Wednesday, August 5, 2020
So, we think we picked up a hitchhiking chipmunk at Cimarrona Campground. He tried to get into my nuts and did get into some chips and can you believe he chewed on one of my onions? I am not throwing that away. I found an organic red onion and I am gonna eat it. I will just have to cut his nibbles off. LOL!
We did get back civilization and rested up a bit while in Alamaso but couldn’t resist the Great Sand Dunes National Park. This is a strange phenomenon where a desert of sand sits at the base of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains. These are the tallest dunes in North America. Apparently it has taken thousands of years to form and is made up of sand from mountain streams and playa lakes and is blown here by the winds and just piles up in the curve of the mountain range. Very weird. This sand is very dry and loose. We walked and watched the kids tumble down the mounds trying to surf down the dunes. Glad I did not try that. It was weird because I even sat down on the dunes and the sand doesn’t stick to you at all. In Southeast Texas I would need a shower before I got back in the truck. Low humidity is becoming my favorite thing. We had seen pictures of a large stream and went trekking after that, but we never found it. Only a dry creek bed. Apparently that is only there in the Spring.
ISNT THIS AN AMAZING PICTURE!
This one is from further away
Love this one with the mountains and the dunes, and of course US!!!
We went on into downtown Alamaso and found a brewery. I guess that is our new thing. Find all the little breweries in all the towns we visit. This one was the San Luis Valley Brewing Company. There were two downtown, but we only went to this one. They had some very tasty brews.
OH, AND GUESS WHAT. Our oil change light came on. It seems like we have to work on this truck every place we go. I know, it is just an oil change, but why did it not come on when the battery light did so we could have done it all at one time. Ugh!
Saturday, August 8 2020
Got to our new campground in Woodland Park which is just outside of Manitou Springs, Diamond Campground. This is a top notch park. I will definitely give this 5 stars. The spaces are not too close together and their are trees everywhere and the mule deer are all over the place.
This little boy just pulled over his bike and they just watched him, no worries.
This one came right through our site.
So in this area, first on my list was taking Dennis to see Pikes Peak and then the Royal Gorge. I found the Royal Gorge Railroad and booked us first class tickets for dinner in a dome car.
Sunday, August 9.
We went to Pikes Peak first since our dinner did not start until 6:30. That is a very white knuckle drive up the mountain. Did you know that the North Pole is just outside the Pikes Peak gate? Neither did we! It looks like they have rides for the kids. Even a gondola ride!
We headed on up the mountain and even saw snow. Now some of these pictures you see have hay bales on the side of the road. Believe it or not, this is because they are having a car race down this mountain and said the bales would slow the driver down if they hit one. I don’t know, I think they may need more than a single hay bale. They have a railway coming to the mountain soon. They have laid the tracks and got the cog train all ready, they are now waiting for the new summit house to be built. It is really going to be nice. But for now, you have to go to mile 13 or 16 and catch a van up to the summit. We drove on up to 16 and there is even snow still on the ground. Check out some of these pics.
SNOW - CHECK IT OUT
OMG these roads.
THESE VIEWS
Walking around up there was pretty treacherous. It is all crushed granite and huge granite chunks and it moves under your feet. Some of these guys, like the idiot in the photo above, were going right out to the edge. Dennis wouldn’t let my clumsy butt anywhere near the edge. We had to have one of the ‘World Famous’ Pikes Peak donuts because, you know, they are ‘World Famous.’ I was not really that impressed. Funny thing is they only sell them in counts of 2 or 6. You can’t just buy one folks. Don’t even try it.
As we made it up the mountain it was 64 degrees on top and about 85 at the foot. Remember this.
We made it back to the base of the mountain and started the drive to the gorge. We got there way too early so we started looking for - - - wait for it - - - a Brewery! But as I was looking, I saw this winery! Okay, I told Dennis it was my turn! It was the Winery at the Holy Cross Abbey. We brought a blended red bottle home it was so delicious. Here is a picture of the Abbey and the view of the mountains from our seat on the patio. This place is a Harvest Host winery. So if any of you want to, you can boondocks there. It is 5 minutes from the Royal Gorge.
We were still pretty early, so we did go check out a brewery as well. They have a cute downtown in
Cañon City. We went into the World’s End Brewing Company and they had wine too! We had a couple of drinks and headed to the Royal Gorge overlook. We did not go to the foot bridge, not enough time.
We did go to this little overlook they had and got a good picture there. Did you know that this gorge is the Arkansas River? That thing has been following us since Oklahoma!
It was getting pretty hot here and we had pants on because, you know, Pikes Peak. After we had been driving a while I looked at the outside temp. Remember we were at 64 on Pikes Peak and now it is 100. All within 40 or so miles of each other. But of course that doesn’t take into account the altitude. I know. Just aggravating. How is a girl supposed to dress around here.
Now for the grand finally of the day! The Royal Gorge Railroad!
We got to our seat in the dome car, which was too cool. And got our salads before we even took off. We ate our salad and went out to the open air car. This river is beautiful. And we even got mooned by a guy rafting down the river! Just like old times. When was the last time you got mooned?
The pipe going into the hole and along the river is a wooden water pipe from forever ago.
We had an awesome meal on the train. I had the Prime Rib and Dennis opted for the Salmon. Wish I had taken a picture, they were both beautiful and delish!
On the way to the railroad we took highways but on the way home Google chose a different path. It is about an hour and fifteen minute drive. But on the way there it was straight easy to drive roads. Of course we were coming from Pikes Peak. On the way home after dark it was like driving to Pikes Peak. Hairpin turns all over the place and mule deer at every turn. It was pretty hair raising. We saw one mule deer that I swore had 10 or 12 points. There were also several spikes and mostly doe, but wow. Darned Google. It was a rough drive home.
Tomorrow we will move about 20 miles down the road a little closer to Denver. We will visit with my Aunt Betty and cousin, Billy and his wife Isabel before heading to Wyoming on Thursday. We are finally leaving Colorado and I cannot say I am happy about that. I love this place and we will be back. There is so much more to see than we had time for this trip.
Until next time!
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