Day Twenty

Today was a long day on the road.  The rest of the trip will have shorter driving days.  We had breakfast at a Mexican burrito place.  I got mine with just the eggs and bacon and asked them to leave everything else off.  It was pretty good.  :) Then we got Starbucks coffee and got on the road.

It was a long day seeing beautiful country and wide open spaces and big sky.  New Mexico looked like this:

Then we were into Texas and it looked like this:

A wind ranch!  It went on for miles and miles.  There must have been thousands of the turbines.

Then we got into Oklahoma and now we are all settled into the lodging at Tinker AFB.  Tomorrow we head to Little Rock AFB in Arkansas.

We had dinner at a place called Garage Burgers and Beer.  Had really good burgers and hand cut fries. 

I haven't had an opportunity to get more postcards along the way, so here are some things I've seen along the road that have made us smile.

From billboards:

"Stay at Tipi Stay, for the adventurous".  It was actual tipis.

"Shop at the Whoa 'n Go!"

"Hungry?  Stop at the Gas and Grub Delicatessen". That sounds ominous.

From Colorado, the sign for a small store, "The Dab and Doobie". (we did not stop there)

"Speed limits are not suggestions"

In the Amarillo area a sign advertising "Real, Amish made leather belts". I thought we were about as far away from Amish Country as possible.  :)

Somewhere in an early state, a sign saying, "Correctional facility ahead.  Do not pick up hitchhikers".
And today we saw, "Hitchhikers may be escaping inmates".  Maybe there needs to be some overhaul in the correctional system if that many are escaping and hitchhiking away.

And this really made me smile!  I want a mailbox like this!  But I doubt I can get the approval from the Kiln Creek ARB.  This was in Texas.

Stay safe and God Bless America!

Day Nineteen

We are currently checked in to a Chief's Suite in Kirtland AFB Lodging, New Mexico.  Very nice!

We had hoped to get one more look at the mountain before we left Colorado Springs, but that was not to be.  It was so foggy we could hardly see in front of the car for a while, and if you didn't already know there were mountains to the West, you would never guess they were there!  But here is what the mountain looked like last evening on the way to dinner.

I love being near the mountain almost as much as I love being at the beach and near the ocean.

It eventually cleared up and we could see the Spanish Peaks as we headed South on I-25.

Here is a picture of some New Mexico wild flowers.  I have no idea what they are  :)

Albuquerque has a lot of traffic and we had a little trouble finding our way around the base.  It started to thunder and lightening as we were getting into the suite and then the rain started.  We had a good lunch and we may just be staying in. :)

Tomorrow we head to Tinker AFB in Oklahoma.

Stay safe and God Bless America!

Day Eighteen

Today has been a rest and catch up day.  Golfer had wanted to play golf here at Peterson AFB, but that was not to be. Tournaments were going on and weather was happening.  Laundry needed to be done and that took the better part of the morning.  So we've been reading, resting a little, and taking it easy.

The rodeo last night was one more thing that was a little disappointing.  It had been raining all afternoon and into the evening.  Do you all know how totally muddy everything gets at a rodeo when there's two inches of rain coming down???  Once we slogged through the wet nastiness and got seated we were under the roof and weren't getting rained on, but I sure felt sorry for the animals in all that muck.  We left before it was over and stopped at a Wendy's for a sandwich before coming back to our suite.

We've decided that perhaps we planned one day too many for here.  Like I've said in a previous post, sometimes it is better to remember things the way they were instead of trying to experience them again now.

I think we're going out for steak tonight.  Our favorite steak restaurant, Three Thieves, is no longer here.  We've know that, it closed long ago.  And the Flying W steakhouse and the chuck wagon dinners are gone, too, since the bad fires a few years ago.

Tomorrow morning we will head out for New Mexico and we'll be at Kirtland AFB for the night.  I will let you know what we find there.

I shall close with a charming sign from Sandy's restaurant where we had breakfast yesterday morning. :)

Stay safe and God Bless America!
 

Day Seventeen

We found a small restaurant off base for breakfast called Sandy's.  It is a converted house and looked to be a favorite for the local folks.  The food was good and the portions big.  Golfer had a few things to take care of on his computer when we got back and I went to the Commissary for a few things.

Then we headed out for the Air Force Academy.  Went to the visitor's center and watched a film, and browsed through the gift shop.  Drove around and looked at the area. 

Then we stopped at Chic-Fil-A for lunch.  It was very modern and very customer friendly.  Food delivered to our table, several times we were asked if we needed anything else.  And an electronic trash can that opened up when you got to it!

The first evening we were here in the area we found our first apartment we lived in in Colorado.  It's still there, but we don't remember which unit we lived in.  :) We've driven all around here on base but have decided that where we lived here has been torn down.  There is a lot of construction going on and it is nice to see them putting solar panels on the roofs of the housing.

We are back in our suite for a bit until it is time for the rodeo.  It is thunder storming right now and I hope it stops before we leave.

This is Pike's Peak.  It has pretty much had clouds over it since we got here, but this morning on the way in to breakfast, we could almost see the very top!  Beautiful!

Stay Safe and God Bless America!

Day Sixteen (a day late)

It was a long day yesterday and too late to post when we got back to our room on Peterson AFB.

We started the day with driving  through Garden of the Gods.  It is so beautiful there!  Since we were there the last time they have added some excellent additions to the visitor's center.  Here are a couple pictures.

Then we headed to Seven Falls.  When we lived here we would take the girls and they loved watching the fish and the chipmunks.  We could drive right in and park close to the entrance.  Now the Falls are owned by Broadmoor.  You have to go miles away and park in a lot and ride a shuttle in.  Golfer and I were both disappointed in the changes and complaining to each other.  When we were waiting for the shuttle to take us back to the car, Golfer asked the attendant when the change took place.  We were told in 2014.  Following the disastrous fires in the area there was a huge flood that washed out the roads and some buildings in the Seven Falls park.  I guess Broadmoor bought it to fund the repairs.  It helps to know there was a reason besides greed, but we prefer to remember it how it was and we didn't spend a lot of time there.  But here is Golfer at the top of one of the landings.  (we took the elevator up, not the stairs)

And on the topic of remembering how things were, we had had Royal Gorge on our "to-do" list.  We crossed it off and decided not to go.  We had taken the girls there also when they were little.  Nurse J especially did not like walking out on the bridge!  Now it has been turned into a large amusement park and the fee is $24 per person.  We preferred to remember as it was when it was more natural and beautiful instead of tacky.

Yesterday afternoon we took the cog railway up Pikes Peak.  It was raining on the way up, and more cloudy the higher we got.  By the time we got to the top, the wind chill was 28 and it was snowing!  So much snow that we couldn't take pictures.  It was a fun ride but the wind, snow and altitude sucked all the oxygen out of the air!

This was when we first got off the train at the top.  Right after we took this selfie, the snow really started coming down.

So that is how yesterday went.  Our suite on base is very nice.

Stay safe and God Bless America!

Happy Birthday, Bikini!

Love you! XO

Day Fifteen

The Stay Wise Inn was quiet and nice and had a good breakfast.  They provide omelets on their breakfast bar.  The eggs are cooked into a tortilla shape and put in a warmer.  Then you get one, add whatever you want - ham, cheese, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, etc. - and fold it over and stick it in the microwave for a few seconds.  Golfer said it was good.  I had a waffle. :)

We got on the road and had a gorgeous drive through some awesome mountains.  Of course there were some road repairs and construction going on and we had to wait at a couple points, but it was so pretty.

Here are just a few of the pictures I took.



I think the sign said this was Lake Fork.  It was huge.

These low clouds caught my eye.  Or we may have just been up high enough that they were in their normal place.  :)

We drove through areas where the rock formations were all sharp and edgy, and then there would be areas of round, smooth formations.  All beautiful!

I think this is Monarch Mountain.  We went up and up and up and down and down.  Winding road, no guardrails, lots of ear popping.

We are at a Quality Inn in Colorado Springs for tonight.  Tomorrow we move out to Peterson AFB Lodging for three nights.  (no room there tonight)  It was nice they let us check in early, there was laundry to do.  And Golfer has taken Kirk to the Acura dealer for an oil change and check-up.  We will be going to dinner when he gets back.  The laundry is all done, I re-organized all the clean things and re-packed the suitcases.

 

Tomorrow afternoon we are taking the cog railway up Pike's Peak.  We have our jackets!

 

Stay safe and God Bless America!