Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs

June 14th - The drive from Black Canyon to Colorado Springs includes a trip over Monarch Pass which is over 11,000 feet high. Once you get over the pass and quit shaking (only partially kidding here) the drive is so pretty. You follow the Arkansas River through canyons and gorges and along pine and aspen forests. We arrived at Mountaindale RV park and felt like we were camping in a forest campground. Very Nice.

There is so much to do in Colorado Springs that it is hard to know what to do first. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a bucket list of places to see someday. Our first day we explored the Pikes Peak area. The Garden of the Gods is a free regional park that has wonderful sandstone rock formations interspersed with a park like setting of pine trees and wild flowers.

First we took in the movie and information at the visitor center then drove the scenic drives through the park. We decided to come back in the late afternoon to hike when the light would be better for photos. Lunch a Manitou Springs was tasty and the town is soooo cute. It reminded me of Baden Baden in Germany. It is an old spa town from the 1800s with neat old buildings, homes and parks with mineral spring water for your health. Lots of shops and restaurants too. It is at the foot of Pikes Peak so we drove up to the hill climb and paid our $24 to drive to the summit at 14,000 feet. It is a spectacularly scenic drive up and we made it almost to the top before we ran into heavy machinery on the road at 13,000 feet and turned around. Terrific drive.

We finished off the day with a hike at the Garden of the Gods and then headed back to our little place in the woods.