Blogs from Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, North America - page 2

Monday October 31 Packing up and preparing to load up my truck for the long drive home starting tomorrow morning. Not because I feel any particular desire to leave in the morning but because Checkout time is 1100. 1 PM would be fine with me. Today I'll go by Cheyenne Spring in Manitou Springs and fill up a couple of 3 liter jugs with water from the spring. I could easily invest another month exploring the nearby mountains and National Forest from here but winter is making the mountains a bit more than my acceptable level of risk to drive in. And I am looking forward to spending time with family again. ... read more

Oct 28 Friday Morning - The plan today is to fill up my gas tank and take my bag of food, compass, and water with me just in case and take the gold camp road through the mountains. These will be some small and circuitous mountain roads so there is a chance I will get turned around for a bit or even decide to camp out overnight if I get a good view and it takes too long and it is not too cold. I will be taking the gold camp road which is the same route the miners took from Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek. I wanted to get on the road by 1100 so I guess I had better get moving. Evening: Started on the Old Stage Coach Road intending to take it till ... read more

Oct 22 Saturday The High Drive Today I got on 26th street next to the Hotel and took it Southwest till it became Gold Camp Road and then climbed up and up to follow the Gold Camp road where it goes around a very scenic route and through 2 tunnels on a very narrow road. It was paved then turned to gravel and got so rough I started to say heck with it and turn around but it smoothed out a bit and became much more narrow. So much so that you had to watch where you met cars coming down as you had to meet at a spot where you could go by each other. To add to the mix there were bicycle riders who weren’t particularly worried about cars from either direction. It was ... read more

Oct 21 Friday – Helen Hunt Falls – Manitou Springs Today drove out towards 7 falls and at the entrance of 7 falls instead of going in I turned right and climbed up the North Cheyenne Canyon Road to Helen Hunt Falls. It was a nice looking waterfall and free. From there I could have continued climbing up to High Drive but decided to save that for tomorrow and instead went to Manitou Springs to eat. I stopped at Savelli’s Pizza and had a 17 inch specialty pizza. It was very good and I ate half and boxed the other half to eat the next day. I noticed a sign on the door that you had to show your ID no matter what your age if you wanted a beer. I told them that was the ... read more

Looks like it has been a beautiful day outside but I just stayed in my room and took it easy. My computer was crashing every few seconds yesterday but today is working just fine although a little slow. Maybe it was just having a bad day. It is sure nice to not HAVE to do anything when you want. So guess I will just drink my tea and think things over and catch up on some light homework. ... read more

Tuesday Oct 18 The Springs - It got cold last night. Down below freezing but it has warmed up to about 46 degrees now which is actually comfortable with a light jacket. I took my truck to a repair shop and looks like I am going to get hammered on the repair but that’s how it goes sometimes. We were aware of the problem on the oil cooler line but I chose to go with it as it is because I needed to get to Albuquerque in time for the balloon fest. It would probably have cost me about the same to fix it at home as both I and my brother in law Bill are getting too old to be working on cars or trucks and I would have had to take it to a ... read more

Monday Oct 17 Colorado Springs My electrical taping up of the oil cooler line held up great from Scott’s Bluff to Denver , 350 miles It sure made it easier for me by letting me make it to a place I could deal with repairing it at my leisure. I thought I would stay in Denver but couldn't find a room I liked at a price I was willing to pay and I guess I really don't like huge cities anymore. I'm back in the springs again and paid up through tonight. I'll probably sign up for another week here this evening and be here through next Monday at least. I drove South out of Denver on Hwy 85 instead of the interstate yesterday afternoon. That's a beautiful drive. This time of year all the trees ... read more

October 12 - Wednesday - Today I went by 7 falls and Garden of the Gods again and explored Colorado Avenue where the restaurants and shops are located. At 7 falls I did not walk the 224 steps to the top of the falls but instead took the elevator to the observation post and took pictures from there. The weather was ideal. Tomorrow I will head up to Denver. ... read more

We had a beautiful night sleep and woke to clear skies and crisp temperatures. We had coffee and a nice breakfast and as I readied the camper for travel, Dee took Oscar for his walk. She came back telling me about some deer close by so I grabbed the camera and off we went. I found 3 mule deer bucks laying down by a campsite and another little buck fighting with a bush. Pictures….. We left the campground and headed toward Bear Lake. There were several trails from this area so it is very popular. We hiked to a falls pictures…. Then took a bus back to the parking lot and went to Mary’s Lake and hiked around that. Pictures…It is so much more enjoyable to get out of the car and smell the air, and ... read more