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Published: April 15th 2013
THE BASICS
Linda flew to NH on April 2, and was able to spend some time with Susie between Korea and Colorado. On Friday, April 5, though, John and Linda's plans took a detour. Linda found a lump in her groin area, which caused cancelation of her return flight for the next day and led to outpatient hernia surgery on the following Tuesday. She rested very quietly and comfortably at home, and then took a flight the following Saturday, and now we are reunited in Colorado Springs. Just one week lost, but what's one week when you're retired.
MEANWHILE, John had planned to pick Linda up in Denver on April 6 and they would go visit his cousin Donald and wife Nancy in Fort Collins. Instead, he went alone to his cousin's, stayed longer than planned, and had a grand time.
THE FLUFF
When Susie picked Linda up at the Manchester airport, she showed the engagement ring Brady had given her. A lovely surprise! NH looked very brown to Linda, with snow still in some piles, but she had a pleasant time. Oh, but there were some daffodils poking up at the end of the week. The week extension was not the most fun ever, but it certainly went as smoothly and comfortably as could be expected. Linda kept thinking she should phone local friends, but chose to vegetate instead. One annoyance about the trip back to CO - the airports in Detroit and Denver are massive!
John drove the RV and tow car alone from Albuquerque to Colorado Springs, with overnights in Las Vegas NM, Raton NM and Pueblo CO. And stops at various tourist attractions, coffee shops, public libraries (for Value Line). In Las Vegas, John met a couple who had worked for many years at Starr Island (just off the NH coast) and knew some of our friends. On top of 7700 foot Raton Pass, he stayed at a campground whose owner grew up about 20 miles from our NH home. In Pueblo, he went to the Chicago Fuel and Iron Museum; CF&I was one of the largest steelworks in the country in the early 1900's grinding out rails and other steel and iron items to tame the west. It is currently owned and operated as Rocky Mountain Steel by EVRAZ, a Russian company. Then he drove just the tow car up to Fort Collins. He took a four-mile hike with his cousin Donald, had a grand tour of downtown Fort Collins, went to what is probably the biggest and best HO train display he's ever seen, in Greeley, CO, and visited Horsetooth Reservoir, which is one of many reservoirs that bring water through a series of tunnels, dams, and canals, from west of the Rockies for irrigation in eastern Colorado.
It is so beautiful here in the Colorado Springs area! We are just to the west in Manitou Springs, an old supply town for the gold rushers that flooded to Cripple Creek in the hills to the west. It's a sunny day, though the breeze is a bit cool. The rain on our roof last night was snow on the mountains. And the view out the front window of our RV is of Pike's Peak! How could you beat that?
Today we went to the Garden of the Gods, which is a spectacular city park within Colorado Springs. The first area of the park was donated to the city with the requirement that it be open forever free of charge. The park has many, many red sandstone croppings like we have seen often on this trip. The park is full of trails and on this Sunday, there were plenty of people enjoying them. After that, we drove to Manitou Springs which is between Colorado Springs downtown and the Rockies. Amazing views. Manitou will likely be packed with tourists later in the season. It has many coffee shops, hippie-ish shops, and we really enjoyed our stroll on the main street.
There is so much to see in this area that we plan to stay tomorrow and then start toward Kansas on Tuesday. We don't know for sure what road we will take or how quickly we will drive across the midwest - possibly faster than our preferred rate of circa 150 miles a day. There must be plenty of things to enjoy seeing as we trek east.
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dennis mathews
non-member comment
not to be missed
Hi John and Linda: I have enjoyed following your blog entries of your current trip. I have been to many of the places you describe although perhaps not with the luxury of time that you have been able to enjoy. You were wondering about what to look forward to in your trip across the prairie. It may be too late to see the migrating Sandhill Cranes along the Platte River in Nebraska. It's an amazing sight (and sound). Back in 1981 I rode a bicycle across Kansas during a trip from the East Coast to Colorado. I can recommend a stop at the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum in La Crosse, Kansas . I don't know that you'd want to make it a multi-day stay but it would be good for an hour's diversion from the prairie. You'll be too early for the prairie wild flowers and grasshoppers that were always jumping on our legs. Have a good time. Dennis