We’re all tucked in at Riverbend Retreat Center - it’s lovely here and I’m sure we’ll have a good month. But let’s do a little recap of our month in Colorado Springs, which truly was an exceptional month.
First of all – the people -

It had been a while since we were part of a large Sower group at a project. There were 9 couples from all around the country and from all walks of life. And we played and prayed and laughed and cried and became family. It was very special. And I thank God for it!
Bonus Stuff -
You know (if you’ve been reading along) that we had a couple of amazing road trips while we were in the shadow of the Rockies. Another thing that was on my “to-do” list was to walk through Garden of the Gods (which was literally within walking distance of Glen Eyrie.) Finally, on our last full day in town, we made it down the street to walk through this amazing group of rock formations.

We also managed to squeeze in a quick trip to the Air Force Academy. It was an impressive campus. The most visited site on campus is the Chapel – and while it’s not exactly my “style” of architecture, it was quite an impressive building.

And one additional blessing that I need to mention is that while we were at Glen Eyrie there was a Fly Fishing Retreat. Now Gary had just bought his first fly rod, but had never really done any fly fishing. He was able to attend not only a 3 hour hands-on demonstration but he was able to go on a full day of fishing with just 12 other guys – 4 of whom were professional fishing guides! How’s that for a nice start to a new hobby! Now he didn’t catch anything, but said he had a great day anyway. So here’s my guy – all ready for his first day of fishing!

I could go on and on – Manitou Springs, Old Colorado City, Woodland Park, fun local restaurants, a wonderful quilt shop, Focus on the Family, bighorn sheep, deer wandering through the RV area, Cowboy Church…..it really was a wonderful month. Thanks for coming along!

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Tomorrow morning we head to Waco to spend an overnight with Lara! While I saw her at Easter, Gary hasn’t seen her since Thanksgiving! Waaaaay too long!
I have lots of road pictures from our two day drive from Colorado Springs to Glen Rose, but I guess that will just have to wait. I think this will be a “no computer” weekend!

See you on Monday!

After two long days on the road, we are parked just 20 miles from our October project – Riverbend Retreat Center down the road in Glen Rose, TX. The drive was long (today was over 1o hours), but since every inch of road was new to us, it was still enjoyable. We started this morning in Dumas, TX (outside of Amarillo), drove through oil fields and cattle fields, and horse pastures and more cattle fields. We passed a field of windmills and had about a dozen parts of windmills on the roads heading for assembly. On the way to Texas we drove up a volcano (another shelf road and we were only in the truck, don’t worry!!), saw herd after herd of pronghorn antelope, and went from the Raton Pass at almost 8000 feet to flat flat flat. But I have to say, the sight that surprised us most was this -

Ummmmmm – camels?????

long day….yawn…..more later……..zzzzzzzzz

We had quite a day yesterday. Since we found ourselves back at Glen Eyrie until Tuesday (we had moved briefly to a local Camping World in the hopes they could fix our awning. They could not. (at least not before we had to be leaving for Texas) ), we decided to try to take care of some sightseeing we had somehow not been able to accomplish previously. So, bright and early we headed out to drive the Rampart Range Road to Woodland Park.
The road starts in the Garden of the Gods -

The Dirt Road Adventure begins….

The views were spectacular (although Gary does wonder why I continue to take pictures of Pike’s Peak, since it doesn’t really change. It has such a commanding presence in the area that I just can’t seem to stop myself!) -

The road was a little rough, but the views were wonderful. And before we knew it, we were heading into Woodland Park where we enjoyed a hearty breakfast and then continued on our way to 11 Mile Canyon. Gary had gone fly fishing there last weekend, and while he hadn’t caught anything, he had been very taken with the beauty of the area.
As you can see by the entrance, it’s easy to see why….

The drive into the canyon is along an old railroad track and it’s pretty steep down to the river. But the ride was delightful – downright stunning in places -

Two of the three tunnels -

As we were headed back to the entrance, we noticed a turn off onto another dirt road. According to our trusty GPS, it would (eventually) lead us to a county road that would eventually get us to Cripple Creek, our next intentional destination. So, off we went! Good thing we had 4Wheel drive – the road was in pretty rough shape, but again the sights along the way, were worth the effort -

We finally made it to CR 59 – not quite a paved road, but improved at least! And it seemed to lead us a view into a valley between the mountains -

We did make it into that valley and all the way over to Cripple Creek – an old gold mining town that at one time was the 4th largest city in Colorado! Right now it makes it’s living off of tourism and small stakes gambling.

Little did we know that the real adventure had yet to begin! We decided to head south on a road called “Shelf Road”. A friend had said she was going to be camping and climbing along that road, so we thought we’d give it a try and see if could maybe track her down. We never did find her (though I think we were pretty close), but we did find out why the road is named “Shelf Road”. It’s because the road is really just a single lane shelf running along the side of the mountain.
The road looking back -

The canyon looking down (gulp)-

The road looking ahead -

(it’s that swatch going along the mountainside, about half way down.)
Of course the most exciting part of the road is the fact that it’s only one lane, but is a two way road.

Needless to say, I was about ready to kiss the blacktop when we finally reached the end!

The day ended with a rainbow –

And a fitting end of truly amazing day!

And if you would like to see a bazillion more pictures of this day – (more or less in order!), check them out HERE!

Much to my amazement, tomorrow is our last day at this project. It always seems that these three weeks fly by, and this has been no exception. Not only is this a beautiful project, but we were privileged to work with wonderful people as we served together. The men were busy doing lots of different maintenance chores – repairing roads, rebuilding bridges, remodeling The Chalet – housing for different volunteers, even building picture frames. With nine willing (and competent) men working, there was a lot accomplished. This is a huge facility – there’s the castle -

built by the founder of Colorado Springs, plus there are 5 other building for guests and probably another 4 buildings that house employees and volunteers. Then there’s the Volunteer Center (Gate House) and the Carriage House (which houses the main desk, book store, and a lovely courtyard). Needless to say, there is ALWAYS something to be done! The guys have been very busy. We ladies have been either in housekeeping, helping out with sewing some amazing costumes for the annual Madrigal Dinner they have during the Christmas holiday, or working in the maintenance office. I have actually been doing a little bit of each. One of my jobs was to count up, photograph and then organize the data for every guest and exterior door in those 6 guest buildings. It was quite a bit of fun, getting to see all the different buildings and rooms up-close – especially since we got to drive around our own golf cart. Gee, I love those things!

We will be sad to leave here – we’ve made some good friends, seen some beautiful sights, and still have a long list of things we’d like to see and do in this area. But the high altitude has been very hard on Gary’s breathing, so leave we must. But the good news is where we are going next.
But before that -
For those of you that have been waiting with baited breathe to see ALL the pictures I’ve been taking since we left Arkansas – here you go. (and trust me, these really aren’t ALL the pictures!!!)
The Road to Colorado - way too many pictures here, but if you really want to see – go HERE

Bent’s Old Fort – – remember that interesting supply fort in southern Colorado?

Colorado Springs Balloon Festival…did I mention that before? It was our first hot air balloon festival, and it was gorgeous!

Bunches more – HERE

Did you want to see more on Dodge City? A picture of Boot hill? More cattle feed yards? A giant Wyatt Earp?
Here you go!

Remember that drive up Pike’s Peak? Here’s a whole batch of pictures from that day (plus a couple of Pike’s Peak from down here!). Be prepared for lots of blue sky!

More pictures from Glen Eyrie are here. I wish we had been able to do some hiking on these grounds. We are less than a mile from Garden of the Gods, and share some of the same amazing rock formations. Maybe next time!

And for a sampling of all kinds of Colorado Pictures – check it out here -

Ok, enough of the pictures, already!!!!! (At least I didn’t MAKE you look at all of them!)

Back to our plans for next month.
Instead of continuing to head West, we have decided to take a small detour and head back to Texas so we can touch base with Lara. I know, I know, it’s EAST, but we are thrilled be able to work in a visit with The Daughter! We’ll be working at the Riverbend Retreat Center in Glen Rose, TX (about an hour away from Waco). After the project we’ll head to Waco to give her a hand as she moves into her house! It’s an exciting time for her, and we are excited to be able to be a help to her. Don’t despair about our westward trek – we’re signed up for a project outside of Tucson, AZ for November. I think we’ll be right back on track!

Now go click on some of those links for goodness sake!