2012 West Coast Adventure, Day 7

Day 7 June 29th, 2012:


Good evening / morning from Royal Gorge, Colorado, our last day at this location!…

Today was by far one of the most memorable days I think we all have ever had. The morning started with some confusion on what to do, since this area is loaded with tourist activities. After MUCH debate and several walks back and forth to the office to use their phone, we decided on 3 things…1st a Segway tour of the Royal Gorge. Michael had found a company up the street, named iLean Ride, Co.. After calling the owner John 3 times, we decided to do the bridge 1st, and then do a separate tour called the Skyline Drive, and then we were going to do a dinner train in the gorge. However, after meeting John, and doing the Segway’s which were absolutely the BOMB, we chose to do the Skyline tour, then out for Pizza and beer at a local hotspot with John and his friend Steve opposed to the train. What a great call that turned out to be!

When John came back to pick us up, he had 2 more guests, LeAnn and her son Drew. Everyone hit it off quickly, and we spent the next 4 hours laughing, telling stories, and seeing some fantastic views…except when LeAnn almost drove off the mountain! That made every one’s heart stop for a moment, but in the end, we all made it down the VERY large Skyline Drive hill…On a side note, if you have never done a Segway tour, you need to try it…they are fun. More powerful than I expected, and took a few minutes to get used to them, but WOW!

At dinner, John’s friend Steve and I did a lot of laughing since our political views were very much aligned, and the stories around the table didn’t stop. Just a fantastic day, afternoon, and night, so John and Steve, if you read this, you both made our family extremely happy…THANK YOU!

I cannot say enough just how beautiful it is here, not just in sights, but the people. The region is truly a nice pace, not to slow, not to fast, and just very friendly.

The bridge and attractions are worth a stop, but we never did make it to the bottom of the gorge, we were having too much fun as a group!

As Sponge Bob sings…”It’s the best day ever!”

What an extraordinary Blessed Day!

I knew today was going to be blessed...this was sunrise at 5:45am... 

Just arriving at the Royal Gorge

 

 

 The famous Dirla Pose....

 

 The boys being boys...

 He was a friend a minute ago...

 He turned on Nicholas!

 Very neat little old miner town on the other end of the bridge.

 He was a BAD boy again!

Mom and boys practicing to work for Todd Hoffman...Gold Rush! 

We did not do this, but you are 1,300 Ft above the water...and crammed like sardines! 

Never saw a white buffalo before.

Ok...it's only been 7 days....so we can still smile!

For those that like flowers....

Large Panoramic of the Bridge 

The bridge had the 50 Flags and State signs...of course we did Jersey proud! 

I like the old trains. 

Horses next to our MotorHome.  Very cute! 

The begining of the 3 mile journey up a LARGE and steep hill...Patty did great but inside was dying of the potential dangers...large drops, narrow roads...what a date I took her on! 

 This was at the top, so everyone was still smiling...then we started down.  WOW, it was steep!

 

 The last of the heights....

A blessed day with great new friends...Steve, John and a blury image of LeAnn....



2012 West Coast Adventure Day 6

Day 6 June 28th, 2012:

Good evening / morning from Royal Gorge, Colorado…

What a fantastic change of pace today! It was NORMAL…no issues at work for the 1st time since we left, and it was a normal get up early put a few hours in and then enjoy the family…which I did!

We started off by driving about 70 miles to a place to have each wheel on the Motorhome weighed, which is unique and not a lot of places do this. The place we went was a few miles away from Colorado Springs, and we saw the fires which are absolutely devastating to the area. The owner of the RV place had to evacuate and is living in a MH at his place of business. The stories are unbelievable, and the amount of damage is staggering! The biggest concerns now are looters, and scammers setting up fake web sites to get donations. Our prayers go to all the families and firefighters!

After the short visit, we drove through the lower eastern part of Colorado, and OMG, is it BEAUTIFUL! You can absolutely see why people fall in love with this state and never leave. After a short 100 miles, we ended up at Royal Gorge to go Zip Lining. We did 9 stations with over a mile of walking. The runs ranged from 200 – 900 feet, nothing scary high, but high enough to get a sense of how beautiful this region is. The first 4 stations went off without a hitch, and then it happened…Nicholas went to jump off, and his trolley malfunctioned…dangling him about 8 feet off the platform, but up about 40 feet…after the guide and I tethered him to me, and then to the station I got calm, but Patty did not handle this so well. He hung there for a good 15 minutes until they came with some items to get him back. It took 2 guides, and me to finally get him back to the station. He was definitely shaken, rightfully so, but he sucked it up and forged on…and had a great rest of the experience. He was the hero from that point on with everyone in the party…he really was brave today! Patty hung, but was definitely shaken beyond repair…she made it but it was not without a lot of coaxing. I need to state he was extremely safe, we just couldn’t get him back. You know it’s bad when the experts, go geez never saw this before…

After zip lining we drove a whopping 2 miles to a KOA, which is a dusty lot…but BEAUTIFUL location. Before I could get settled I had to bleed the fuel line again on our generator. Didn’t take long, and I am now becoming an expert on diesel engines…LOL! Once settled in the boys went, swimming, and yes that’s right…GO-KARTING!!!! Patty cooked an awesome dinner, which we all devoured, and then the boy’s went swimming again…I can say, even with the scare with Nicholas, it was a great day and we are all blessed!

Tomorrow we site see at the Gorge, and Michael and Nicholas have pick a gazillion things to do…so until the next blog…have a Blessed Day!

The haze you see is actually from the fire...these houses have not been evacuated yet, but may if they don't get a hold of the fire...today they made some headway since it was not very windy, it is 5 percent contained.  Thank GOD! ...p.s. Photo provided by Nicholas D.

AWESOME views! 

Michael captured this awesome church as we were driving by...very nice shot! 

My friend used to fly F-4's...so Michael took this for me... 

Michael showing his photography skills once again. 

Entering the area... 

Mom having fun before the mis-hap... 

Dad being goofy...but smiling for the first time in many days! 

Nicholas before the mishap showing off his mad skills! 

Michael, being Michael...adventurous...and able to have a ton of fun! 

Our Guide Mellisa.... She was great, but told LAME jokes...that where funny actually...

Our lead guide Linda...She was a character!

Haven't seen this before!!!!! 

Even after Michael sabatoged Nicholas's machine, Nicholas was still able to beat him! 

Another BLESSED DAY!!!!! Dad took this shot :-)

2012 West Coast Adventure, Day 5

Day 5 June 27th , 2012:

Good evening from Limon, Colorado…

Today was a drive day across Kansas and into Colorado...~550 miles.

The drive was spectacular to say the least. It is absolutely AMAZING, as soon as you cross into Kansas; it becomes a whole new world! BIG, BIG, BIG…not as flat as you think. Similar to Nebraska, you climb about 3,000 feet but you never climb any mountains. Today, we did a detour down Rt. 24, to go see the largest ball of twine, very geeky, but very cool to see! Not so cool outside, the temperature was over 100 deg’s all day, and for several hours we were at 115 deg., until we hit a little rain at the Colorado boarder, and the temperature finally dropped to 90 deg. For the 500 miles across the state we had 50 – 65 mph winds that tossed us around like we were a rag doll, which is a feat since we weigh 47,000 lbs! Needless to say, it was a tough day fighting the wind, but the sites make up for everything. I still cannot get enough of the states out here, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and Montana, they truly define the word VAST! Those that have followed us in the past know I am still amazed when you can see the earth curve while driving, and as I ALWAYS say, unless you see it, you can’t image what it’s like. To see that much open land with no obstructions is mind boggling even after all the years of seeing it and today was no different. I tried to capture it in one of the images, but it does it no justice. The other staggering thing is how they divert traffic with no divider at 70 mph, as the picture below shows. 1st time we did it I was like “Are you kidding me!”, now it seems so normal…until you pass a truck doing 70 in the opposite direction and you can pass sugar to each other through the windows! We also made our official 1st stop at a Wal-Mart!  Always an experience in different states....

On a personal note, today was an interesting day as it related to work, which sort of hindered my ability to soak up all the sights, but what I was able to soak up was amazing, and the support I received made the day almost bearable…so THANK YOU to you all who know who you are!

Tomorrow we head to the Royal Gorge…the number 1 bungee jumping bridge in the world. We will not be doing that, but God willing some zip lining and other fun stuff…unless today’s events roll into tomorrow, then Patty and the boys will enjoy, and I will watch…let’s hope that is not the case. Dad can use some fun with the kids.

On a closing note, as we drove through Flint, Kansas, Nicholas asked if we could get a couple of Flintstones, I asked him if he knew what would happen if you had two Flintstones, he said what, I said you get a Pebble…I had to explain the joke, but we made fun of me for a while so I think it was a pretty good off the cuff one liner.

Well, enough of me babbling…Have a great and Blessed day!
 

Geeky, but it's all about the Geek factor!

Not sure if you can guage the scale...but this carry's on to the left and right for MILES...if you can imagine the middle of this is the middle of the curve.  No obstructions for miles! 

You can get a sense of the scale...with our Angry Birds all enjoying the view 

At least 200 miles of views like this...nothing like this on the East Coast! 

We are going 70mph...as you can see to the right the West Bound lane is under construction...you drive at least 10 miles like this...Safety what? 

Michael, getting creative with his photography... 

Michael showing us the ending of another Blessed Day!