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Climbing on Rocks is Fun

Friday, May 6th – Colorado Springs to Denver, Colorado – Day 85 

We packed up the camper. The campsite was great. Quiet, fresh air, good view. We headed back into Colorado Springs to see the Garden of the Gods. We picked up the junior ranger books from the visitor centre; this time we had to pay $2 for the book. They had a good visual display of local wildlife and some interactive screens the kids could play with. 


 We drove five minutes to the trailhead for the Garden of the Gods. The Garden of the Gods is a series of rock formations that you can walk through. The rock formations are impressive. You can watch climbers climbing them. We walked around the 1.5-mile trail, but the kids weren’t that into it. Finally, there was a section of the trail where you could climb on and between the rocks, and they came alive. Too bad it was a short portion before we headed back to the car. Gen and I were not especially impressed; it’s not that fun to walk a flat concrete trail. The rock formations were stunning, but it was tough to get enthused. 

Our next rock formation was the Siamese Twins formation. It was tough convincing the kids to do another hike and it was even tougher to convince John to walk uphill. He eventually got carried for some of it. When we reached the top, they had a blast climbing on the different rock formations. Gen sat on a rock and took it all in. It was very pleasant sitting there for a while and enjoying the view. The trail to the parking lot was downhill over rocks and stairs and the kids enjoyed it. 



One final stop before we exited the park was the balancing rock. The balancing rock was across the street from the parking lot so there were no complaints about hikes here. The kids were climbing over all the rocks. We eventually contained them enough to take some photos. 


 We were debating going to Florissant National Monument fossil beds, but it would have added and hour and a half to the trip to Denver. Our original plan was to drop into the TD bank in Denver before the end of the day. On the drive, we found out that the TD Ameritrade was not the same as TD bank, so we didn’t need to stop by. Instead, we dropped by Red Rocks Amphitheatre. 

When we arrived there was a Brentley Gabriel, country music singer, concert about to start. We couldn’t see the amphitheatre. Gen contemplated getting tickets and sticking around for the show. We still had to get to our free camping spot for the night. We were on route until we pulled off the highway to see a local herd of Bison that were nowhere to be seen. Gen found out that the place we were going had a review that highly recommended four-wheel drive. We needed a new place. After looking for free campsites for a while I phoned the State Parks hotline and got a site that had just been cancelled at nearby Chatfield State Park. 


When we arrived, John found a friend, Millie, to collect pinecones with. The girls found the play structure and the half dozen kids playing on it. We enjoyed some quesadillas and the sunset over the mountains. John and Millie were two peas in a pod. John even brought her his Disney book to show her. The girls showed up and they all played together which was nice. I started chatting with Millie’s Dad and eventually we joined them for a fire. Gen wasn’t sure they wanted us there so when the kids went to bed, so did we.

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