Seven Falls

When the Ice Skating Hall of Fame was closed for the second time,








we decided to check out Seven Falls, a commercial endeavor in a beautiful canyon where we could see one waterfall and maybe hike to see six more. 

Perhaps because of the recent drought here, the waterfalls were unimpressive. 

But the canyon was gorgeous.  For Jim who's interest in geology keeps growing and Sherry, who loves looking at rock formations, it was yet another amazing experience.

After watching a 10 minute Indian dance performance (the young Indians were very talented)

we decided to climb the stairs beside the waterfall -- 240 steps starting at an altitude of over 6300 feet! 

The air is very thin up here and that makes breathing difficult, especially when you're used to an altitude of 20 feet!  Along with dozens of other folks out celebrating the holiday weekend, we began the climb. 

I was quite dizzy every time I looked down, but I did manage to steel a few peeks at the waterfall, the surrounding rocks, and the view from the top.

 

 

 

Breathlessly, and weak-kneed, I made it to the top of the stairs. Once at the top we rested at a shelter, had a snack and some water, and continued, on level ground. 












After about 30 minutes we came to a small waterfall.

We took some pictures and chatted with a couple from Adelaide, AU, who are travelling through the US.  (Jim was wearing an Australia T shirt, so they wondered if we were their countryfolk. ) 

Jim tried to take some pictures of a butterfly, and he succeeded,




but not until after the butterfly parked for awhile on his hat!




 

We headed back to those incredible stairs, made it down safely,

stopped at the café for a well-deserved lemonade, and watched some kids trying to feed the chipmunks that hang out near the café. 

Then we walked through a cave in a mountain to an elevator (yes a real elevator) that took us up to a viewing platform where we had a great view of  main waterfall.

It was a wonderful and very tiring day. 

For more pictures of our day at Seven Falls,
click Seven Falls.

 

Cog to the Top

We've been viewing snow capped Pike's Peak from all over Colorado Springs.  (If you've seen our earlier blog posts you've seen some of our views.)  Pike's Peak is one of 54 Colorado peaks that are over 14000, and it is certainly not the tallest.  It is the eastern most peak, and since it's not surrounded by other "fourteeners" it is very visible for great distances.  

On Wednesday we rode a cog railway to the top of Pike's Peak.  

A cog railway climbs steep grades by using a gear-like wheel to engage teeth in a center rail.  The technology was designed in Switzerland and the first cog railway ever built was the one that goes up Mt. Washington in New Hampshire.  But the Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway is the highest.  

 

We were fortunate to have a beautiful clear day.  It was in the 70's at the bottom but we came prepared for the 30 degrees and snow at the top.

 

The ride up the mountain was one and a half hours, and we passed through some beautiful scenery and enjoyed the running commentary from the conductor.

At the top of Pike's Peak, we were at an altitude of:

we had some spectacular views

 

and then we sampled the

 

-- something we don't ordinarily eat but we had to give them a try.  Yummm.  They are light and airy because they are baked at such a high attitude. 

 

After about a half-hour we boarded the train for the return trip. 

As the train descended the mountain we passed a number of different terrains.  We were lucky enough to see a Colorado bighorn sheep

and had some more incredible views.

For more pictures of the trip to the peak of Pike's Peak, see Pike's Peak.

Colorado Springs

After the RVSEF conference ended we travelled about 30 minutes from NE Colorado Springs to SW Colorado Springs and the Garden of the Gods campground.  At first we were a little put off because it was a tight fit, but it was clean and neat, fairly empty and quiet, and in a great location --

between the historic mountain town of Manitou Springs with its shops and restaurants and interesting architecture

and historic Colorado City with more shops and restaurants and interesting architecture. 

Nearby were the scenic natural wonders that we seek and enjoy  -- North Cheyenne Canyon, 

  Garden of the Gods,

 

 

Red Rock Canyon,

 

Seven Falls,

and although not entirely natural, the historic cliff dwellings of the Anasazi (the ancient ones) Indians.









 The views of Pike's Peak were everywhere

and the hilly terrain didn't make us miss NJ at all!

 

After four days at the Garden of the Gods campground we moved to Golden Eagle Ranch campground, where we were fortunate enough to get a reservation on short notice for Memorial Day weekend.  The Ranch is a huge campground with about 500 sites, high in the hills and surrounded by mountains, but only 20 minutes from the main attractions of the Manitou Springs area.   We arrived on Thursday so it was pretty empty and we chose a large site with a great view. 

By the weekend it was much more crowded but many of the neighboring sites were still unoccupied.  We continued to explore the area, and also took some time to take care of life's necessities like grocery shopping and laundry. 

In future posts I'll share some more of our Colorado Springs adventures.  Tune in later.

RV Safety and Education Conference

The RVSEF conference was held May 14th through the 18th.  We attended classes on maintenance, finding campsites, road safety, fire safety, smart phones, and cloud programming, to name a few, and learned from experts in the RVing field and people who have been full-timing for many years.  We met up with some old acquaintances and made some new friends.  And, for the first time we presented our Newbies to Newbies class-- designed to show people what fun learning and RVing can be, and provide some tips we've learned along the way.  The conference was small -- less than 30 attendees, and we were afraid no one would come to our class, as there were four sessions at a time.  But we had a full room and everyone in the class found our information and stories interesting and helpful.

While the number of people at the conference was small, we met in a mega-church in Colorado Springs.  Classes were held in 4 small classrooms, and those of us with RVs parked in the giant parking lot, where we had a wonderful view of Pikes Peak.  This was our third RVSEF conference and it was still a great experience.

 

Pikes Peak Everywhere

From the first sight of Pikes Peak we were in awe.  America's mountain, over 14000 feet high, where a young woman was inspired to write "America the Beautiful" looms over the Colorado Springs area, offering magnificent views wherever you go.  And the appearance of the mountain changes with day, time, and weather.

Here are just a few of the views of the mountain.

 

Later -- our trip up to the summit.



From Falcon Meadows Campground

 

From our rig on a  rainy afternoon during the RVSEF conference.



From our rig on a  clear morning during the RVSEF conference.



From a highway



From Manitou Springs -- afternoon clouds coming in

 

From Garden of the Gods - Afternoon



From Red Rock Canyon Trail -- Evening

The Monuments of the High Plains

A 200 mile drive west took us to Oakley, Kansas, our next stop.  At some point we were now on the High Plains -- mostly flat land where we could see for miles, going gradually up.  By the time we reached Oakley the altitude was 3000 feet. 

We checked in to our home for the night, chatted with the owners for awhile, parked, unhitched, and jumped into the Subaru for a 30 mile drive to Monument Rocks.  

After getting off the main road we had to travel about 7 miles on a dirt road -- but we remembered that this was one of the reasons we bought an all-wheel drive Subaru. 

Enough with the car commercial. 

 

Monument Rocks are chalk formations that reach a height of up to 70 feet, and they are sometimes referred to as the Chalk Pyramids.  They were formed 80 million years ago and include a variety of buttes and arches.  They are one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas.  (We haven't yet discovered what the other 7 are.) 

 

 

 

 

Across the road from the Chalk Pyramids are some smaller buttes that are orange/gold in color and when the sun shines is a particular in a particular way they sparkle.  These formations are behind a barbed wire fence on private property, so we could only view them from the road.  But they certainly glowed as the sun was going down!

We headed back to the RV Park, stopping to take pictures of a bigger-than-life sculpture of Buffalo Bill Cody killing a buffalo.  If you're wondering why this is in Kansas:  this is where Bill Cody won his nickname in a buffalo shooting contest held in the town of Oakley.  The competition was between Cody and William Comstock,  two buffalo hunters.  Bill Cody brought down more buffalo so he officially became known as "Buffalo Bill". 

 

For more pictures of our most recent travel in Kansas, click Kansas - Great Plains.