From Tiny Gold Flakes to Giant Red Rocks

*waves from the window (can you find me)

I think Clare's still on her own time zone (2 hours ahead) because she seems to be getting up really early, and I don't think its because she's that excited to get going.  In fact, this morning she was showered, had breakfast, and sitting on her bed trying to figure out what to do with the half an hour we had before anything we wanted to see opened.  At least that wasn't as bad as showing up at a Build-a-Bear to find it doesn't open for another hour :D.

Our first stop of the day was "Ghost Town" (a museum), where we got to check out a recreated wild west style town, with lots of fun stuff to look at and learn, but by far the best part (at least for little me) was panning for gold.  There were signs to explain how to do it, and that told us they stocked the sand with bits of gold daily, so just be patient and you should find something.

So we set to work.  Well, I tried but when the pan is bigger than you are, it makes it a little hard to hold it, so I just let Clare do it for me.  After a number of tries, and even switching locations, we were getting a little frustrated (so much for patience lol).  Only after re-reading the signs did Clare realize that there is a difference between "swirl the pan underwater" and "shake it back and forth" (she was doing the latter).  Things went better after that, and after a few more attempts, we managed to find three pieces in one pan.  Yay us!

Those three tiny dots on my leg - yup that's gold alright!

So far everything we have done, has been in the same canyon as we are camping (again thanks to Rissa for finding us such a great spot), but after striking it rich in the gold panning business, we headed back into Colorado Springs for the first time since arriving here.  Guess why.  I bet you can't guess.  Come on.  Guess.  Give up?  We went to Build-a-Bear!  Yup, we had been in town almost 3 days and still hadn't been to get my official Colorado stamp.  Sheesh, Clare's been slacking or something!

After our short shopping trip, Clare checked the map to see the best way to get to our next destination, which was back in the canyon we are camping in.  It didn't take much to realize that the best route was to drive through the Garden of the Gods, which we hadn't even decided if we wanted to see or not (oh, and by the way, that's Pike's Peak there in the background - we finally got to see it from ground level).

Well, I guess the decision was made, and we headed over to the park's Welcome Centre (which unlike yesterday, we found easily; actually it was pretty hard to miss).  We checked out the film they have on how the "giant red rocks" got there, and had the entire theatre to ourselves (busy day?).  Then we got our map and headed into the park - for free!  Yup, turns out that the original owner of the land many years ago willed it to the city of Colorado Springs with only one stipulation; that it would always remain free for everyone to enjoy (naturally they make up for that with those all-too-well established gift stores full of - stuff).

Let me just say that this park was pretty much like The Arches, only without the umm... arches :).  Seriously though, the creation process was pretty much the same, and the result was equally as stunning.  In fact, the rest of the day was spent driving, and wandering around the park, taking lots of pictures of giant red rocks.

Our last stop of the day was the Garden of the Gods Trading Post (which while still part of the park, is listed separately on every guide map we've seen.  It is quoted as "the largest souvenir and gift shop in Colorado Springs".  Naturally that meant Clare had to go inside.  I chose to stay in the car and take a nap.  All that being carried around giant red rocks can be exhausting you know!

I'm not sure how long she was in there, but it seemed like hours to me.  Finally she returned, without as much stuff as I'd thought she might, and we were on our way back to the campground, where we discovered that things had really picked up in the neighbours department (I guess campgrounds tend to do that on weekends).

We still have more to see, and thanks to my indirect hinting yesterday, we are staying here one more night... so stay tuned tomorrow for more of my adventures from Colorado Springs!

Night all

Whatever!