The Grand Tour of Colorado Springs

We were eager to see Dick and Anne, friends from Virginia, who now reside in Colorado Springs. Anne and Gloria worked together at Chantilly and Centreville High Schools. Dick is also retired Army, and they have a motor home parked at the Academy. Dick and Anne arrived Wednesday morning ready to tour us around the Academy. We began by visiting the magnificent chapel and watching the cadets march to lunch. We enjoyed a gourmet lunch prepared by Chez Dick and a tour of their lovely home. In the afternoon sunshine, we drove to the Garden of the Gods to view and climb the rocks; we were awed by their beauty. A marvelous view of Pikes Peak appeared through the rocks. Kissing Camels and Balanced Rock are just two of the many marvels in the park. The Garden of the Gods is a free city park opened in 1909 and given to Colorado Springs by a former President of the CB&QR Railroad. The village of Manitou Springs, offered interesting architecture amidst its winding, narrow streets. It resembles a modern day version of the Cliff Dwellers. Many homes are built on the mountainside and protrude like gargoyles on a castle. “How do they get up and down in the snow?” we asked. We concluded our evening with dinner in Giuseppe’s Old Depot Restaurant. A train periodically passed our window with shiny new silver cars filled with coal from the north and cars empty returning from the south. We chatted and filled our tummies with scrumptious morsels. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.

Thursday, Gloria did the laundry while Jerry took care of trailer and truck maintenance. The famcamp laundry was just up the hill from a busy train track. Gloria has an affinity for trains; trains loaded with coal from the Gillette mines in Wyoming passed every hour and empty coal cars were then returning north to again fill their bellies with coal.

Dick and Anne once again picked us up at 8:15 A.M. Friday. It was a fun filled day at the Royal Gorge. We walked the bridge, rode the tram on the return, and went up and down on the Incline Railway. The Bridge was built by Lon Piper, a Texas Engineer, in six months as a tourist attraction. It was completed and opened in December 1929. Piper wanted to build something that others in his field considered impossible. It is the highest suspension bridge in the world at 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River. The Gorge was discovered by Zebulon Pike in 1805. The D & RG railroad was later built for passenger and freight transportation. When the Bridge opened, a tourist train from Canon City replaced commercial rail service.

Sunday, the four of us attended chapel early and then ate brunch in our trailer. We made plans to have one more day of “we’ll pick you up at your door” service on Monday. It was a good day to do indoor activities and enjoy a driving tour of Old Colorado Springs. We marveled at the Michael Garman Gallery sculptures. His Magic Town exhibit enchants the old as much as the young. A nearby Chinese restaurant served up an exquisite lunch. We gaped as we approached the five stare Broadmoor Hotel and Resort Complex. The grounds are manicured and flowered in a manner suitable for royalty. A valet parked the car while we roamed the various public areas.