Manitou Springs Area

Unfortunately, Murphy was still here this morning! I got up and decided to turn on the zone 1 furnace (heats the front of the coach) and it has disappeared from the options on the thermostat! I decided not to worry about it, if things keep happening at the rate they are right now, we will still be here in 10 feet of snow but hey, that's life - right?

The rear or zone 2 furnace was still there so I turned it on and fortunately there are two big vents that blow to the front of the coach so in a short while we were nice and warm. After breakfast, we decided to just leave this pile of junk behind for the day and head off to Manitou Springs and some of the sights there.

Our first stop was the Manitou Springs Cliff Dwellings. These cliff dwellings are not some of the largest in the US but they were impressive. One of the nice things is that they are very hands on. Last year we visited Montezuma's Castle (cliff dwelling) and you could look but that was all. We walked through the entire dwelling and found it very fascinating. When you go look at the pictures, remember that the larger openings are maybe three feet in height - those are the doors. The smaller openings are the windows. These dwellings are approximately 700 years old and are still in very good shape considering the age and the fact that everyday, people are walking through, touching etc. I do need to mention that these dwellings were once inhabited by the Anasazi Indians. There is a three story Pueblo that is a gift shop/museum now, but the first six rooms on the lower level were built in 1898 and were occupied by Native Americans until 1984. The museum contains some very interesting artifacts from the Anasazi and other Native American tribes. I posted a picture of one piece of pottery that I found to be, ahh - different? See what you think.

Leaving the dwellings we drove on to Manitou Springs to check out the town. The buildings have a very old look to them (it is a old western town after all) and several where built to conform to the mountains hillside which includes large rocks that were left and built around.
We walked through town and had lunch in a cute little bar and grill, I forget the name. Dean ordered their "Famous New Orleans Red Beans and Rice". I guess they are famous here in Manitou Springs but they would never make it in New Orleans! After lunch, we walked around some more, then drove to the cog railway to make reservations for the ride up to Pikes Peak tomorrow.

On our way back to Woodland Park, we saw a sign that said Green Mountain Falls and decided to check it out. Well, there is a town by that name but no falls! It was a cute little mountain town, so all was not lost by driving there.

The rest of our afternoon was spent relaxing. Tomorrow should be interesting since we will be going up to 14, 110 feet in elevation. Be sure and check back to see if we make it - I know I'll be gasping for air. At least when we get back to 8400 feet the air will feel much heavier than it does now - LOL!

Pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/SchultzTravelPhotos