COLORADO SPRINGS

At the end of the day on 19 July 2012 we arrived at the home of Darrell and Linda Badurek in Colorado Springs, where we will be staying for the rest of the summer. It had been our longest drive of the trip, and we hadn't seen our mule deer.

The Badurek's three floor home in Colorado Springs...

and the mule deer was in the back garden!

20 July 2012: We clean out the car, do the laundry, and settle into the "Garden" room. Thom goes shopping in Pueblo for a touring bicycle. Sheila takes a mid-afternoon dip in the indoor pool with Linda and Darrell's visiting grandkids. The house is taking shape as special ordered items arrive to make it a unique home. Here are the new front doors:

There are panels on each side of the doors, and both panels and doors have windows behind them that open separately to let in the cool Colorado air.

21 July 2012: Today we adventured into part of Colorado Springs. We went to Helen Hunt Falls and walked the trail there, and then drove by the Broadmore Hotel, famous for its golf course. Back at the house, we had a couple of visitors you might like to get to know.

Thom at Helen Hunt Falls and trail, North Chayenne Canyon, Colorado Springs.

Broadmore Hotel, Colorado Springs...

And its famous golf course.

Back at the house, the mule deer cools off in the sprinkler water.

Preens itself...

And brings along a little one. You can see from the fallen apples why they like to come here!

22 July 2012: In the back garden we have spotted one of the second year bear cubs (too dark to take a picture) and seen a young cub several times (too quick to take a picture). We promise you a photograph as soon as we have one! Meanwhile, if you would like to check out the bear family (a mother and three cubs) that frequent the area, you can go to Black Bear Cub Party on YouTube, where they are filmed playing on a slide in a neighbors' yard last year. We did have a visitor this evening though, of the two legged variety. Blake West, who we thought we had left behind in Melbourne, Florida, has moved to Colorado Springs with his job. We are looking forward to seeing the rest of the family here soon.

Blake West, Darrell Badurek, Sheila and Tom, and Linda Badurek enjoyed a meal on the deck, the main dining room here at the Badurek home.

23 - 31 July 2012: We have been mixing work, every-day-life, and relaxation here at the Badurek home. Sheila's right at home weeding the garden and Thom has been revitalizing some retro metal patio tables by sanding off some rust and repainting them. We also re-covered the seats for the 12 chairs.

We've found the commissary (grocery store) and registered at the military clinic. We visited the local Family History Center and found it to be very spacious and well equipped - except for some reason you can't print from ancestry.com... Sheila's a trouble maker and will be trying to remedy that! Thom ordered his touring bicylcle from Pueblo and started training for his ride across America - even if it does have a woman's seat by mistake, and needs the gears adjusting.

We have enjoyed the "wild life" in the garden, and we have had some wild weather also. Lots of storms, including two lots of hail, and flooding in the "burn scar" areas of the recent fires.  Thom and I have volunteered to help family members sift through the ashes of their homes for any surviving items. We had to have a security background check, so have not been "on the job" yet.

Sheila collects up the fallen apples and the deer find them.

This fellow is too manly to feed out of a wheelbarrow!

Whatever it is came inside, and we soon escorted him out, tails and all.

On a trip into Colorado Springs we found a running shop for Thom, and a nice park where we can possibly play shuffleboard. Down town has LOTS of art in the streets, very interesting. Also many old and lovely buildings.

In down town Colorado Springs we met "Hank" who is the symbol of the Rodeo here.

As well as the artwork, there are many flower beds that were built by the city

 and kept up by private organizations.

Thom's bike is in at Nick's Bike Shop in Pueblo, Colorado,
but it takes so long for the mechanic to set it up we leave without it.

We are working on steps to the play house from the driveway.

Here's the first one; we'll need another two.

The fawn doesn't like the new step, and finds another way around to the meadow.

Thom has collected his bike from Pueblo and starts his training for his ride across America.

This is the stream at the back of the garden, as it usually looks.

This is the same part of the stream after the storms.

4 August 2012: Finally! The photo is taken quickly out of the kitchen window, since the bear cub was already on the move. The mule deer are much more obliging. Today we took a drive around Garden of the Gods. With it being Saturday, it was packed; we'll bike there one day during the week.

A black bear cub scampers across the back lawn.

We've named them Adam and Eve, since they come for the apples.

And tasty bushes and flowers in the garden.

He certainly looks healthy from the many choices.

Thom at Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, with his new Surly touring bike.

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs.

Balancing Rock at Garden of the Gods

Back at the Badureks we have kept busy in the yard and house. We finished the steps and have been working on the play house. As you can see it is a big house, and it has a large yard and meadow with it.  We also enjoy the indoor pool.

The finished steps we made from left over rock and slabs.

Working on the play house this week.

This is a photo of the play house from last October -

 mother bear is close by while her three cubs play at the play house.

The back of the house - our room is on the bottom right corner.

Sheila in the indoor pool.

Sheila (far right) and Linda (far left) at the Red Hat ladies luncheon in the back yard by the stream.

 

The first week we were here, Thom and Blake West climbed "The Incline" - it is the old cog railway track up the mountainside of Pike's Peak. As you can see from the photo, it's an almost vertical climb!

 

We took a trip to Seven Falls, close by where we are staying. When you reach the top of the falls, there is an hour hike further into the canyon.  

Before we make the climb, we watch a display of Indian social dances, including the Eagle Dance. When a feather needs to be replaced in this costume, an application is made to the Federal Government, and it takes 10 to 15 years to get one!!

 

The Native Americans come for the summer in Colorado from Oregon, Oklahoma, New Mexico, etc. They raise money for further education.

 

Doesn't look much of a climb from here....

 

But there are more steps around the corner!

 

We survive the steps and go on the hike...

 

and see a lovely view of Colorado Springs.

This past week we have been working on a scooter for our granddaughter Jax. It goes on cross bars and rockers, so it is the modern day rocking "horse" (it is disassembled for shipping). We used mirrors for the headlights that are normally used for drivers to see infants in the back seat, and we used a pen holder for the "basket." We got the gentlest sounding bell we could find, so mom and dad will let her keep it!

 

From the back.

 Go Jax!!