Day 6 - Colorado Springs

This was another gray, rainy and cold day to start with, which we are getting used to unfortunately. The sun had gone done nice and red last night but no such luck for this morning.

Our drive took us across the plains with fields on each side extending as far away as the eyes could see. Lots of agriculture. Farms forming their own little oasis of trees and buildings. We crossed into Colorado around 9 am at an elevation of 4012 feet. It was interesting to find out that Colorado means the colour red in Spanish ... of course because of the sandstones.

We drove on, the road feeling like we were in the middle of a dry pale yellow moonscape. From the time we turned off on US 24 at Limon until we arrived in Colorado Springs, we had risen in elevation more than 1000 feet. This road had little western towns, not doing too well. Others, better. Ranches. Horses and cattle in the fields. We even saw llamas. And, a real live cowboy, riding along the shoulder with his bedroll on the back of his saddle. He really made our day.

As we approached Colorado Springs, new home developments started to encroach on the land. I couldn't believe how little land they had for their backyards when there was so much right outside. The mountains were there, not as high as our Rockies in BC but still a beautiful site. After we had checked in to our campsite and had lunch, we went exploring Colorado Springs.

We drove around a park called The Garden of Gods which has these red sandstone formations, pretty special. A gorgeous drive thru the park gave us some beautiful vistas and photos (yes, we will post some in the very near future). We went to the Visitor Center and took in a 12-min. film on how these red stones got there. It was very interesting...millions of years....

We then drove further into the tourist part of the town and saw a few stately mansions, lots of shops and a cog railway which can take you up 14,000 ft to the summit of Pike Peak. If the weather improves, we might just try it. Unfortunately, now it is snowing and raining and we are calling it a day. Until tomorrow...