From Canon City we took Colorado Hwy 9 to Hartsel, then on Hyw 24 to Woodland Park. The drive was very pleasant, and we set up in Bristlecone Lodge & RV Park. This is a nice quiet wooded (go figure, we are in Woodland Park after all) RV park. It has rained and / or hailed some every afternoon since we arrived, but that’s to be expected.
Here are some pictures taken on a picnic at Manitou Park Lake :
And the drive to and from the picnic was beautiful as well :
We also took a day trip up to Cripple Creek, but unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures (I know… bad, bad photographer!). Because there has been so much rain lately, it really was a pretty drive. We just walked around the shops a bit and afterwords, because we had parked at the Double Eagle Casio, we sat at the bar and had a beer. I tip my hat to the bartender who comped us the beers even though there is a sign saying that you have to pay for drinks if you are not playing the video poker machines at the bar (ok… I tipped him some money too).
Another day, we went down to Manitou Springs to visit the shops there too. After that we were starving, so we ate at the Mason Jar. I highly recommend it if you are into comfort food.
We were so stuffed after the Mason Jar that we needed to walk some of it off, so we hopped over to Garden Of The Gods. Having grown up in Canon City, we have been here many times, but it never seems to loose it’s wonder.
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Another day found us at the Air Force Academy. I had been there once for a Junior High field trip. We went to the planetarium (which is currently closed for renovations), but other than that I did not get to look around much… so I enjoyed getting to see the campus. Right before we got to the chapel, all of the summer incoming freshmen going through Basic Cadet Training (what we in the Navy call “Plebe Summer”) ran by us from Arnold Hall all the way to Sijan Hall. The upperclassmen we screaming at them all the way. I had to smile to myself as I thought about how all these child “leaders” will eventually have to learn after graduation that things don’t work this way. Bootcamp is bootcamp in any branch of the service. Oh… and the chapel is simply phenomenal.
If you would like to see the whole album from our time at Woodland Park and the Colorado Springs area, click on the image below :
