Joy&Bill: Manitou Springs 24, 25, 26 May

After a long day driving over Independence Pass and visiting Leadville, we finally arrive at our lovely hotel, Cliff House in Manitou Springs.

The only trouble was , at Cliff House we got the last of the cheap rooms with a very loud air conditioning unit outside our window and a view of a steep and ugly rock bank. So we "mentioned" it to the front desk and we were delighted to be moved to one of the really superior rooms with a lovely view. Just shows you!!

This was our room. Heated toilet seat and other such fripperies.

Part of the view from our new room. Staff here were nice but a bit Basil Fawlty. Not in the dining room though. They do a lovely breakfast and have an excellent restaurant.

A lucky small bird with a very large worm in the garden.

It was joined by a hungry squirrel.

The first trip was to the spectacular Garden of the Gods.

They are very striking rock formations made from red sandstone.

The Kissing Camels.

Cathedral Rock.

The Three Graces.

The Three Graces from another angle.

Great views from up here.

Bill at Balanced Rock, giving it a hand.

Look Ma, I can balance again.

Back at the small attractive Victorian town of Manatou Springs. It was settled during the gold rush of the1850's and now has a bit of a “hippy” vibe.

It has nine natural soda water springs.

The water was quite nice, very carbonated.

Next day we went on the nine mile trip up to Pikes Peak on the cog railway. Pikes Peak' elevation is 14,110 feet and trains have been going up there since 1891. Teacher Katherine Lee Bates was so impressed by her trip up in1893, she wrote the patriotic song America the Beautiful after it.

Yes, that's it.

We started out warm and sunny at the bottom.

It wasn't to long before we were in the snow again. That's a lake in the background.

Oh no, we only got to about 13,000 feet and we had to stop because the track was buried in snow. So we never saw the summit and the reported wonderful views!!