Colorado Springs and Colorado

Over the past ten years, I traveled and worked all over the continental United States, Canada, and Mexico. I have visited many spectacular places in the United States; moreover, I have been through a lot of great cities, and I have visited national parks, state parks, beautiful beaches, as well as monuments. I have also traveled through and camped out in some of the most beautiful areas of the United States. My most memorable travel experience started on the morning of April 13th of two-thousand and eight when I left home to drive up to Colorado Springs, CO.

The journey to Colorado Springs started when i left home and began the drive up there. In route to Colorado, I stopped at Raton, NM and visited the MT. Capulin Volcano. I paid the entrance fee and drove the long winding road to get to the summit. Upon my arrival at the summitt, I walked around the rim of the crator. The altitude on the summitt is nearly 8,000 feet. As a result of the exercise at that altitude, I was out of breath and my heart was pounding. There where Gnats flying around in swarms up on top of the mountain; in fact, the Gnats were annoying me. Eventually I descended back down the Volcano and continued my adventure towards Colorado Springs.

I drove for a couple of hours and began the drive through Raton Pass, NM, which is on Interstate twenty-five. The race course for this particular highway, starts at aproximately fifeteen miles south of the Colorado state line. I really enjoy this part of the travel to Colorado the most, as the road through Raton Pass is fun to drive. The speed limit on this road is seventy-five miles per hour; however, I pushed one-hundred at various times testing out my Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The car took the curves well and several other automobiles joined in my little race into Colorado.

As I crossed the state line of Colorado and officially entered that state, I blew past the Colorado Port of Entry at nearly one-hundred and ten miles per hour. I did this on purpose folks, cause over the past ten years I drove a Semi truck and worked as a truck driver; nevertheless, I had always had the fantasy of blowing past a Port of Entry or Wieght Station, yet i never had the gutts to actually do it until now. This time I was in a car so they never did come after me. Aproximatly thirty miles into Colorado I had slowed down, since I traveled through Trinidad, CO and did not want a speeding ticket; furthermore, I did not want to risk a wreck, since the traffic had congested a little in downtown Trinidad.

After leaving Trinidad a State Trooper drove next to me, I was doing ninety miles per hour in a seventy-five mile per hour zone at the time, yet he just smiled at me, I smiled back and never slowed down as i knew he would not do anyting about it. Finally, after about five hours of total driving time since i left home, I was starting to enter Colorado Springs, CO. I did not get a hotel room as i was only planning on a day trip to Colorado Springs. Since i had left home at five am central time, that morning of April the 13th 2008, I had time to get to Colorado Springs, spend about six hours doing what i intended to do and get back home the same day; however, in order to really enjoy the full experience of Colorado Springs, you should try to stay at least three days.

So now you are wandering, what is it that caused me to want to only do a day trip to Colorado Springs and not spend a couple of days there. I originally decided to drive up there out of plain old-fasion boredom; furthermore, I wanted to see Pikes Peak, which is a mountain that overlooks Colorado Springs and i wanted to visit Cripple Creek for a few quick hours at the slot machines. Yes ladies and gentlemen Pikes Peak and Cripple Creek are worth the ten hour roundtrip drive.

The cost to drive up Pikes Peak, at the time was fifeteen dollars per vehicle, I paid the fee and started the hour long journey to the top. In route to the summitt, I parked at a parking area on the side of the road and did some hiking on a remote hiking trail. Upon arriving at the summitt of Pikes Peak, which is 14,110 feet high. I got out of my car, took some pictures, visited the gift shop and peered through one of those coin operated telescopes. I could not see much since there was heavy cloud cover nearly 3,000 feet lower than the summitt, which is where i was standing at the time. On the journey down Pikes Peak, I saw a mountain lion sitting peacefully, not more than thirty yards from where a bunch of visitors had gathered to take pictures. With regards to Pikes Peak, this was the most memorable experience for me on this trip.

Now to the next stop on my little vacation to the Colorado Springs area, which is Cripple Creek, CO. I drove past Manitou Springs, went past the Garden of the Gods, the Cave of the Winds exit and after about an hour of driving I reached my destination. A Casino, in fact several casino's in Cripple Creek. I played the slots from machine to machine, using the technique that had worked best for me when i visited various Indian Nation Casinos in the past and won enough cash to make the trip worth it.

After winning nearly five-hundred dollars my mission was accomplished; for instance, I had traversed the great wilderness of America and I had managed to out smart the highway patrol yet again on another race up to Colorado. As you can see, I had a great time in Colorado and I won enough money to more than pay for the expenses of the trip. I enjoyed my visit to Colorado Springs as well as Cripple Creek and it is probably the most memorable vacation experience I have ever had. I hope to return to Colorado some day soon; in fact, i am thinking about eventually moving up there.