Road Trip: Southwest

Day 15: Tuesday, May 06, 2025 - Colorado Springs, CO

Day's statistics:
Weather: lowere 60s, rainy and snowy
Steps: Steve 6,506; Linda 5,354
Travel: 286 miles

Our morning routine is fairly consistant: wake at 7:00 (or a little earlier depending on the schedule), shower, dress, go to breakfast, return and brush our teeth, pack, head out.
Not much usually to comment on. Except today. Not that the schedule was adjusted or anything, but rather because of the lack of hot shower water.
On the way to breakfast, we saw the clerk and talked to him about it. He said that it actually takes a little time for the hot water to get to the room. Apparently we didn't wait long enough. Well OK then.

Breakfast was a light continental served in a conference room. Linda had toast with peanut butter and jelly, and I had a waffle and a yogurt.

The day started off with pouring rain, but it did eventually let up.

We chose to stay in Colorado City because it was about the midpoint between Sante Fe and Cheyenne. That's about it.
But we did want to visit the Garden Of The Gods. In Colorado Springs. About an hour away
The Garden Of The Gods was decent - I'm sure the locals really like it - but it pales in comparison to some of the NPs - especially Bryce Canyon.
The drive to the Garden took us through town, and we drove past some residential homes just before entering the Garden.
We tried to take pictures between wiper swipes - but sometimes that didn't work, or too much water accumulated between the swipes. In other words, we didn't get an many good ppictures as we would have liked.
The park was, pretty much, a loop drive that was perhaps two miles in all.

Our next visit was the Pioneers Museum. We drove into town, and attempted to find a place to park.



Eventually we found a parking garage next to the museum. We saw this mural in the garage too, before we headed to the museum.


The museum was far enough away that we had to walk - with our umbrella - though the pouring rain.
We went inside, walking up a short flight of stairs to the second floor. After we spoke to the docent, and then began our self-guided tour.
Most of the display was localized, but we were still able to enjoy quite a bit of it while also learning about the history and growth of the region.
The museum was housed in the old courthouse, so there were spaces that used to be rooms - so this isn't a large building constructed as a museum.
One section of the museum was more geared toward kids, and had an "A - Z" display. We saw the A - Z items, but didn't picture them all. And there were full description placards for each, but I only kept the first paragraph.














After a couple rooms, we left the "A - Z" portion of the museum.
The next room, mostly artwork and photographs, had a docent that we talked to for a little while, learning that she did a good amount of travel including going to India for fabric numerous - like two dozen - times.










We were done with the second floor and decided to take the original manual elevator to the third floor.


There was a replica of the original courtroom.

There was also the actual house of Helen Hunt Jackson (a local poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government).












We saw scagliola in the Mississippi State House too.

There was a larger room dedicated to movie costumes and props.









The last room we visited had a replica of an old pharmacy.

Our tour was over, we took the elevator back to the second floor, and returned to the docent.
Part of the reason we wanted to pass through Colorado Springs was to not visit, but at least see Pikes Peak.
As we talked to the docent, I asked that on a clear day the view must be great. He agreed, pointing to the window saying "You can see the peak right through there."
We thanked him, and headed back to the garage.
On the way out of the garage, we passed by this interesting specimen.

As we learned about Olympic City, we did some quick research and found out that there was an Olympic Training Center that is now a museum, not that far away. So we paid it a drive-by.

Out there was Pikes Peak. Somewhere. Perhaps not even here...

In front of the Plaza Of The Rockies was this statue.

Time for lunch.
The precipitation changed from rain. To snow.
Todays midday meal was going to be at Sandy's, about five miles away. We punched the address into the GPS, and off we went.
"Turn in 500 feet." "Where?" "Oh, back there - oops."
A quick trip around the block was required - but the block was one mile that way, another mile to the right, another mile back, and then try again. This time we weren't on the highway and finding the entrance to the parking lot was easier.
For some reason, no one was sitting at the outside tables.

A hostess told us to sit where we wanted. There was a table right next to the door, but it was physically constructed with a post in the way, so we asked about the table in the corner and she sat us there, gave us menus, and told us our waitress would be with us shortly. That gave us time to peruse the menu.



"Shortly" is subjective... It was fifteen minutes or so before the waitress finally materialized.
After placing our order, we played a couple of the daily games on the phone as we hadn't yet had the time yet to finish them.
It wasn't too long before the orders arrived. Linda ordered the BLT half-sandwich with a cup of tortilla soup on the side, and I had a patty melt with fries. The sandwich is called a BLT as there are three ingredients on it: bacon, lettuce, and tomato. However, Linda received a BL sandwich. They had one job to do...


On the "Specials of the Day" listing was a six-egg omelette wrap that the two workmen / laborers (based on their attire) both ordered. And both finished.

It was supposed to be a little less than a three-hour drive to Cheyenne. But based on the current weather conditions again, we didn't know if there would be any addiitonal delays or anything. So we started our journey.
From Sandy's parking lot - and we were heading north - the snow was actually accumulating some.



This was just so odd for us since: 1) it was May; and B) we landed in Phoenix two weeks ago with temps in the low 90s.
Coming up was our eighth state line crossing this trip, but this was the first time we were made aware of its approach.

And then ten minutes later, it was here.

About five miles further down i25 was the Southeast Wyoming Welcome Center.


Generally we would have just driven right past this, but according to TripAdvisor.com, this stop was listed as #8 on the list of Things to Do in Cheyenne. There is a decent museum here.
The VC itself was open, but the museum section was closed as it was so late, so we would have to take their word for it.

I was, however, able to get a couple rather crappy pictures through the space in the door.


The roundabouts getting back on the highway had statues within them.


The mascot for Sinclair [Oil / Gas] is a dinosaur. So these figures are all about. This isn't the first one we've seen, but it is the first one we captured - we think - in the wild.

After arriving at the hotel - Days Inn - I checked in, and we made our way to the room.

We played some pinnocle; relaxed with some wine, cookies, and some TV, and then went to sleep.

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