Hey Everybody!! Time to transfer to the new blog!

Here is the url:

http://tumblingtumbleweeds-movinon.blogspot.com

(Just a little "blast from the past.")

For those who don't know, this is my "baby" boy.

New Blog!

http://tumblingtumbleweeds-movinon.blogspot.com/

Entering Phase #2

August 16 was a long time ago. There are still some shots I did not get posted. I'll try to fit the nice ones in at some point. Most of you know what has been going on since the last edition. For those who don't: 
  1. Heading out again next week.
  2. Will be starting a new blog and will post the new title/url here
  3. Larry has officially "retired" from Abbott Labs...even though he stopped working there three years ago.

  4. We bought a new home-for-the-road. Here it is! 

    

Sunny Saturday in Manitou Springs

Ahhhhh, at last we had one whole day without rain. We hiked a portion of the Ring the Peak  Trail in Manitou Springs.

There were some great views from the trail looking east to the plains.

Tucked away on the mountainside along the trail, we found a little park. Of course, testing the equipment was necessary!

The section of the trail we hiked ended at the Pike's Peak Cog Railway. The train makes 14 trips to the top each day at this time of year. LOTS of people take the trip. We did not, deciding that a $2.00 cup of tea fit our budget better than $66.00 for 2 tickets.

One of the original engines from the late 1800's sits at the entrance.

We were also close to Barr Trail that ascends 12 miles to the summit of Pike's Peak. The elevation gain is over 7,400'.

We hiked up a short portion of the trail that had numerous switchbacks. The lack of shade, air temp and rate of ascent made me decide it was time to turn back. The following pics show the remainder of a 4-mile climb to the first summit of several.

Taken from downtown, Manitou Springs, one mile from the trailhead.

Next weekend, two races will be taking this route to the 14,000 + summit of Pike's Peak. On Saturday, The Ascent of Pike's Peak Half Marathon and on Sunday, a marathon during which runners will go both up and back down. (are you tired yet???)

It was lunch time and we stopped at several restaurants to look over the menus posted outside. The decision was soon made to pass on the $10.00 burgers and walk to the Subway at the edge of town instead. We took our $5.00 foot-long to the nice, little park near by.
Manitou Springs is home to many artists. A small bridge at the park reflects that creativity.

The gridwork panels are all created from recycled metal.

The bridge entrances have wonderful stained glass inserts. Here are two I shot with the sunlight coming through.

An 8-mile hike and lunch on a bench beside a dancing creek with your best friend.

It was indeed a nice day.

A Wonderful "Small World" Surprise

We've had several interesting experiences on this trip. The very best happened over this past weekend. It started when we saw a Class A drive into the campground with Ohio plates. Thanks to Facebook (of all things), I discovered the occupants included two, special people that I've known for probably 25 years. Bobbi and Keith Foringer are from Canton Twp.. I worked at CSHS with Keith for 15 years. They are enjoying a three-week vacation and stopped here on their way back to Ohio. I haven't seen them for 10 years and it was great to spend a little time before they pulled out this morning.

Garden of the Gods

One of the things I've been doing to pass my time here in Colorado Springs is hiking in the Garden of the Gods. Since it is less than a mile from our campground, it's an easy walk on back streets.

The entire area was once owned by a family who donated the land to the city in order to preserve it for everyone.

I've been here many times in the last 10 days and will share sights from sections of the park
I have hiked.
My first hike was to one of four entrances to the park, Ridge Road. A lot of bicycles go up this hill. I prefer walking! It is very steep.

The view from the top is spectacular.

We aren't even in the park yet. There are private homes all over the rocky hills. Many are poured concrete in the same color as the rocks. This one overlooks a road in the park. That's the sky reflected in the windows.
The following are pics I took on that first hike in the park.

A diversity of people everywhere including this group from the Hutterite community. They are an obscure branch of Amish.
On this day, a group of veterans were riding in support of "Wounded Warriors." They had a lunch stop scheduled inside the park provided by the USO. I left before they arrived, however, just as I was coming down the road to the campground, they suddenly came zipping by. I was only able to catch a few by the time my camera turned on.

Many of the riders are wounded vets themselves. There were several in the hand propelled trikes and you might have noticed the amputee riding in the middle picture. They are riding to point out the lack of care many servicemen and women are receiving when they return from the war zones.

My hike this week moved to a different area of the park and started from a trading post that has been in business at this site since 1900.

They actually did quite a bit of trading with the Native American tribes that passed through the area seasonally along the "Indian Trail," so named by Zebulon Pike.

There are several interesting rock formations in this area. I hiked up to the Siamese Twins and found some interesting photo opts.

Then, I had to take a trip down memory lane...back about 20 years ago when Dustin and I came to Colorado to take a week-long training in music technology at Colorado State- Greeley. I had set aside a few days to see the sights before our flight back to Ohio. Among other things, Dustin wanted to visit the Air Force Academy. Our circular journey brought us to The Garden of the Gods where we stopped at Balanced Rock.

Somewhere at home, there is an album with Dus holding up the rock. I traded "photo favors" with a family to take this nostalgic shot.

That's it for now.

Catching Up - The Trip to Colorado

There are still a few stories left from Montana, but we wanted to keep things up to date starting with the journey to Colorado Springs. After our first night in the Walmart parking lot in Idaho Falls, we found ourselves at the Green River KOA in Utah. It's pretty much just desert here.

We spent three nights here traveling to Goblin SP and two National Parks,
 Arches -

and Capital Reef.

Moving on, we traveled on to Mesa Lake and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

That was the day the storms started. We barely got things set up before it started to thunder.
No hiking for us. The next day, we continued on toward Canon (Canyon) City. Lots of beautiful country along the way and one REALLY big climb.

Gunnison River

This just does not show the drop off of several thousand feet! It was 10 miles up Monarch pass, sometimes moving at 15 mph. But we made it!

I opted NOT to take the gondola ride to the very top!
It certainly was cold up there, but awesome.

A Harley rider from Broadview Heights took this for us. There are Ohio people everywhere we go.
On down the 10 mile, 6% descent.

This is a working mine. Not sure what.
We arrived at the Royal Gorge KOA. Much different than the high-plains desert.

Larry checks our levels for the final leg of our trip.
We finally arrive at our campground with a clear view of pike's Peak.

The first day of school is always hard. You have to check to make sure you have everything you need.

But then it's time to go. Can't be late on the first day!

Good luck, Larry!