Pikes Peak

This morning we are up early and head out to Pikes Peak as Daryl has this on his wish list of places to see and drive up.

This really is the long and windy road - it is 20 miles to the top but they warn us that it takes 80 miles of fuel and first gear is required.  We have just over half a tank so off we go winding our way to the top over the switchbacks with sides that drop away to nowhere again!

We make it to the top (a bit too slowly for Daryl)...... and get out to take a look at the view.  It is 14,115 feet high, about 2,000 ft more than Mount Cook, and the air is very thin.

The switchbacks are amazing and the drop off is a tad scary in places but the views are a worth the drive.

Half way down they do a mandatory brake check to ensure your car is okay to continue otherwise you have to pull over and wait till things cool down....... We were okay as Daryl had been using first gear on the way down.

We stop in Manitou Springs to look around once we reached the bottom and found a humming little tourist town with art shops, cafe's, jewellery & the usual array of tourist shops.

Not sure about the bear in the middle....

Heading back to camp we also stop at Old Colorado City downtown.

 Painting on the side of the building downtown - quite cool and not something you see every day.

Back to camp for another night of stormy weather but again it passes us over and heads out over the plains making a spectacular display on its way.

Canon City to Colorado Springs

Heading for Colorado Springs today - we have had some fun and haven't been able to book a camp but are trying for the Cheyenne State Park so have left fairly early in the hope of securing a place there as it is a first come, first served basis if you have not booked more than 3 days ahead.

We make it to the park about 10.30am and get a nice spot, so set up camp with views overlooking Colorado Springs south.

As we are nice and early, after lunch we decide to go into the centre of Colorado Springs which is only about 8 miles away but our lovely GPS does not take us to town centre and it takes us some time before we find the down town centre. 

We go through the local free museum in the meantime and view a film on Colorado depicting how the State came to be and how it has grown over the years.  Daryl finds a hill climb midget from Pike's Peak on display.....

Courtroom

Finally we are in the down town area and we pass a costume shop, - hire or buy, so take a look inside.  Fabulous place with everything you can think of and tonnes more - some funky outfits.

Back at camp, the weather changes dramatically and a storm blows in with thunder and lightening.  We watch from our camp site as the fork lightening strikes on Colorado Springs below and the thunder booms around us, the sirens go off at the Fort Carson army camp below us at the base of the mountain.......

Fortunately it misses us and we just get the see the storm from our mountain top view as it passes over Colorado and out towards the Kanas plains.

Royal Gorge Bridge - Canon City

The camp is about 7 miles west of town and right beside the Royal Gorge Bridge, which we did not know about. 

 

Turns out to be a major attraction being a park with a suspension bridge over the gorge built in 1929.  Now the second highest suspension bridge in the world, but was the highest until recently. The park suffered a major forest fire in December 2013 and has been rebuilt but the steep incline train has not been restored which is a pity, as would have been amazing also.

We cross over the gorge in the gondola and check out that side of the park before walking back over the suspension bridge

On the way out, we stop at the local tourist shops......

Next we check out the dinosaur museum which has just opened 3 days ago and has some cool exhibits. 

The lady there tells us about skyline drive - a local road that goes up over a cliff edge and comes down into town, so later we go for a drive up this also. 

Cripes it is narrow as a single lane and falls away steeply on both sides!  The views are amazing ad there are some dinosaur foot prints on the cliff as you go up – costs nothing and worth the drive as long as you are not scared of heights!!

We check out the town shops and antique stores, visit Big Daddy’s diner which is set up like an old diner and quite neat before heading back to camp.

This is seriously a product - you should see the advert on you tube!

Above, we find this sign board in town which shows all the brands of the Fremont Cattlemen's Association.

Big Daddy's Diner.