Civic Auditorium, Peterson AFB Museum, Didgeridoo

Thursday we went to the Civic Auditorium in downtown Colorado Springs. We joined the cane, walker & wheelchair gang for lunch. There was a 1 hour performance on a very big and very old organ. The lady that first played was rather small and almost crawled into the big U shaped organ. After she played a gentleman took over and supplied the music for an old silent cartoon. It was about a mouse who built a space ship & went to the moon made of green cheese. How they knew it was green I don't know as the cartoon was black & white. That afternoon we went to see the Magpie Players at the Garden of the Gods, several actors portrayed individuals who played a significant part in the local area's development.

Friday we went to the small Peterson AFB Air & Space Museum. The small black model airplanes hanging from the ceiling are wood and made by middle school children during WWII to be used by the military to identify airplane silhouette. The museum is located in the original Colorado Springs passenger air terminal built in the 1930s. Part of the museum was centered around the cold war and defence. Judy found a late 80s/early 90s Digital VAX 6250 tucked in a corner. I haven't seen any DEC equipment in a few years.

Today was a very nice day, all sun & high 70s. We stayed around home but walked to Memorial Park where there was a wine festival. At $30 each we passed but we did sit nearby & listened to the music & watched the winos. The economy can't be too bad out here because it was very crowded. After that we walked downtown to see the didgeridoo players, Judy got to accompany them with a rattle. We then stopped at the The Keg for a couple beers and a sub. We are pooped out now.

Rain, crappy rain

Well, we went to a BIG church Saturday night, last Sunday's was smaller. We even got lost inside the church. We did laundry. Mostly we holed up due to cold, damp and wet weather. Went out to a German restaurant, the old Saline restaurant was better. Yesterday we went to downtown Colorado Springs to the Pioneer Museum, best part was the old decorative building. Today we went back to the Garden of the Gods and were sleeted (plus, of course, the rain) on when we went for a walk. Rain.....crappy rain. We would have left here but are still waiting on a toilet part from Thetford. Two weeks and it hasn't yet been shipped! I called them today and they will have it here Monday and bypass their distributor. Anyway, this is an adventure. Checking the weather we'd have to go to OK or TX if we wanted warm sunshine. If it wasn't for the HitchHiker G&G rally 6/21 we'd be outta here seeking the sun.

Victor & Cripple Creek

Above is Cripple Creek, an old gold mining town from the 1800s. It is now a tourist and casino town and very busy.
Below & left is Victor, a very small & sleepy old town we really enjoyed.

Today we made a trip to Victor & Cripple Creek. After getting in the area we took a 25 mile ride on a narrow dirt road (Phantom Canyon road) through the mountains to Victor. The road reminded us of the Apache Trail in Arizona. Up the side of the mountains climbing 3500 feet and the temp dropping from 84 to 52 degrees. When we passed the few other vehicles one of us had to find a location to get over so we could pass. 6 or 7 miles up the truck all of a sudden started to make a loud screeching metal on metal sound, cripes, what a place to have a problem! After a short inspection I figured a rock was stuck someplace it should not be, backed up and pulled forward again and the noise was gone! Pweh! When we arrived in Victor, an old gold mining town from the late 1800s, we found a nice old 2 story museum with wood floors where we spent and hour or two. Lowell Thomas & Jack Dempsey were from Victor, one room was devoted to Lowell but we found nothing on Jack.

Thunderbirds

The rain has stopped finally, Monday & Tuesday we stuck close to home where we could stay dry. We went for a couple walks (happy Jody?) and Judy went to Curves and walked down the path to the city pool for water aerobics. We saw two deer trotting down the walking path too, guess anything can use it. Today we drove 10 or 12 miles up to Colorado Springs to the Mining Museum below. After checking it out we climbed a hill behind the museum with a snack & lawn chairs. We were across the expressway from the Air Force Academy & the graduation ceremonies in Falcon Stadium. We watched the Thunderbirds put on a one hour show. After seeing the Blue Angles in Pensacola I'd have to say they did the best show.

We visited the Western Mining and Industrial Museum today and Judy got to pan for gold, unfortunately she was unsuccessful. Afterwards we had lunch at Five Guys Burgers & Fries. This one was for Margaret, Jean and Don & Zola. The burgers were very good as always AND the fries were excellent this time.

Territory Days

Friday we drove to Denver and dropped Jody off at the airport, it was a very large airport. We then checked out the place where we have a June 10 appointment to have the trailers axle checked out.

Saturday we drove 5 miles to Colorado Springs and went to Territory Days, a 3 day Memorial Day celebration of Colorado's first territorial capitol. There were a few characters wandering around, lots of festive food, crafts and more crafts, and music. Late in the afternoon we went for a walk on the trail behind the CG and stopped at Subway for supper. Sunday we went to church then Judy did the laundry while I watched the F1 and Indy 500 races. It has rained and thundered off an on all day. The folks next to us were evicted for letting their kids and dog run wild, that was the excitement.

Pikes Peak, Manitou Springs, Garden of the Gods

As you will see I don't have the picture placement mastered!!!!

Wednesday late afternoon we toured the Garden of the Gods, it's about a mile from our campground. A very impressive free city park.

On Wednesday we got two new tires for the RV after the toilet broke. We have the RV tech over and he's ordering a cable. We can still use it, just have to pour some water in it first. In the afternoon the ladies took my to a local park and one of Manitou Springs 11 springs. You take a glass or containers and fill them up. I went to Seven Minute Spring (name comes from the fact the pump only runs for 7 minutes) and the water is naturally carbonated. It comes with it's own fizz!

Tuesday we took the cog railway to the top of Pikes Peak, sounded better that driving the truck way up there. The trip was interesting but the 1 1/4 hour 9 mile trip each way wasn't comfortable at an angle on slippery wood seats. At the top we had some good donuts baked up there and before we left for the return trip it started to snow, get us otta here!

Colarado Springs & blowout

We made it to Pikes Peak RV Park just outside Colorado Springs and plan on staying here until after Memorial Day & do some exploring. Jody will be here until Friday when she flies back to Mobile. Temps were up to 88 today until a small thunderstorm blew through this evening. We had a nice dinner across the street at an Italian place after another long day.

After the hard work of picking up the pieces the ladies decided it was time to take a tan & relax.

A little excitement today as we were cruising down a hill on a two lane road in Colorado but all went well considering what could have happened. Our first blowout. We heard it and easily pulled over, minor damage to the RV, a call to Good Sam Emergency Road Service and we were on our way in 2 1/2 hours.