Exploring Colorado Springs

Day 5  Clear sunny skies although windy – Temperatures in the 70s

We did not get up at 5 this morning. In fact, we took the pace down a notch so that we have staying power for the trip.

Today, we visited Old Colorado City. Established in 1859, it is the oldest city in the Pikes Peak Region. In 1917, Old Colorado City was annexed into the city of Colorado Springs and in 1977 was designated a National Historic district. While keeping the friendly, homespun flavor of the west, Old Colorado City is a center for shopping and dining. It is reminiscent of other tourist areas in the west like Estes Park, but on a more modest scale.

Although it was a clear, warm day, we marveled at how the wind and blowing leaves were a true indication of fall’s arrival. After window shopping, we decided to head out to Seven Falls. The falls are located in a natural box canyon. It is the only waterfall in Colorado listed in the National Geographic list of International waterfalls. Unfortunately, when we arrived we learned that the windy conditions and rock slides had closed most of the trails. So, we went to Plan B and visited North Cheyenne Cañon Park. The park is cut 1,000-feet deep into the 1.5 billion-year-old granite rock by North Cheyenne Creek. It originates at the Stratton Reservoir on Mount Almagre, (Mount Baldy is a local name). Mount Almagre is the second highest mountain standing to the South of Pikes Peak. About three miles up the Cañon road, is a small waterfall that afforded us the opportunity to take a few pictures and do a little hiking.

One observation that we have made is the commercialization of a lot of the natural and manmade attractions in the area. For example, Royal Gorge has the world’s tallest suspension bridge built in 1929 over the Arkansas River. They have added attractions around the bridge including a park with an incline railway, aerial tram, shops, carousel, etc. There is no way to see the bridge or walk/drive across it without paying a $31 admission fee. To us it seems like building an amusement park next to the Grand Canyon. We seem to prefer the natural wonders of the national parks without all of the commercialization. They truly are one of the greatest bargains in America especially for seniors with a lifetime pass for the grand sum of $10.

Tomorrow, we are heading to Alamosa, CO and the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

The Golden Hour

Day 4  Sunny – Low of 43 – High of 83

There is a time period in photography jargon called the ‘golden hour’ or ‘magic hour.’ It is the first and last hours of sunlight in the day. This is when the lighting is optimum for taking landscape photos. The good news is that sunrise is later now than earlier in the summer. The bad news, sunrise is still 6:30. We got up at five, had breakfast, and were out the door by 6:15. Since this was our first early morning adventure, we didn’t really know what to expect. As we left the hotel, we felt a sprinkle of rain and saw a sky filled with clouds…not a good sign. Undeterred, we headed for Garden of the Gods.

There were some people hiking while others were walking their dogs. The park was extremely quiet. You heard the birds and insects more than you do later in the day. When the sun started to appear above the horizon, it appeared to chase away the clouds. Yesterday afternoon, the mountains were obscured by a smoky haze from the wildfires in California. This morning, they were crystal clear. The one thing you have to have is a tripod as the exposures are very long. Luckily Bill got a new one so we swapped cameras as we saw the pictures we wanted to take.

The main paths in the central part of the garden are paved. However, as you get around the perimeter, paths are nothing more than tracks worn by the feet of man and beast. The only formation that required true hiking was the Siamese Twins. It was a fairly steep walk through narrow dirt paths, on sandstone rocks, and up high steps. We managed quite well and helped each other when we felt unsteady. Can’t imagine how difficult it would be if we hadn’t been conditioning for 3 years. Of course, there is always some true hiker that passes you going in both directions as you work your way to the top. Sometimes you just want to trip them.

We left the park at 9 and headed to the Air Force Academy. In order to gain entrance, the driver must present his/her driver’s license and the contents of the car are inspected. Linda gave them her license. For some reason unknown to anyone but the security guard, we were told to pull over for further inspection of the id. After about 5 minutes, we were given the OK to proceed.

There are currently 4400 cadets enrolled at the Academy. There were 1350 admitted to the Class of 2013. The first year cadets must complete 8 weeks of basic cadet training before they are admitted as freshman. Historically, there is a 28% drop out in the first year with most of it occurring in the first 8 weeks. We were told that some students didn’t realize that they had to wear uniforms, shoot guns, or learn to fly. Duh!  It’s a military academy!

We entered via the South Entrance which is approximately 8 miles from the main campus. This entrance takes you by the airport, football stadium, base exchange, medical center, etc. The only buildings on the main campus accessible to the public are the Visitor Center, Chapel, and Arnold Hall. The chapel, completed in 1963, is the most popular man-made attraction in Colorado. The chapel’s aluminum, glass and steel structure soars more than 150 feet into the Colorado sky. The Protestant chapel is on the first floor with a Catholic, Jewish, and Buddhist chapels in the lower level. The architect used airplane symbolism in the interior and exterior design. This includes the ends of the pews sculpted to resemble airplane propellers and the backs of the pews capped by a strip of aluminum similar to the trailing edge of a fighter aircraft wing. We had a great visit and learned a lot.

There is a fall ritual in every part of the US where the leaves turn color. Everyone hops into their car and tours the countryside looking for fall colors. Colorado is no exception. The volunteer at the Garden of the God told us to journey up the mountain to Cripple Creek to see the Aspen in their golden gowns. As we were eating lunch, we heard a local mention that he was going to Cripple Creek this weekend as he heard the Aspens are near peak. So it was destined that we would have to make the journey up the mountainside. The drive was like all mountain roads with hairpin curves, narrow roads and no guardrails. The Aspens were absolutely beautiful and well worth it. Cripple Creek is on the southwest of Pikes Peak. More than 100 years ago it attracted tens of thousands of gold-seekers to its hillsides in search of their fortunes. Just like Deadwood, SD, they are trying to rejuvenate the town by legalizing casino gambling and slot machines. The town was bustling and it looked like it had regained some of its former glory.

We haven’t finalized our plans for tomorrow yet as we keep getting new information and ideas.

We’re Not In Kansas Anymore, Toto

Day 3  Bright blue clear sky – cool – 47 degrees this morning.

Just west of Salina, Near Ellsworth, KS we came upon a huge wind turbine farm that ran along the Interstate for several miles. It contained hundreds of the giant turbines spread out over the landscape. We first noticed similar installations last year along Interstate 80 in Montana. There were several large-scale wind farms with some still under construction. It is difficult to comprehend the size of these units until you see them close up. We saw several extended flatbed trucks headed west as we were going east; each of the trucks carried one of the massive turbine blades, which extended well beyond the bed of the truck.

Yesterday, we had temperatures in the 80s. However, this morning we awoke to a cool 47 degrees. Yikes! It did get into the high 50s by late afternoon but we still got out the sweatshirts. Tomorrow it is to be in the 80s again but since Colorado has already had one snowfall it probably won’t last.

As we mentioned, Kansas from our roadside vantage point, is mile after mile of farmland. Unlike farms in New York and Ohio, we didn’t see a lot of wheat or beans although we did see a lot of corn. It was much shorter than in Ohio due to the many hail storms in the area. However, there was also another predominate crop that neither of us could identify. Each plant is about two feet high with a large loosely branched flower clusters on top. The flowers are a deep red or yellow. When we stopped for lunch, we asked and learned that it is Milo. It is used primarily as animal feed, but more recently in the manufacture of ethanol. In fact, we learned that it is better than corn for ethanol production.

We arrived in Colorado Springs about 3 PM. Our hotel is in the northeast section of the city, which is close to the Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak, and many other attractions. We decided to scope out the Garden of the Gods Park in the few hours of daylight left. The park, discovered in 1859, is composed entirely of sedimentary rock layers, and is unique because the rock layers have been tilted upright and exposed in dramatic fashion. Erosion has sculpted these sandstone rocks into fascinating shapes. There is a road that traverses the perimeter of the 480 acre park as well as many paved paths among the various rock formations. Donated to the City of Colorado Springs by the family of General William Jackson Palmer, it is to remain free to the public. We did the perimeter today but plan on going back tomorrow to do a more in depth look at the park.

One of the volunteers at the Visitor Center recommended the drive up the mountain to Cripple Creek and Victor as the Aspens are at their peak fall color.  If we have time, we will visit the Air Force Academy.  If not, we will leave that until Wednesday.  It seems good to be spending several nights in one location and not have a 400 or 500 mile drive ahead of us.

Observations:

Gas is about half the price of last year – $2.19 $2.39

Hotels 25% to 50% less expensive than last year

Kansas City Here We Come

Day 2  Clear skies although windy – lows in the 60’s highs in the 80’s

Today we left St Louis and continued our journey across Interstate 70 west. It was a beautiful day with clear, sunny skies. Set up with a good audio book for entertainment, we traveled across Missouri into Kansas.

Kansas City is bisected by the Missouri River with part in Missouri and part in Kansas. It has very modern skyscrapers as well as older buildings that are reminiscent of the early 20^th century. The Kansas City Royals stadium is on Interstate 70. They must have scored a run just as we drove by because there were fireworks exploding from the scoreboard.

We stopped for lunch at Arthur Bryant’s, arguably the best Kansas City Barbeque restaurant. We went to the original location on 18^th and Brooklyn. Bill had been to another location while in KC on business so knew what to expect.  Linda was clueless.  You walk in and see the menu on the wall above the counter. You can get anything you want as long as it is a sandwich with beef, pork, ham, turkey, chicken, sausage, long end – ribs, short end – ribs and burnt ends.  You have to decide before you get to the window or you will interrupt the flow behind the counter.  You grab your silverware, a plate, and place your order while handing them the plate.  Bill got burnt ends and Linda got a combo platter with burnt ends and pulled pork. The plate is covered with two slices of white bread and then the meat is placed on the top of the bread.  You can get fries with it if you like.  The burnt ends are smoked pieces of beef brisket in a dark rich red sauce.  The pulled pork was smoked pork hand pulled after cooking with a lighter orange sauce. They sell three of their sauces, but we are not connoisseurs so don’t really know which sauce was which. If you have ever been to a neighborhood joint where only those that know about it would ever darken the door, you would love Bryant’s. It is definitely not fancy, trendy, or even well maintained but it doesn’t have to be as it serves up great BBQ and that’s all that matters.  We would go back in a clogged artery heart beat.

The landscape in Kansas was much drier and more rural than Missouri.  Many exits are there for the ranches that own the land on either side of the Interstate.  President Eisenhower, a native of Kansas, championed the development of the Interstate Highway system.  Therefore, it is only fitting that in Kansas, we drove over the first section of the Interstate ever built.

We planned to stop in Salina, Kansas however just before we got to the exit we encountered Abilene, the home of the Eisenhower Center.  Although it was a Sunday and close to 5 PM, we decided to stop and see as much as we could.  Abilene is a well maintained city with beautiful homes along its main street, Buckeye Avenue. The Eisenhower Center is about two miles north of the exit. It includes a Visitor Center, Eisenhower’s Family Home, Museum, Library, and Meditation Center.  The only building open when we arrived was the Meditation Center which houses the crypts of President Eisenhower, his wife Mamie, and one of their sons, Doud. We had a good time roaming the grounds and taking pictures.

As we were leaving Abilene, we stopped to take pictures of the Seelye Mansion. Built in 1905 it was considered one of the finest homes in Kansas. It was interesting to learn that Dr A. B. Seelye made his fortune selling family remedies including Wasa-Tusa (70 – 80% alcohol), Fro-Zona, and over 100 other products.

Tomorrow we’re off to Colorado Springs.

Gateway To The West

Day 1  Mostly rain with temperatures in the 60’s

It was cool and raining when we left Dublin, Ohio this morning. We hit short periods of sunshine, but it was either raining or cloudy most of the day. We planned a very manageable first day with our first stop in St Louis, Missouri, the Gateway to the West. Following Interstate 70 west took us through Brazil and Paris. No, we are not following some weird TripTik, it was Brazil, Indiana and Paris, Illinois.

When we drove through Vandalia, Illinois, we hit a severe rain storm with hail. The hail was so big we expected to find dents in the car when we got out. The rain was so heavy and visibility so poor that we pulled the car off the road to avoid an accident. Luckily, it only lasted a few minutes.

When we arrived in St Louis about 3 PM, we checked into the hotel, and immediately got out the camera gear to take advantage of the sunshine that finally broke out. Making the most of it, we headed downtown to the riverfront and the Arch. There is a beautiful park in front of the Old Courthouse that is now called the Jefferson National Expansion Museum. It has a manmade waterfall that appears to be the destination for all area weddings. The wedding party is scattered on the promontories throughout the waterfall with the photographer standing in ankle deep water to take the shot. Somehow we could imagine ourselves doing that very thing when we photographed weddings.

Unfortunately, our photographic adventure was short lived as the clouds and rain caught up to us. So, we went to the museum located under the Arch. The security to get in the museum was similar in manner and scope to that at an airport. Individuals went through metal detectors; bags were visually searched and x-rayed. Family and friends recommended the movie about the construction of the Arch and the trip to the top of the Arch but both were sold out.  The exhibits were extensive and gave a thorough explanation of the Louisiana Purchase and life of the settlers heading west.

As we left the Museum, it was still raining but the clouds were breaking up.  As we reached Fourth Street, we turned around to look toward the river and saw the most beautiful rainbow intersecting the Arch. We felt very fortunate to have witnessed it.

We are not sure how far we will go tomorrow.