Colorado and Coronavirus Part Two

Part One

We were awake early in the morning on our first full day in Colorado.  Excitedly I opened the shade in anticipation that I would be looking at mountains.  There were no mountains.  There was still a very heavy fog settled just over the city thoroughly hiding the mountains.  Our original plan was to eat out for breakfast on our first day in town and then, after we went to the store, eat breakfast at the cottage for the rest of the week.  We weren’t sure how it would work out now that, due to Coronavirus, Colorado had closed all restaurants to dining in.  We called Mountain Shadows Restaurant and were happy to find that they were open for takeout.  Even better, the famous cinnamon roll that I thought would be sold out before we went for breakfast was still available.

As we drove to Widefield Disc Golf Course, we could see that the fog was slowly lifting.  I was unduly entertained when I realized the course was on Drury Lane.  The course, second oldest in Colorado, was fun, with some challenges, and fairly easy to navigate.  I noticed on the 15th hole that I was a little winded and a touch light-headed.  The course is relatively flat and it had not occurred to me that we would be feeling the effects of the altitude so keenly.

After breakfast I had looked up potential things to do, as the zoo we had planned to visit was now closed.  Feeling a little weak, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing.  After some rest, I ventured out to find a grocery store to stock up on supplies for the week.  When I opened the door, I could see that the fog had finally disappeared and at last, there were beautiful mountains to see.  I was now in my happy place.

When I got to the store, people had definitely been panic shopping.  While I was able to get snack items, I could not find any eggs or toilet paper.  While the cottage was well stocked with almost everything we would need, there was only one roll of paper.  With all the hiking we do, we make a habit of always carrying a roll of paper with us, just in case.  I was very happy that we had brought some with us on this trip as well.

We finished up our day with a drive to explore Manitou Springs before picking up delicious burgers from Skirted Heifer.

The next morning we woke up to a gorgeous day.  It was warm and the sun was shining. Finally, we had a spectacular view of the mountains.  We headed back to Manitou Springs and turned on to a very steep road twisting its way up the side of the mountain to Cave of the Winds.  I could not get over the majesty of the mountains around us.  I found myself just wanting to stand still and take it all in.  As we walked to the caverns from the parking lot, we saw a ropes course on the edge of the cliff.  I commented about how scary it looked, as one section of the course was right on the edge.

When we reached the ticket office, we determined that they were taking proper precautions by limiting the number of people in a tour group and purchased our tickets to explore the caverns.  While we waited for our tour time we went out to the balcony on the front of the building.  The balcony was over the edge of the cliff.  I almost felt dizzy when I first looked over to peer into the canyon below.  Once I regained my bearings, the view was unbelievable.  When I looked at the ropes course from this angle I realized that what I thought was on the edge of the cliff was actually extended out over the ravine.

We enjoyed the various rock formations in the cave.  We have been to several different caverns, but I enjoy them all.  Each has its own special character.  In this particular cave, there were several spots that were a little tight.  I didn’t realize just how low the clearance was on one set of stairs and smacked my head into a rock pretty soundly.  In one room Eric, our tour guide, turned out the lights so we could experience total darkness.  The piercing darkness was astonishing.

We wound our way back down the steep road and drove the few minutes to Rainbow Falls.  When we arrived, we found a closed gate.  Apparently, when I researched the falls I neglected to notice that it is open seasonally.  A little disappointed, we next went to Manitou Springs Cliff Dwellings.  There was not a lot to do there. We were able to walk through the buildings, but the museum was not open.  It was neat to see how the Anasazis lived a very long time ago.

We planned to explore Garden of the Gods next.  With restaurants being closed, except for takeout, we thought it would be nice to have a picnic lunch.  We ordered from Front Range Barbecue before we left the Dwellings.  We drove into Old Colorado City to pick up our food and parked on the block behind the restaurant.  As we turned the corner, we saw a breathtaking view of Pikes Peak towering in the distance.  The town reminded me of an old western town.  I loved the character of the buildings with the backdrop of mountains.  After a detour for me to look for great angles for photos of Pikes Peak, we arrived at the restaurant.  They had set up a tent in the back for food pickup, putting us almost back at the car.

Garden of the Gods was far larger than I had anticipated.  We did not see any picnic tables as we drove through the park.  Just as I started to worry that a picnic would not work out, we found a picnic area with several empty tables.  We picked a table looking right at Pikes Peak.  It was a lovely spot to enjoy our spectacular lunch.  As we ate we watched the clouds come over the mountains as the predicted snow worked its way towards us.

After lunch, we continued into the park.  We planned to drive to the back and work our way out.  We drove around a large area with massive rock projections jutting out of the ground.  I wanted to stop at the next parking area that I found but missed the entrance.  I saw a trail that led to the large rock formations and decided to go around the loop again to return to the parking lot so we could explore the trail.

Suddenly the cars in front of us slowed down to a crawl.  I could not figure out why there would be so much traffic in the park.  With the beautiful view, I didn’t mind.  I was even able to pull out the camera and snap a few pictures.  As we rounded the turn, we realized what the hold up was.  There were bighorn sheep, about 30 of them, climbing around on the rocks on the backside of an amazing rock formation.  After the sheep, we were in the clear for travel again.  We circled back to the parking lot, but instead of taking the trail I had seen, we walked to the spot we had seen the sheep.  At one point two of them were very literally just across the road from us.

We returned to the car and continued our exploration of the park.  The next stop was the opposite side of the rocks from the sheep.  I enjoyed the many colors of the different rock formations.  We searched for the eagles Chris had seen earlier.  It was interesting that you could tell where the eagles roosted by the bird droppings on the face of the rocks.  Chris spotted some deer in the brush in the distance.

I started to feel a little off while we explored the massive gift shop.  We headed out of the park stopping at Balanced Rock, where the rocks seem very precariously placed but are solid.  When we returned home, I began to feel progressively worse.  I had developed a fever and very quickly jumped to the conclusion that I must have contracted Coronavirus despite all of our efforts to limit our chance of exposure.  Chris reassured me that there were any number of things that could be causing me to not feel well.

After an evening of pampering, I woke up the next morning feeling better.  The mountains had disappeared again.  The weather had turned cold and it was wet and dreary.  We went to the store for supplies.  It surprised me to see the top of Pikes Peak jutting out above the low-lying cloud cover.  It was a stunning display.

Since I had felt ill the night before, we drove across town to Pho & Grill.  It is Chris’s opinion that pho will cure any sickness.  I’m not sure how true that statement is, but pho is very comforting when you are under the weather.  We started our trip in a light drizzle.  Before we reached the other side of town, it began to snow.  When we arrived at the restaurant it looked like we were in the middle of a blizzard as thick, wet snow quickly coated everything.  It looked like we were in for a major storm but, by the time we returned to the cottage, there was no evidence of snow.

The weather transitioned between snow and rain for the next two days.  Our last day in Colorado we only ventured out once, to pick up lunch from Paravicini’s Italian Bistro.  We were getting desperate on the toilet paper front, even asking the restaurant if they might have a roll to sell, which they did not.  We stopped at a couple of convenience stores on our way back to the house with no luck.

At this point, states were starting to go into lockdown mode.  We had some concerns about what the drive home would be like.  Would restrooms be open?  Would our hotel be operating?  Would roads be closed?  Would entire states be closed to travel?  It was daunting that there was so much uncertainty.

We woke up before sunrise on Saturday morning.  The rain had passed but it was a very brisk 19-degrees.  It was cold but strangely did not feel as cold as it usually does at that temperature.  We packed the car quickly and started the long journey home.  As we left Colorado Springs we looked back one more time at a spectacular view of snow-covered Pikes Peak looming high in the early morning sunlight.  I couldn’t help myself but look in the rear-view mirror repeatedly to catch just one more glimpse.

Ahead of us, the sun rose above the horizon as we passed a wind farm.  The windmills, with the sun rising in the sky behind them, were a stunning sight.  There had obviously been more snow here as we could see significant snowdrifts beside the road.  The snow was still very fresh and clean and the beautiful snowdrifts looked like a picture.

The wind picked up as we drove into Kansas and suddenly there were tumbleweeds rolling across the road.  Most of them were curiosities but one was almost half the size of our car.  As the high prairie gave way to the rolling hills of eastern Kansas the winds died down.  Without stopping for meals, we just hit drive-thrus on the way home, we made pretty good time, ending up in St. Louis just in time to get Jack in the Box before they closed.

The hotel was close to empty when we arrived.  Chris went to the car for something we had forgotten and found a raccoon hanging out in the parking lot in hopes of getting into the trash can.  I attempted to catch a picture of him, but he was not that cooperative, disappearing behind a car.  As we walked back inside we both got a very strange vibe from our surroundings.  We were in a suite.  When we went to bed, Chris brought everything into the bedroom and locked the door.  I thought he was being paranoid, but when we got up in the morning we could tell someone had attempted to come into our room.  We could see that the slide lock was straight out where someone had opened the door.  The front desk, disappointingly, didn’t seem at all concerned about it.

We continued our trip east, enjoying the view of the Gateway Arch once again as we passed by.  As we drove through Illinois, I suddenly realized just how flat it is.  There was no sign of elevation anywhere I could see.  As we drove through Kentucky there were horses everywhere.  The landscape started to change as we made our way back into more mountainous terrain.  It was a little off-putting to see the fallen rocks at the bottom of sheer cliffs beside the road.

When we reached West Virginia, it started to feel like we were getting close to home.  The interstate crosses over several mountains along the way.  It irritated me that trucks kept blocking traffic in the left lane as we drove up the mountains, despite the fact that it was clearly marked that they were not allowed in the left lane.  There was far less traffic once I-77 split off from I-64.  As we headed down another mountain we approached another truck.  I noticed the truck was pumping his brakes.  It was a steep decline so I thought he was adjusting his speed.  As we passed him, he started blowing his horn repeatedly, as if in distress.  Automatically I tapped our brakes as well, attempting to process what might be wrong.  As we came around the truck, I realized there was a barely visible deer in the middle of the road.  It was dusk and the deer blended into the rocks and brush in the background.  We slowed down rapidly stopping just before we reached the creature, who then turned and ran off of the road.  Had the trucker not signaled us, there may have been a very different ending to our trip.  The truck completely blocked our view of the animal.  If we had passed the truck at full speed, I don’t think we would have seen it in time to stop safely.

As we entered Virginia, I could see the mountains laid out regally in front of us.  I often hear people expressing their opinions on what mountains are more beautiful.  I love the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains but feel that the softer, rounder Blue Ridge are equally beautiful, and will always make me feel like I am coming home.

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