Colorado Springs, September 2011

***Sorry this is so late being posted, but it has been a busy fall and winter and I have a lot of trips to catch up on ******

One of my favorite places in the world to visit is Colorado. I get over there several times a year and always amazes me how much there is to see and do there. On this trip, I stayed mainly in Colorado Springs, though I did make some time to get out and enjoy the surrounding area. On this trip I was traveling with my co-worker Rex.
Upon arriving we went and picked up the rental car.
I am a long time Hertz customer, but recently have switched to Enterprise. I love the rewards plan that Hertz offered, but lately the quality of the car I was receiving was lacking, so I made the move to Enterprise. Now, they don't have a rewards program, but you do get to decide what you drive. At the counter they gave me the choice of a Chevy Malibu or Dodge Charger, well that choice was easy. First, I am done with Government Motors, and second, the last few Dodge products I've rented have been pretty nice. Here is what I ended up with.
This car had remarkably good gas mileage for this type of car and it handled great.

Colorado Springs is home to a lot of beautiful and interesting sites, such as Pike's Peak, Garden of the Gods, the Air Force Academy, Manatou Cliff Dwellings and the US Olympic Training Facility.

Pike's Peak from the Siamese Twins of Garden of the Gods

Manatou Cave Dwellings

Chapel at US Air Force Academy

Garden of the Gods

I used to live in Albuquerque and loved the taste of a good chili cheeseburger, so we asked our waiter at the   IHOP on the south side of town (by the way, the best IHOP I have eaten at) and he said you need to make the trip to Pueblo and have a "slopper". What is a "slopper" you may ask? Well check out the history of the "slopper" at this site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slopper. We headed to Pueblo for lunch and stopped at Gray's Coors Tavern to try a "slopper". All I can say was DAMN IT WAS GOOD!!! Linked is some more info on Gray's http://www.yelp.com/biz/grays-coors-tavern-pueblo.

Managed to get a little free time on this trip and took off to Canyon City and Royal Gorge. Royal Gorge is quite an experience and very awe inspiring. It is also a place for those with more guts that I can muster, to take a swing over the edge of a 1000'+ drop off. Here are few pics from that day.

Bridge over Royal Gorge

Headed Down Into the Gorge

Me on the Royal Gorge Bridge

Rex at the Top of the Gorge

Royal Gorge Bridge (It does swing)

After a few hours there we took back of to Colorado Springs. We decided to take the more scenic route back through Phantom Canyon. If you ever visit Royal Gorge from Colorado Springs, or anywhere north, make sure you take this drive back through Phantom Canyon. It is absolutely incredible. You will go from deep canyon passes to wide open rolling hills at 10,000 feet, drive through old mining towns and get beautiful views of Pikes Peak. Here is just a sample.

Here is a map of the route back to Colorado Springs

Another great trip to Colorado!! This state is by far one of my most favorite places to visit. In the near future, I will put together a post with information on some other great places to visit, off the beaten path in Colorado.

Click here to view more pics from my other trips to Colorado. Have fun and get outdoors!!!