Colorado Springs | Garden of the Gods
Colorado Springs; at first glance…
Our second stop in Colorado was Colorado Springs. It is located at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Two of the biggest attractions to this area of Colorado are Pikes Peak and the Garden of the Gods. We were hoping to explore them both during our visit. The entire time in Colorado Springs we were in awe driving around the city because off in the distance were the snow capped mountains and Pikes Peak begging for us to come closer.
Garden of the Gods is actually located in the heart of the city. As soon as we arrived we began experiencing heavy rains and even a couple bursts of large hail storms crashing down on our van. It was very scary at times to see cars piled up under bridges, structures with overhangs, and off on the sides of the road, just waiting it out. We tried to get the van under cover but never quite made it. We had no idea what to expect, what to do. It was like clank, clank, clank! Ka-plop, ka-plop, ka-plop! Amy and I both fell silent just praying it was going to stop! Thank goodness it didn’t last very long! What a scary experience. We seldom have hail storms in Florida. Definitely not like the ones we did in Colorado Springs. Funny, not funny, but afterwards we started spotting signs for Hail Insurance everywhere!
Definitely expect the unexpected in Colorado and try to have a plan if you experience what we did. We even saw vehicles passing by with small dents all over and wondered if that was from a hail storm.
Camping Colorado Springs
During our visit to COLO Springs we experienced heavy smoke as well rolling in from the mountains. This was due to large fires up in Canada. At times it was as if the smoke inhaled us. We camped the Garden of the Gods RV Resort. We were out of clean clothes already and in desperate need of a laundry mat. Wah-la! We set up the van in our assigned spot. Amy logged on to her work computer and began working from home, the “Aloha!”
Me? The lucky one? Retired and no job? Oh yeah, you guessed it! I got the honor of loading up our laundry bag and throwing it over my shoulder, then lugging it down to the laundry mat at the front of the resort. I had to get technically savvy right away just in order to operate the washing machines. I downloaded some app and then linked my credit card to it purchasing coins virtual coins on the app. I then plugged in the assigned washer number and it turned on. Strange I know, it is what it is. It might be a thing in Colorado I dunno. It may be a thing everywhere now, I dunno. I didn’t care, I figured it out and it was washing our dirties just fine.
The rain had let up for the moment when I returned to the van with the empty laundry bag in hand. We were tired and decided because of the weather, The Garden of Gods would have to wait until the next day. I downloaded my electric bike from the back of the van, turned on its power, and took off towards town to find a grocery store. About a half mile later I found one. Loaded with groceries I climbed back on my bike and headed to camp. Amy was still talking to someone unknown to me on her headset, laptop on lap, typing away. I took a plop on the couch beside her kicking my legs up reseting my feet on the kitchen countertop.
I whipped out my iPhone and began catching up on my favorite YouTube Channel’s videos just relaxing and taking it all in. Since the rain held off a little longer I even opened the back doors to the van and the side sliding door to let the cool breeze blow in upon us. I broke open the bottle of Bourbon and poured in my 2.5 ounces adding a bit of light ice. I was at peace and then a construction crew started using what sounded like jack hammers and all sorts of other machinery to fix the road on the other side of the fence from us. This lasted for a couple of hours and thankfully they decided to cut out early for the day!
Garden of the Gods
Our campground was located only about a mile or so away from the entrance to the Garden of the Gods Park and six miles from the Pike’s Peak Highway. It is just outside the popular little town of Manitou Springs. The campground had been perfect for us (except for the beeps and machinery from the construction workers for a short time) to just kind of disconnect for a little while. We were so excited to be here having so much fun already.
We drove through town, made a couple of turns and we entered the park.
If you want to spend just thirty minutes driving the park loop you can. There are also vehicle tours, Segway tours, bike tours, rock climbing, hiking, trails, horseback riding and much more. You can trailer your own horses into the park if you like.
The drive in and up to the visitor center was amazing. Since it was overcast the appearance of the park was darker, gloomier, filled with rich colors of greens, browns, and reds.
We actually went to the park on two different days. We started at the visitor center. There is a nature center, a Geo Trekker Theatre, a souvenir & gift shop, exhibits and galleries. They have a cafe inside as well. I grabbed a coffee and we sat and ate sandwiches. They had free maps available inside and we studied up on the park structure to get our bearings.
Amy hooked us up with tickets to ride a trolley vehicle through the park. The rain had returned and we weren’t sure how much hiking we’d be able to get in so we opted for a covered ride to begin our adventures and we were glad we did. Half way into the park it began to rain off and on.
We went out on the terrace near the cafe. There is a beautiful overlook there and you can see the rock structures in landscape form with the snow capped mountains with Pikes Peak in the backdrop.
The Garden of the Gods is a 1,323 acre National Natural landmark. The towering sand stone rock formations reach heights up to 300 feet. The formations began as early as during the Ice Ages as mountains eroded and the sea drew back.
We got a good idea of what the park had to offer during our trolley ride. Our guide had a white Santa Claus beard and wore and actual working and loaded western pistol in a leather holster buckled around his waist. He was very informative and we had a great time. Rain, no rain, rain again we were seeing the garden.
The next day we returned and drove the park in the van. We made numerous stops at different location along the loop. We got out and walked amongst the giant rock formations. It felt like we had landed our ship on another planet and were exploring a whole new world for the first time.
There is another gift / craft shop on the other side of the park. We got out and went inside. Lots of beautiful trinkets and souvenirs for sure.
One of the coolest formations is called, “Balanced Rock.” this Rock is located at the south end of the park. When softer layers below it eroded it left this gigantic rock balancing on the edges.
The parking areas do get crowded so you may have to skip areas and drive back around to see them when you do find a spot. We didn’t seem to have long wait periods at all while we were there, we were able to find spots the van could easily fit into.
If you have never been to the Garden of the Gods or Colorado Springs area for that matter you don’t know what you’re missing! It was so much fun, so beautiful, and very photogenic!
This is one area / city / park Amy and I can definitely see ourselves coming back one day to revisit and see more. We definitely want to be able to take the highway up to Pikes Peak.
Check out the pictures below to see footage we took when the smoke from Canada poured into this city.
Other fun pit stops
While in Colorado Springs we met up with two of Amy’s friends, Heather and April. They moved to Colorado Springs a couple of years ago from the Florida area and told us they absolutely love being residents of this city. We were also looking forward to taking a tour of their Winnebago Travato Camper Van. We met them for dinner. Afterwards they took us to check out a local bourbon distillery.
This trip was before we went and explored all the bourbon distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. We didn’t know bourbon was made outside of Kentucky being newbies to bourbon at the time. This distillery, called, “Private Label” was phenomenal. Not only was the bourbon delicious but the entire building was something to see!
We enjoyed some very well made bourbon sours and purchased a bottle as well. We explored the buildings different floors. A busy bar on the bottom floor, then up the staircase to the second and then the third. Pool tables, darts, foosball tables, ping pong, and more. It was just a really cool layout for having fun conversations with our friends from Colorado Springs.
I must also mention the top floor has a balcony we walked out on with a gorgeous view of Pikes Peak! (We got to see the sun setting in the backdrop over mountains and the Peak before the smoke clouds flooded in).
April and Heather told us to peak behind these plastic flaps blocking a doorway into the warehouse. Oh boy, we were in heaven. Beyond the doorway below were so many stacked barrels of bourbon, at the time, more than we had ever laid eyes upon. The American flag hanging over the dimly lit barrel room made for an awesome view.
You can rent out a space for parties / get-togethers for a reasonable cost. It’s just a place waiting for you to explore and have a really good time at while staring outside at Pikes Peak. They have a sister company not too far away from the location we went to.
Check out their website for more information: https://privatelabeldistillery.com
We headed downtown Colorado Springs next. Amy loves Tiki Bars and guess what? They had one there called the “Shrunken Head Tiki.” We sat in swing chairs trying out some bourbon cocktails across from our friends. We played with the light brights under the table while we talked, a very unique experience. Afterwards we headed back to the campground for some rest. Unfortunately, we had to head out in the morning for the Rocky Mountain National Park!
Before we left we got to visit some more with our friends at their beautiful home with of course, Pikes Peak in the backdrop. We toured their Travato Van and …
…I want one! Amy loved it too even though she didn’t want to say it out loud. We were sitting in the Travato interview our friends about why they chose this particular make, model, and set up and the Aloha was next door listening to the entire conversation so we had to keep our excitement to a minimal for her sake, LOL!
Thank you so much for stopping by the website and reading this journal! I very much enjoyed sharing our experiences in Colorado Springs with you all. My hope is you maybe got a little information and ideas if you are planning on visiting Colorado some day. Colorado Springs was an amazing time and one never to be forgotten. There are so many other places to see and things to do so maybe one day we’ll be back. It would definitely be worth the trip!
Don’t forget to watch our video (a companion) about Colorado Springs | Garden of the Gods. There will be a link to our YouTube Channel below for you to travel over and watch! Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel and give us many thumbs up likes as you like, LOL. Tates are out!
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