden of the Gods. It is located at the base of Pike’s Peak and is totally free. The Visitor’s Center has a lot of great information and displays. They also offer an excellent 12 minute video for $6. It is well worth the cost. It explains in a very entertaining way how the formations were created and the billion years of how it came to be. After the movie we entered the park to start our tour. We got to the first parking area and got out to see the first couple of formations. We saw the White Rock, Kissing Camels, Tower of Babel, and North Gateway Rock. We started talking to a young couple about traveling. They were from the Atlanta, GA area. A very nice couple. We thoroughly enjoyed spending our time with them. But then guess what happened? You guessed it. Rain. And then let’s throw in the pea-sized hail too. We were done for the day. We are only a few minutes away and it is free so we shall return at another time to finish our exploration of the Garden of the Gods.