Sept 21 - Colorado Springs, in the shadow of Pikes Peak

We arrived in Colorado Springs and have about three days before we need to head up to Denver to meet up with one of our friends from our Vietnam trip.

There are lots of sites/sights we could run around and see here but we have opted to just leave the bike in the trailer and spend some quality time "recharging" our personal internal batteries. We have crossed over into another time zone, the weather is cooler and somehow it is not difficult to sleep in late in the mornings.

After browsing over a couple cups of coffee this morning, I set out for a walk on a quest to get my hair cut. The temperature was just right and I discovered we are located in the midst of "Old Colorado Springs" complete with wall to wall boutiques, antique shops, gift shops and lots of T-shirts for sale. I had fun just wandering aimlessly around exploring and experiencing all there was to see. The buildings are old and historical in nature. They have the beginning of a fall festival underway and there are bales of hay and scare crows on every street corner looking like they are waiting for the walk light to change so they can cross. Perhaps that takes the place of the tourists who are not here at this point. It is kind of a transition season for them and things were pretty quiet, but that's how I like it.

Only thing breaking the quiet was the sound of my cell phone playing "When the Saints Go Marching In" everytime my daughter, Cindy, dialed up my number to chat. We were having fun talking back and forth in between the customers she had descending upon her office, wanting to conduct business...can you imagine...I guess it is a work day for everyone else.

My how I have grown accustomed to this retired lifestyle...now if I can just find my way home to my own bed, my own car and my own water aerobics class that my sagging belly really needs (don't worry, I am still within 10 pounds of my original low weight...but have just lost lots of the muscle tone that my water aerobics class had helped me build).