Today was another busy day, with alot of walking (mostly uphill it seems!) and steps, steps and more steps!  Nothing is flat here lol  We started with a big breakfast, and I think I finally got my cast iron skillet seasoned like it's supposed to be, very happy about that.

Our 1st stop was the Manitou Cliff Dwellings.  These cliff dwellings were actually built nearly 1000 yrs ago by the Anasazi Indians.  Larry is standing next to a bread oven that was used to bake up to 30 loaves of bread at one time.

 After the cliff dwellings, we drove through the Garden of the God's.  These huge red rocks are just standing propped against each other, and balanced on top of each other.  We watched a short movie explaining how they were formed... something about tectonic plates, erosion, earthquakes and millions of years in the making. 

Here's also a few pictures of deer we saw a couple days ago while we were walking the dogs.  In the last picture you can see the deer drinking from a blue water dish.

Was another tiring day of walking, so we were thinking about taking tomorrow off and doing some laundry and cleaning, but then I forgot to bring laundry detergent.  Looks like another visit to Walmart in our future!  For now, we're in the camper just chilling out and watching the CMT awards.  The wind blows so much here we haven't attempted building a fire.  One of these nights hopefully we'll get a chance to have some toasted marshmallows. 

Day 4 and finally we were able to get some sight-seeing done!  We spent most of the morning trying to figure out a problem with the 5th wheel.  There's something wrong with the front landing things, and the warranty deal we have that's supposed to be so great to get repairs while out on the road has ended up being a total waste.  I guess we shouldn't be surprised, they'll tell you anything to get you to buy something but try to use it and it's a different story!  We don't have phone reception here at the campground, so we drove to town to make some phone calls.  And to stock up.

McDonalds are few and far between out here!

We went to the Royal Gorge this afternoon, and there's just no describing how huge it is.  There's a suspension bridge built to walk across, and with the wind blowing you could feel it moving (was a little scary!)  They also have a tram car you can ride to the bottom, and walk along side the Arkansas River.

They also had a wildlife park across the bridge with bison, elk and mountain goats. 

 This little chipmunk was so cute I had to get a picture.  He was hanging around the snack bar and would dart around grabbing up food and running off with it.

It was a fun day wandering around the Royal Gorge and seeing everything they had there.  We didn't go on the tram cars that take you across the gorge, with the way the wind was blowing it would have just been too much for us old folks! lol  We walked probably 50 miles, and everything was uphill so we definately got in our exercise today.  Hopefully we'll be able to move tomorrow! 

Oh, I forgot about the trouble Larry got into.... don't ask!  We were just lucky I had enough cash for bail!

 Today we finally made it to Colorado Springs!  We were only on the road about 4 hours, much better than yesterdays 8 hours.  The scenery changed quite a bit after leaving Kansas.  

Not alot to see is there?  Just land as far as you can see, no houses or anything else!

Our first view of the mountains in the distance.

Had to get a picture of Colorado cows!  lol

We're staying at Mountaindale Campground outside of Colorado Springs.  We'll be here for a week, so finally able to settle in a bit.

The view behind our campsite.  We're in the back, so we've got mountains behind us.

One of the neatest things here, is that there are deer that wander through the campground.  They aren't afraid of anyone, not even Lucy barking at them.  We saw one drinking from a dog dish someone had left outside.  We have a few pictures, it was getting dark so they aren't very good.  Hopefully we'll be able to get better ones.

Tomorrow we're planning on going to the Royal Gorge and see what else is in Canon City.  Finally able to start doing some sight seeing!

Day 2 and we're at the KOA in Goodland, KS.  We were on the road nearly 8 hours today, taking a few stops to stretch and walk the dogs.  Lucy is such a good traveler, she loves being on the go and pretty much sleeps the entire time.  Bailey on the other hand is so scared and won't sleep no matter how tired she is.  She reminds me of a baby fighting sleep.... her eyes will close for 5 or 10 seconds, then pop back open.

About the most exciting thing we saw today was a wind farm.  These windmills are huge, and there were so many as far as you could see. 

Had to also get a picture of flat Kansas lol  It's so flat here you can see forever it seems.

After being in the truck for 8 hours, it was nice to finally get here and settle in for the night.  I spent most of the drive complaining about being hot, only to find out about an hour before we stopped that the vents were closed on my side of the truck lol  Once here we went to find a place to eat, something other than fast food where we could sit for a while and that was a major undertaking.  This town has nothing unless you want burgers and pizza.  We found a local guy (Larry talks to anyone and everyone lol) who took us on a tour of the 2 sit down restaurants they have here.

The girls were happy to finally be out of the truck, too.  After eating their dinner, and taking a nice walk they were ready to sack out!

Tomorrow we'll be in Colorado Springs, hopefully only about a 3 hour drive at the most.  We'll be staying there for a week, so will be able to finally settle in for a little while and do some sight seeing!

First day on the road!  Left about 8:30 this morning and took nearly 6 hours to get to Topeka, KS.  The drive was uneventful, made it through Kansas City and the toll road.  We're staying at Deer Creek Campground and it's very clean, and great for an over night stay.... but not for a real camping experience.  Lots of concrete with a few patches of grass here and there... and NO shade at all.  No fire rings, so that means no toasted marshmallows :(   No picnic tables so no eating outside which is fine because it's hotter than heck here.  One of the first things we did was find a McDonalds (sweet tea anyone? lol) and of course, Walmart for ice cream and a few other things lol