Driving down Interstate 25 from Colorado Springs to Santa Fe was new territory for us. We saw hundreds of Pronghorn Antelope in the vast prairie, and the change in the Rocky Mountains from forest greens to desert browns was beautiful. 

We have spent the first four days in NM at the Trailer Ranch RV Resort. It was located on old Route 66 and it is a designated Route 66 landmark. Santa Fe is of course an old city with many churches, art galleries, museums and fine restaurants. You could visit one art gallery a day and it would take you years to see them all. The restaurants are predominantly Mexican and we had a great lunch at Pasquale's Cafe, a James Beard Award winner. The town square is the hub of old town with Native Americans selling their wares on the sidewalk.  All buildings in the city limits have to be in the Spanish architectural style as you can see from the IHOP and McDonald's in the pictures below, even the state capitol building is in the abode style of a native hogan. They must also have a zoning ordinance on how high buildings can be since the tallest building in the whole city seems to be the Cathedral.  

By coincidence Josie's niece Mary was in town from Dallas for a wedding and we were able to join her and Marty for a Mexican breakfast. A pleasant surprise. 

 We will visit here again and stay longer and take in more of the sights and attractions.  We used this visit as a staging stop to prepare for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. We will make the 50 minute drive south in a few hours and meet up with our Winnebago Adventures Tour Group. Then we look forward to seeing Leon and Laura when they arrive Friday. 

We drove down from Estes Park right into the heavy traffic of Interstate 25. The whole front range of the Rockies from Fort Collins to Pueblo is now one big megalopolis. Like any nice place, it is being loved to death. 

We stayed in the city of Monument just north of Colorado Springs. We had only been to this area once before in our travels and the weather was so bad the road up Pikes Peak was closed. So we visited the Air Force Academy and then went to a baseball game that was rained out before it started. This trip we took a whole day and covered over 200 miles taking in the sites to our south. We drove to Royal Gorge and walked across the worlds highest suspension bridge. Jo is not too keen on heights but she did great.  In June of 2013 a forest fire leveled most of the buildings around the bridge and it was closed for almost a year. They just recently opened a new visitor center. While walking down to the bridge we came upon a female Big Horn Sheep nursing her youngster. 

We then drove to the gold mining town of Cripple Creek and had a fantastic lunch at Amanda Mays Cafe. The town is at an elevation of 10,000 feet and the aspens were turning golden on the hills surrounding the town. Most of the town is now made up of casinos but the town's only liquor store was in an old house. 

We then drove the road to the top of Pikes Peak. 19 miles of steep grades and sharp hairpin turns. There were signs to be on the look out for Bigfoot as we started on our way up. It was a balmy 45 degrees at the top and with the clear sky's we could see the skyline of Denver over 60 miles away. On the way down they tell you to use your lowest gear and they have a mandatory break check about half way down. On our way down we had a car of young men come up quickly behind us and then pass us. Needless to say they failed the heat test on the breaks and were forced to pull over and park till they cooled off. If we ever visit the peak again we will take the cog railway to the top. 

I was able to go birding one day with my friend Ingrid who lives in Texas in the winter and the Colorado Springs area in the summer. We birded while we were in the Rio Grande Valley in February so it was great to be able to get out and bird again here in Colorado. We started the day at the Chico Basin Ranch about 40 miles South East of Colorado Springs. We first visited the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory banding station and then started to bird the area around the station when we almost stepped on a Rattle Snake. I think it was a Prairie Rattler. We were so close I could hear the rattle and my hearing sucks. We drove out into the prairie and saw a Buck Antelope and his large harem right by the road. We found a lot of great birds out on the prairie like the Sage Thrasher below. But the best bird of the day was on our way home when we spotted a Sabine's Gull in the reservoir. A lifer for me. 

We did some shopping at the outlet mall while we were here. Saw a couple of movies.and had a couple of great meals at the local brew pubs.

Tomorrow we leave for New Mexico. We will spend 4 nights in Santa Fe before checking in with the Winnebago Adventures Tour group at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. We are also excited that we will be meeting our dear friends Leon and Laura Hoots from Virginia Beach at the Fiesta. 

Our drive into Estes Park, Colorado took us up Highway 36 through Big Thompson Canyon where just 1 year ago floods killed 8 people. A beautiful drive but the effects of the flood can still be seen. Eighty percent of the highway was destroyed. In the pictures below you can see that some of the damaged homes that are beyond repair. All of downtown Estes Park was under two feet of water from the floods and now there is very little evidence of the damage. Estes Park is located at 7544 feet above sea level and is the Eastern Gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park.

We stayed at Elk Meadow Lodge and RV Park. The lodge was built in 1927 in the National Park but was abandoned in 1959 and a few years later it was moved to its present location. There were plans to use it in the filming of the TV show Bonanza but that never happened. The bar in the lodge was built in 1879 and was originally in a hotel in Denver. The bar owner commissioned an artist to paint a picture of his wife to go behind the bar but he never did specify the pose. When he saw that the artist had painted his wife in the nude he refused to pay for the painting. The artist then gave the nude a sixth toe in retaliation. 

We woke up every morning to great views of Longs Peak. The drive to the summit in the park is one of the most scenic drives in the country. I did some birding and was able to find a female White-tailed Ptarmigan and two chicks after 4 hours of hiking tundra hillside above 12,000 feet I also came upon a herd of over 40 elk. A week later we had a light dusting of snow. I drove up the mountain early to look for Rosy Finches. Not more than 500 yards up the road there was a moose jam on the park road. A nice bull moose was lying in the thicket along with a small heard of Elk. I drove up the mountain until I came out of the clouds and the snow at 10,500 feet. I hiked over to a snow field at 11,500 feet and found two Brown-capped Rosy Finches and also came upon 4 more White-tailed Ptarmigan. 

The first weekend we were in Estes Park the Longs Peak Scotfest was held at the fairgrounds so we attended every day. We went to the Thursday night Tattoo, a very patriotic event with military marching units and music. The highlight was the US Army Fife and Drum Corp, dressed in Revolutionary War uniforms. An added bonus was the Fountain City Brass Band from my hometown of Kansas City who also entertained us on the festival grounds the next day. We also attended the Saturday night Ceilidh. Which featured one traditional Irish Band. The Elders, also from Kansas City and Celtica a Heavy Metal Punk Rock group. If you want to hear Queens, We Will Rock You played on bagpipes check them out on YouTube. This is the first Scotfest we have attended. There were a lot of bagpipes, kilts, Celtic dogs, caber tossing, by women as well as men and also lots of Guinness and Scotch.But the wildest part was the heavy armor jousting, with both men and women competing. We saw some vicious hits with knights being knocked off of their horse and having to be helped off the field. 

We drove into Fort Collins one day and toured the New Belgium Brewery. Their best known beer is Fat Tire Larger. It was a fun tour with beer tastings at all the stops. Jo was not impressed with the sour beer.

One evening we saw a movie in the Park Theater in Estes Park. It is the oldest active movie theater still in use in the US. It was built in 1913. When the man who built it, his wife to be left him at the altar he built the tower with the money earmarked for his reception. With an ornate outside and hollow inside he said it was just like his intended wife.  

One day we drove to Allenspark and visited the St Catherine's Chapel on the Rock. Pope John Paul II visited here in 1993 and during the floods of last year the water went on both sides of the church causing it no damage. 

Today we travel to Monument, Colorado just to the north of Colorado Springs. 

  

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of our moving into the Winnebago. Time flies when you are having fun.  

 We have stayed at 28 different RV parks or campgrounds counting the 3 1/2 months we spent at Holiday Travel Park in Virginia Beach.  We moved a little more then we expected to. Our longest stay, excluding our first months in Virginia Beach were the two months in Brownsville Texas. We spent only 1 or 2 nights at a location only 6 times. 2 of those nights were boondocking and all of them were when we were traveling to a place over 500 miles away.  

 Our average cost per night for the year was just under $24 a day. That is our rent, electric, water, sewer and trash expenses. This was a dollar less then what we thought we would spend. We believe we could have reduced this amount even more by staying at lower priced places but we have not looked at cost of stay as much as we have looked at location and amenities of RV parks and campgrounds. 

We will let you know our fuel expenses and miles covered etc. in December after we have been on the road for a year. 

Below are two pictures from the first night and two from today. 

If you ever have the time to drive across the high plains get off the interstate highway and travel the two lane highways. Our trip down from North Dakota to the Black Hills took us on Highway 85 for almost 200 miles. It is amazing how vast this country is and how much land is farmed and also not farmed. We saw corn, wheat and even sun flower fields that were miles long and wide. We saw countless antelope, prairie chickens and even a few short eared owls as we drove south. 

In our summer travels we have visited the Black Hills area of South Dakota many times, but this time we decided to stay longer and revisit a few places and explore some new ones. We did not go into Mount Rushmore this trip but did take a few pictures from the highway and the lookouts on Highway 16A. Custer State Park is one of the largest state parks in the country and where Dancing With Wolfs was filmed. The scenic Wildlife loop, Needles Highway and Iron Mountain roads within the park are beautiful drives with spectacular rock formations and lots of wildlife. Along the roads are wild burros that people call the "Banditos" because they stand in the middle of the road and don't move till you feed them. The park of course discourages this but people do it anyway.  Iron Mountain road has two unique bridges they call "pig tail bridges" that have you doing a 360 degree turn back over the same road you just drove under. There are 6 tunnels on these roads two which frame Mount Rushmore as you drive through. 

We did make a lunch stop in the town of Custer and had lunch at The Black Hills Burger and Bun, one of the highest rated burger places in the USA on Travel Advisor. Custer has painted buffaloes on every corner and of course we saw plenty of real ones in the park. Back at the Campground we hung out on the giant swing.

We spent one afternoon dodging rain showers at the Central States Fair, The highlight of the fair were the Mutton Busting qualifications, with the finalists competing at the rodeo on Friday night. Most of the kids did very well but some would not even try and cried when their parents tried to put them on the sheep. The announcer said that if you spank your child in Walmart you get cited for child abuse but its OK to sign them up to ride a 100 pound sheep. I tried to get Josie to ride an elephant but no chance of that happening. 

We saw more rain in the Black Hills then we had seen in the past three months combined. Therefore we spent time visiting a few of the Brewery's and Winery's in the area. We were treated to a family cowboy band at Black Hills Miner Brewery  and Josie sampled and we purchased a few bottles of wine at the adjoining winery. Most of the new craft breweries make root beer so I always ask for a root beer to be included in the tasting flight for Josie. She also hates to see things go to waste so she will drink any beer I don't like as she did at the Firehouse Brewery. Jo likes anything chocolate so when we visited the Independent Ale House she sipped my Rogue Double Chocolate Stout and liked it so much she had to have one herself. We also had the best pizza ever there which may or may not be attributed to the stout. We later found Josie her own bottle of the chocolate stout. 

Every time we drove by the Reptile Garden it was crowded so we decided to see what it was had to offer. There were three good presentations on Alligators and Crocodiles, Snakes and Birds. We also took a couple of fun pictures. 

We spent one day visiting Deadwood the old gold mining town where Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back holding the now famous poker hand aces and eights. Calamity Jane is buried right next to him. Sturgis where they have the famous motorcycle rally also has a Ford Mustang owners rally over the Labor Day Weekend so Deadwood shut down Main Street for the Mustangs. Jo thought of Michael her son and Bob Haddad , Mustang owners. 

One of the highest rated attractions in the Black Hills on Trip Advisor was a Native American show called Brule'. So we went to their last show of the season and it was the highlight of our visit here in South Dakota. It combines Native American Dancing with a New Age musical twist to native rhythms and beats. We really enjoyed the show which was performed on an outdoor stage at a local Dude Ranch.


As I said before we saw a lot of rain in the Black Hills, so when we woke up this morning to find more rain in the forecast we packed up and headed south. Also we will cut a 400 plus mile day in half. Tonight we are staying at the Cabella's in Sidney Nebraska.  Tomorrow we head to Estes Park Colorado.