2016 Trip -14) Colorado Springs, CO to Gypsum, CO

 

Wed. 7/13…  (Colorado Springs, CO) Last day in Colorado Springs.  We decided to go to the US Olympic Training Facility for a tour.  It was a GREAT decision! This place is fantastic.  The training center is open to train both summer and winter as well Paralympic athletes.  We started with a video talking about the end result – the Olympics.  We saw past Olympians and their achievements.  Then they went back to the beginning and told us about the facility. 

 

We then walked through many of the training venues, including shooting, wrestling, swimming, gymnastics, boxing, and weight training. 

                                            
                                             Olympic corporate sponsors

 

Everything was first class.  The facility also can help athletes who have injuries and can do almost everything short of surgery. After that tour we drove out to seven falls.  But we found that they only do escorted tours now so we passed.  On the way to Costco we drove by the Broadmoor Hotel.  Truly a five star hotel! We stopped once more at Safeway and got everything we needed for salad, ravioli, and garlic bread. Very good.  It sprinkled a bit but Bailey and I went out anyway for her evening walk.  We came back and cleaned up the rig a bit to get ready to leave tomorrow. Later that night, an EMT unit came in to tend to another rver in the park who was having some issues. They had her on a gurney and I suspect that they transported her. It makes you think about staying healthy while on the road and in a remote location!     

 

Thur. 7/14… (Golden, CO)  Today’s drive was really short so we left around 11:00am.  We made the 89 mile trip back up through Denver and then a bit west to Dakota Ridge RV Resort (tl$63x2) in Golden, CO. 

 

 

This park is definitely not worth the high price! People are rude, sites are not the best. We’ll check out the amenities later.  But we wanted to be close to the Golden/Denver area for a couple of days so we’re good with it.  Our plans around Denver included a trip to Benny’s, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants so we wanted to take R&J there.  This place is in south Denver so it was a chance to see the city on the way there.  Of course I had to drive by Mile High Stadium to salute my champion BRONCOS! We also passed by Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies.  Not my team but their field is really nice looking. The meal at Benny’s was good as always and we were glad we went. We got back and I took Bailey out for a good walk then we settled in to watch our tape of the latest America’s Got Talent.     

 

Fri. 7/15…  (Golden, CO)   Today’s plan included a lot of eating and drinking! We wanted to catch an early tour of the Coors Brewery. We left at 9:00am and got to the tour center and on a tram to the facility for the 10:30am tour.  The Coors facility is the largest one site brewery in the country.

 

The tour was fun and we got finished around 11:30.  The tasting was even better. I knew I would be enjoying this more than Lydia so I turned over the car keys to her even before we got on the tram!

 

 

Lydia drove us to old town Golden and then to Woody’s Wood Fire Pizza for lunch.  We found Woody’s when we were here years ago with Bill & Treasa.  For one price you get a salad bar plus you order whatever pizza you want. They put it out at the pizza bar and you take a slice or two and then everyone else can as well.  You can help yourself to any slices on the table.  Pizza is good too!
 

 

The next stop was Celestial Seasonings, one of our favorite spots. We toured there some years ago but it was a day when they weren’t working so we wanted to go again.  Plus Lydia likes their tea! I got some shots outside and before the tour but they don’t allow pictures on the tour.
 

                                           all made from teabags, even the shoes!

 

But guess what? They were out on some kind of awards break or something during our tour so we missed out seeing the operation again! 

Don’t you just love the hairnets!

After the tour and going to the gift shop and stocking up on teas, we headed home.  We fed and walked the dogs and rested a bit then drove to The White Fence Farm in Lakewood CO. This is a place very similar to Mrs. Knott’s Chicken at Knott’s Berry Farm.  They have a country farm like atmosphere with things to see and do especially for the kids.

Afterward, on the way home, we drove by places we visited when we were here in 2012.  The area has changed a bit. It seems like there is more new housing now. We got back to the rig and pretty much crashed from all the food and drink today!  I think we’ll have to skip a few meals for the next couple of days!

 

Sat. 7/16…  (Gypsum, CO) We have another short drive today so we didn’t want to leave too early.  So we took our time and cleaned up the rig a bit and finally got on the road around 10:00am.  We drove the 119 miles to Aunt Sara’s River Dance RV Park (tl$35.x2) in Gypsum, CO. 

We are here for two nights.  We booked this place as an interim stop and probably should have only stayed one night.  No laundry and no pool and no sewers.  R&J had to move from their original assigned space because the power didn’t work.  But they’re good now. The Eagle River is only about 200 yards away and the water is crystal clear.  Bailey wasted no time in jumping in!  

The town doesn’t offer much so we’ll take advantage of the beauty of the location while we’re here. We were going to eat in but Janie heard that its Gypsum Days this weekend.  So we drove to town.  Well, Gypsum Days shuts down the main street and you have to walk in which was a ways so we checked out what we could see and then drove 7 more miles back to the town of Eagle where we found several restaurants to choose from.  We picked Moe’s Original Bar B Que for dinner. 

Janie and I tried their crabcake sandwich.  I had mac and cheese and banana pudding. Rick and Lydia had pulled pork sandwiches.  All in all, it was pretty good.  Some of the folks with cars from the Gypsum car show came by for dinner.

 

Afterward, we drove back to camp and Lydia and I walked Bailey back to the river for another swim

and then back to the rig to dry her off and settle in and catch up on some shows. We don’t have much of a signal out here but I was able to get my mobile hotspot to work for a while but loading pictures on the blog took forever so I won’t post until Monday.  Tomorrow we will kick back and relax.