We arrived at our next campground a little west of Colorado Springs on July 31. We were staying here for a little over three weeks.
Needless to say, we are still in the throes of puppy training, so we knew we wouldn’t be doing a lot of tourist-y things. The puppies are doing great with the house breaking thing, and their routine has pretty well been established (see previous post).
They still have A LOT of energy and get into E.VER.Y.THING, but that’s what puppies do. If they didn’t act that way, I would be concerned that something was wrong with them. Here are just a few pictures of Ricky and Lucy from the last few weeks for your viewing pleasure. 😃
Lucy
Mischievous Ricky
They constantly get our slippers!
We stayed at Garden of the Gods RV Resort right before you get to Manitou Springs on Hwy. 24. It’s an older park close to the base of Pikes Peak. During our stay there, A LOT of people came and went, and there were always a lot of kids. We kept Ricky and Lucy outside in their wire pen a lot. Every time someone would walk by they would almost always say, “OH! How cute!! May we pet them?” The kids in the park always loved to stop us on our walks and ask to pet them.
We decided to take the puppies on their first “day trip.” We loaded up and headed for God of the Gods which was really close to our RV park. Garden of the Gods is a drive thru park with picturesque rock formations that are very large. Many people come here to hike the trails, and a few come to rock climb. We came just to drive the loop and observe nature’s beauty.
That is Pikes Peak in the background (with no trees at the top).
One morning we got up early and decided to drive up Pikes Peak. The road is narrow, curvy, and a steep climb in various places. There is a fee to access the road because Pikes Peak is part of the Colorado Springs Park system.
Anyway, when you pay at the gate, you are instructed to turn off your air conditioner (so your car doesn’t overheat on the climb up), and to BE SURE to stay in the lowest gear when you come down. We had to watch Ricky and Lucy closely as we ascended the mountain because too quick of an elevation change could be hard on them.
We made several stops on the way up to let the puppies out and walk around. We drove a little passed marker 13 which is at the tree line when I noticed they were getting a little lethargic (probably because of the thinner air). We decided to turn around and start back down.😔 The views was spectacular!
Even the wildlife in m Colorado have to wear masks!
“Butt Ox” … Do you get the pun? 🤣😂🤣 I thought it was funny.
Another day we took a drive to The Royal Gorge. I had been there many years ago when I was nine years old. I have a lot of memories of our family vacation to Colorado and The Royal Gorge.
Needless to say, The Royal Gorge was nothing like I remember (the area; not the gorge; the gorge still looks the same 😉). In 1962 one could still drive across the bridge in your car. The bridge swayed a little with the weight of the cars. 😲You could also walk across the bridge (if you were brave enough) for free. My mom and I did not walk on the bridge, but my dad and older sister did. There were several other places you could get a good view down into the gorge without standing on that swinging bridge!
Nowadays, there is a big Visitors Center and it has become all “tourist-y.” 😔You can see the bridge and the top of the gorge from the parking lot. You cannot see down into the gorge without going through the Visitors Center and paying to go out on the bridge to look down. We weren’t going to pay $26 per person to do that! So, I looked around in the gift shop, and we looked at the bridge and gorge from the parking lot. Such a disappointment. Oh, well.
Well, that is about all we did while in Colorado Springs. We are heading to the Northwoods of Wisconsin next, and we will be taking our time to get there because the puppies will need a lot of potty stops. I can’t wait to see the fall colors up there!
So, for now ….. “On the Road Again!”
Betty
