April 16, 2013 Nice weather ... for February!!!

We're still here in Manitou Springs.  The weather is not co-operating tho ... woke up this morning to snow flurries and 26F temps with a wind chill of 1F!  Not my idea of a pleasant temperature!

On Sunday we took in Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on a clear, sunny and COLD day. 

A little tongue action!

What an amazing place that is.  Most time for me ... zoos are a hit or miss.  This one is a definite hit.  It's huge and the enclosures are large and roomy ... some are even in the woods and you can almost feel the animals are in the wild (except for the bars and glass!).  They're expanding a lot of their exhibits as well so by May it will be even better.

What's he trying to say?

Not much for crowds so we enjoyed feeding the giraffes, watching the gorillas and meerkats etc.  We had a fairly good lunch there, then drove up the tiny winding road to the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun.  WAAYYYY up the hillside they've built a marvelous tower with a chapel, winding staircase and many photos and interesting stuff about Will Rogers.  The view from the top is breathtaking!  I swear you can see clear to Kansas!

Will Rogers Shrine to the Sun

Yesterday (Monday) we took Rosy in for some maintenance (which they somehow never 'got to') ... grrr ... still grouchy about that one as we had to find some way to spend the day while it was in the shop.  It was so cold and windy out we ended up going to 2 different malls and then walking around Costco.  Not my idea of a really special day but I did get some good stuff!

Today is of course more cold, snow and wind.  We're just trying to figure out where to spend the next few days before our flight out on the 22nd.  Do we stay here and then just drive up to Denver the night before?  Or find somewhere to camp/store Rosy near Denver?  The weather is just as bad up there if not worse and I'm not sure what there is to do in that area.  So we have some decisions to make.

Trying to stay warm!

Later the same day ... we made the decision ... we'll stay here just outside Colo Sprgs at Garden of the Gods RV Park,  drive to Denver on Sunday, spend the nite and then fly out Monday morning.  We can keep Rosy here at the campground for a few dollars while we're away ... then we'll drive back on May 2nd and spend the night here.  We'll decide then whether to move West ... North ... all depends on the weather!

In the meantime we'll try to stay warm any way we can!!

We had lunch today in one of our best restaurant finds yet ... Heidi & Dugald ... you'd LOVE it.  It's called Rudy's BBQ ... original Texas Bar-b-que.  As soon as you walk in the door you're lovingly smothered in smoke and the saliva begins to flow!  They're carving stuff up as you wait in line ... the place is always packed.  No frills but just amazing beef, pork, chicken, turkey ...
I still smell of smoke ... in a good way!  I think we'll have to go back at least one more time before we leave the area.