Day 1, continued--Colorado Springs and Focus On the Family

August 1, 2015

(click the pictures to see them larger)

Calhan, CO to Colorado Springs, CO

(Please forgive me for the delay in this post. I've been working two jobs for the past month, and things have been pretty crazy. Now I'm down to one job and I can catch up on the posts!)

After leaving Paint Mines Interpretive Park, it was about 30-45 minutes into Colorado Springs. Here's a closer picture of the mountains seen in our "Driving" post.

"Mountains in view: Oh the Joy!" (to paraphrase Lewis & Clark)

One of the things E and I knew we had to do when we got out to Colorado Springs was visit the Focus On the Family headquarters! We grew up listening to Adventures in Odyssey every weekday evening and Saturday morning. Our routines revolved around this radio program for years, until the show started changing... The newest episodes really just aren't the same as the ones we grew up with.

Anyway...

At the mention of "Colorado Springs," my first thought is the Focus On the Family address: "Colorado Springs, Colorado, eight-zero-nine-nine-five. Or in Canada write to, Box Ninety-Eight Hundred, Vancouver BC, V6B 4G3"--the address we heard recited nightly by their chipper hostess, Chris. So of course, we made a point to visit the Focus On the Family Headquarters!

We rode the famous 3-storey slide--I did it twice. :) We were by far the oldest riders. The rest were children who barely passed our elbows...

Downstairs we found ourselves in McAllister Park!

Everyone's favorite detective: Harlow Doyle, Puh-rivate Eye

During our explorations, we stepped around the corner to discover....

NARNIA!

El and I did not just listen to Adventures in Odyssey. No, we also listened to cassette tapes Mom recorded of Focus on the Family's Radio Theatre production of "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe." 

The lovely KT

The elevator is actually the Imagination Station. It appeared to be malfunctioning, though, and we did not "zoop" away on any fantastic adventures.

 And of course we stopped at Whit's End's ice cream shoppe for Wod-Fam-Choc-Sods.

The gift shop is worth perusing as well. We walked away with a mug, t-shirts (KT has a t-shirt obsession...), books, postcards, nicknacks...

It was a fun visit. :) 

Check my other blog in the next day or two for a video of my A-Bend-A-Go slide ride!

--Kiwi

Day 1--Paint Mines Interpretive Park

August 1, 2015
(click the pictures to see them larger!)

We arrived in Calhan, Colorado shortly after 11:00 am. It was HOT.

Paint Mines Interpretive Park is located just south of the small town of Calhan. I compare it to the Badlands in South Dakota, only much smaller, and possibly more colorful.

We parked at the second parking lot and hiked down into the canyon from there. Some stories of the location claimed that the trail there is very steep. I suppose that is true, but don't let that discourage you! It certainly was not unmanageable! The first parking lot has nice trails, but you must walk farther to get to the canyon area.

From the parking lot, looking down.

KT and Mainiac, exploring.

Fairy Trumpet Flowers, or  Ipomopsis aggregata

We made good use of the timer on my camera!

Please visit my other blog, www.quirkykiwifruit.blogspot.com, for pictures as well! The posts will be similar, but I'm changing a few of the pictures on each.

Colorado Day 1: Driving

Evening 1--July 31, 2015
Day 1--August 1, 2015
Wisconsin to Bettendorf, Iowa
Bettendorf, Iowa to Calhan, Colorado

We left the house right on schedule: 6:30 pm! ....And then we had to stop 20 minutes down the road. Mainiac had accidentally left her phone, drivers license, and debit card in her family's car, and we needed to pick that up before heading out of state. Thankfully we discovered it was missing before we made it to Colorado!
Driving west into the sunset, we watched the rear-view mirror as a "blue moon" rose behind us. A blue moon, according to Wikipedia, is

"a second full moon in a month of the common calendar."

KT and El took the first driving/navigating shift, then we paused at my grandparents' house long enough to say hello, change into comfy clothes, and pick up the GPS.
I took the next leg of the journey and made it almost to Council Bluffs. Mainiac made a wonderful navigator, and kept me awake with funny stories, trivia pulled up on her phone (thank goodness for 3G!), and classic Newsboys/Michael W. Smith sing-alongs. Sometime between 1 and 2 AM I realized that driving any further would be a very unwise decision, so we switched out with El and KT and slept until we reached Kearney, Nebraska.

Blue Moon around 2-3:00 am.

Blue moon around 6:00am, when we stopped for gas in Kearney

From Kearney we dropped down into Kansas on a road parallel to the railroad, taking us through small towns such as Long Island and Funk.

Some might think that the drive through Kansas would be boring, since the road is so flat and straight, but I thought it was beautiful. We drove through fields of sunflowers and over the west end of beautiful Harlan County Lake.
Driving through Kansas might have been my favorite drive of the trip. Okay, maybe not The Favorite. The Peak-to-Peak Highway and Trail Ridge Road both had some fantastic scenery! But this was pretty and quiet and peaceful.

Harlan County Lake

Harlan County Lake

Abandoned house close to the Colorado border

We're here!! (That's not us.)

Driving through wind turbine country!

Allow me to introduce the Colorado Crew!

El, back there reading

Mainiac, living up to her name. ;) I think we were singing along to Fiddler on the Roof...

There's me, Kiwi!

KT finally fell asleep. (she doesn't sleep well in cars.)

We had fun with wipe-off markers. 

First glimpse of mountains!

Next post: Paint Mines Interpretive Park and maybe Focus on the Family, too.

An Introduction

We are down to 52 days until departure! Suddenly things got real.

Allow me to introduce the Colorado Crew:

We are four girls from the Midwest, eager to explore the 38th state.

This trip is the brainchild of El and Kiwi (your humble author). After going through (and possibly scaring off) multiple roadtrip companions, we have found two to join us: Mainiac and KT! Mainiac is even flying out from Maine (hence the name--get it?) to join the adventure!

The Colorado Crew will depart on Friday, July 31st. El gets home from work right around 6:00, and we'll have everything and everyone in the driveway and ready to pack up and go the moment she gets home.
It's about a 16 hour drive from our current location to Colorado Springs, so we'll take turns driving through the night and arrive right around 8:00am local time. (Or perhaps a little bit later. There's the Paint Mines Interpretive Park about 45 minutes east of Co. Springs, and the detour would only add about 30 minutes...)
We'll be in Colorado Springs through Tuesday, then Estes Park through Friday, August 7. That night will be spent in Denver, then we'll strike out for home in the evening and find a hotel somewhere in Nebraska, returning home the afternoon of Sunday, August 9.

How do we keep track of all this information and share it with the rest of the Crew?

We are making good use of technology!

• There is a massive, constantly evolving Google Doc file with notes on the itinerary plans, links, packing lists, and everything else you can think of. The advantage of using Google Docs is accessibility for each of the participants, and the real-time updates.
• We've Skyped or used Google Hangout with Mainiac multiple times to choose hotels and activities. We won't let any 1,300 mile distance hamper our plans!
• We're compiling a Road Trip Binder to take on the road. This includes:
• Co. Springs, Estes Park, and Denver vacation planners, provided by the cities' tourism boards
• Hotel reservation confirmations
• Coupons
• Lists of things to do if we have unexpected downtime
• Daily itinerary
• We also have a message thread going on Facebook for brainstorming and sudden inspiration.

Our plan is that we'll keep this blog updated semi-regularly with information about planning, preparing, and executing this trip! I'll even make sure it gets updated a few times while we're out on the road. (Don't worry, family, I will be careful to not include our exact itinerary ahead of time.)

Have you ever been on a lengthy road trip? Do you have any tips or advice for us?

--Kiwi