Monday, June 25, 2018

Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy…

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Upon leaving Questa NM we started our day heading north to an uncertain destination. We had planned to stop at a county run park near Colorado City Colorado. After several hours of driving we pulled down a short dirt road which entered the park, Greenhorn Meadows Campground. We unfortunately found it to be totally unsuitable for our larger RV but since it was lunchtime we pulled over and parked to make lunch and come up with a plan B.

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Another hour and half down the road we pulled into Plan B, also known as Bass Pro Shops outside of Colorado Springs near the Air Force Academy. They allow dry camping behind their store so we pulled in and we were so level we only put out two slides and no jacks since we were only there for the night.

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By this time it was already 3:00 so we drove over to the Air Force Academy where my dad was stationed when I was aged five or so. I wanted Sharon to see the chapel there as it is architecturally interesting. We went through the gate and the guard, who was from Texas, chatted with us for a bit before passing us on through. We drove over to the chapel and walked around campus taking in the sights. There is another architecturally interesting building called Polaris Hall, which faces the North Star, very unique!

Afterward we drove over to Rock Bottom Brewery since they sent me a birthday coupon for a free entre. We enjoyed dinner and a craft beer before heading back to Bass Pro Shops where we slept without any noise or ruckus. In the morning we checked the weather and found that we were in a slight severe weather zone so we left for yet another uncertain place to stay since it is a first come first served stop, hopefully they would have a vacancy!

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Lucky for us as we pulled into Boulder County Fairgrounds we found a nice pull through site. As we went to pay the machine was being worked on so the ranger told us everything would be okay to just come by later to pay. No sooner did we get back to the RV it started hailing with hail the size of marbles. It lasted about 10 minutes and luckily neither the car nor the rv sustained any damage.

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We returned to pay only to discover that someone already had paid for the site we were in so we had to move. Fortunately for us there was another site still available as this park fills up fast since it is only $25 per night in an area where most parks exceed $50 per night. We pulled into our new site and set up. Sites in this park are tight but cheap so we will put up with the close quarters especially since it appears we will be staying until July 3rd. This is because we have yet another appointment with a freightliner dealer as our gauges once again failed and we see the same fault codes as before. This means that the repair of the ABS unit in Albuquerque didn’t solve the problem so we will be back in the shop on July 3rd…Please wish us luck!

NOTE: We are now in the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont Colorado until, well, who know when…

9 comments:

  1. Wow, did I say wow!! Glad you got to share the Air Force Academy with Sharon, it is beautiful and the Chapel is awesome. From there you had quite a day of uncertainty, but glad you were able to stay in the campground after all. Good luck on the RV repair/fix.

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  2. Nice to explore those places from your past and a nice quiet night at Bass Pro.
    Good luck with your ABS repair.

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  3. We stayed at the USAF Academy Famcamp a few years ago and will be back for another stay mid-July. They were still building the Polaris Hall when we were there, so we’ll have to go check it out. Hopefully they’ll find the solution to your fault codes this time and it will be resolved permanently.

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    1. Yes, if I had stayed 16 more years in the Air Force I could have stayed at the famcamp ;)

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  4. Our niece is an Academy grad. It's a great campus located in an area with so many adventures. Our son lived in Longmont for several years when he was first married, which they continue to own as a rental.
    Looking forward to your adventures, I miss going there :(

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  5. Mike retired from the Academy as a civilian. The Bass Shop is in a good location and away from noise. Glad t2hear about Boulder's fairgrounds.

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  6. Our daughter was an instuctor there for a few years and we enjoyed visiting. The on base campground was close to everything.

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  7. A few years ago we camped at the military campground there and enjoyed our visit there very much. The chapel is breathtaking. Did you go inside?

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