Last week at "The Springs".....for now.

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Saturday Oct 4 - A walk in the park - Today I walked on the trail from Schryver Park by Manitou Avenue and Hwy 24. It was quiet and almost no other people. I guess all the tourist are gone. It’s sad how most people vacation in the hottest time of the year when I have found September and October to be the best time of year to go almost anywhere. The crowds are gone, the prices are lower, and the weather is usually at its best.

Of course I understand most people vacation when their kids are out of school which is summer so I guess that's how it goes.

Oh well, all the little darlings are back in school as well as the college kids so most places I have to myself as long as I avoid weekends.

October 5 – Sunday - I’m drinking my tea and thinking things over at the Springs. It’s a sunny 57 at 9:50 and is supposed to warm up to a sunny 69 later today. My sleep cycle is more in sync with the weather up here. Whereas I usually lounge around and do research on my computer and almost never get dressed and out the door before 2pm that is the most comfortable time of day here whereas it is the hottest time of day in Texas.

Once I get motivated later today I guess I will go take a walk in Red Rock Canyon Open Space.

Later…..I never really got motivated and at length I just went to Savelli’s Pizza at Manitou Avenue and Crystal Park Road and got a 14 inch Savelli’s Special Pizza with extra cheese and took it back to the Lodge to enjoy with a coke and a movie.

October 7 – Tuesday – I went by the office and paid my rent for another week. Now that the weekend is over and my rat killing and wash is done, I guess I can venture out again.

October 8 – Wednesday – I started making my preparations for going to the Balloon Fiesta yesterday evening. I am always surprised with the distances out here. Texans get a certain sense of arrogance about how big their state is compared to others. But it doesn’t hold up out west. The trip to Pagosa Springs that I was looking at a couple of weeks ago was 250 miles each way from Colorado Springs (henceforth referred to as CS). That’s a 500 mile round trip!!

From CS to Albuquerque is 380 miles each way…..so that is a 760 mile round trip….geee.

So although I wanted to go to the balloon fest again there was a great deal of hesitancy on my part because of the 760 mile round trip. But last time I went the weather was bad except for a couple of days and so I want to go this time as the weather is showing to be good.

And besides…if I wasn’t going to do anything I could have just stayed home.

In any case I had considered leaving today but now will go tomorrow. That will get me to Santa Fe tomorrow evening, where I will overnight either in the SuperWalmart parking lot on Cerrillos Road or the rest area south of Santa Fe. I will probable get to Santa Fe in time to have a look around town a bit if I wish.

I will set my alarm for 3AM. Then I will head to Albuquerque and get in the queue for getting into the Balloon Fiesta Park. After I get parked I will set my alarm again for 6AM and take a nap.

The plan is to attend the morning launches and evening glows with fireworks Friday thru Sunday and come back to CoS on Sunday as there are no evening events on Sunday.

So that’s the plan. I guess I will invest most of today in studying my blogs on my past trips to Albuquerque and the last time I went to the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque.

http://www.balloonfiesta.com/ http://santafe.org/

I actually got to thinking about it and decided not to spend a ton of money and spend time going to the balloon fiesta on a 760 mile round trip to where I have been before anyway. I am already right where I want to be and should spend time exploring all the local area.
I got in another good walk in the Garden of the Gods today.

October 9 – Thursday – Raining all morning at the Springs followed by heavy rains this afternoon, followed by continuous rains all night.

Fountain creek just across Colorado Avenue from me is expected to flash flood tonight....I'll keep an eye on it.

4:43 PM - I noticed RV's are leaving from the Garden of the Gods RV park across the street and Fountain Creek from me. Hmmm.......

October 10 Friday – Today I went on a walk on the Midland Trail across Colorado Avenue from the Lodge. It ran alongside Fountain Creek towards Manitou Springs. It was overcast and acting like it wanted to rain so I brought my raincoat wrapped up tight in my shoulder bag.

The path was supposed to turn and go up to the Garden of the Gods but instead I ended up wandering through some neighborhoods and ending up on Manitou Ave.

So I caught the #3 bus on Manitou Avenue where I was at and took it to the other end of Manitou by Soda Springs Park, which I call “hippy park” because that is where all the pseudo hippies and hippy wanabes hang out. And some “transits” as well although I have seen the cops run them out from time to time. There is a large pavilion there that they hang out in. There is also a bathroom nearby which you can manage to stand the smell in if you breathe through your mouth instead of through you nose.

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Photos

A rainy day at the Springs
A good day to catch up on things

Comments

[Home and Away]

We'll have to do the Dinosaur Museum...
when you return in the Spring.

[Sojourner1208]

dino museum
Sounds good. I just never got around to it on this trip. Spring seems a long way away.

[D MJ Binkley]

The best place to be
Sometimes the best place to be is where you are. Seems as if there is still plenty in the area for you to check out.