Mandalay

Mostly, on our trip to the south-west states, Buck and I have stayed in a camp ground only two nights.  That arrangement would give us a half day of travel; and the other half resting, washing laundry, buying groceries, and/or planning our next day’s trips to chase stamps around the area.  Occasionally, we’ve moved on after staying only one night, which of course means we would chase stamps on the same day we arrived at a campground.  That’s hard on the ole body, so we don’t do that often.  And occasionally, we stay three nights at a stop.  That normally means that Buck has researched the area for many national parks to visit.

On the Road Again

Neither of these arrangements were true for our next stop – Garden of the Gods Camp ground in Colorado Springs, CO.  We had reservations to stay the entire week from Sunday, July 8 to Sunday, July 15, and we would be with people we know. Buck and I both looked forward to this week with our Mandalay Rally friends.  We had met the friends years ago at large Mandalay rallies, mostly in Goshen, Indiana.  Smaller regional rallies were fun too, mostly in the Michigan area and especially, at beautiful Petoskey, MI. We always enjoy being with these folks.  Everyone was from a different state at the Garden of the Gods rally except for two coaches; they were both from Michigan.  Others were from Oklahoma, Colorado, Georgia, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and of course we were from NC.  Nine coaches in all.  Some left early and some arrived late.  That’s normal for travelers. 

Our first gathering was Sunday evening at three picnic tables set up between two of the RVs.  Everyone was asked to bring heavy hors d’oeuvres.  We took a fruit tray. (No cooking if I can avoid it.)  As we all gathered to enjoy the great meal, rain drops started falling on our heads. The food had been spread on tables under the awning, so it stayed dry.  Some of the friends stood under the awning, too.  I was in my power chair and couldn’t get under the awning, so people gave me an umbrella, a hat, and a rain coat.  I tried to tell everyone that I don't melt anymore, but they insisted.  Buck put his army hat over the controls of my chair, so they were protected.   About the time we all were situated to be dry, the rain stopped and the storm passed, and we resumed our wonderful meal.  Afterwards, people hung around and enjoyed catching up with everyone.  Just like a big family reunion. 

Bud and Cyndi Wheatley from Colorado 
served as rally hosts.  

Ron and Sandy Horn, from Michigan, 

served as host helpers for the rally.

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, CO

The Garden of the Gods was dedicated on 1909 as a free city park.  An abundance of plant and animal life can be found throughout its 1,350 acres, as well as the magnificent red sandstone rock formations.  Many of these are over 300 million years old and were sculpted through time by erosion.  In 1879, Charles Perkins, president of the Chicago Burlington Quincy Railroad, purchased much of the land now known as the Garden of the Gods.  After his death, at his request, his family gave the land to the City of Colorado Springs to be used as a park.  The stipulations included that it be known as Garden of the Gods and it would remain free to all visitors. 

Many opportunities for outdoor activities exist at the Garden of the Gods.  Guided nature walks and presentations, summer Segway guided tours, jeep tours, technical rock climbing, hiking and guided biking tours are all available daily.  Oh, to be young again!

From the visitor center observation deck, Pike’s Peak loomed in front of us. When our young family had visited this area years ago, we drove to the top of Pike’s Peak. But not this time. Buck and I are both short winded and didn’t want to risk the high elevation. We were already high enough on the observation deck.

When our family was there years ago, snow was on Pike's Peak.

Throughout the week our rally hosts continued to provide opportunities for us to learn about the area, shop, rest, and visit with our rally members. One activity that I didn’t particularly want to do was to visit the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. (It’s not a national park, but it counts – National Monuments are in Buck’s Passport, so here we go – chasing stamps.) I’m so glad I went. A forest ranger provided our group with an interpretive session that was extremely interesting.

As the brochure states, “We get all tangled up with the present, but the present is just a little flick in time between the past and the future. Things keep going on and on… We are just in this particular little time interval, and it seems so important to us,” says Harry D. MacGinite in 1979. In other words, objects that are considered fossils in the present could be more than 33 million years old. Likewise, insects, plants, organisms that we currently have in the present, may become fossils 33 million years from now. Thus, things keep going on and on.

Saturday night our Colorado hosts invited us all to their home about 45 minutes from the camp ground. We had another thunder storm, but this time we had a beautiful home to go into. I didn't get pictures of this event, but we had a great time. One of my favorite experiences was to pet two "rescued" African Hounds owned by some of our Mandalay friends. One dog was young and friendly; the other was older and was known to be unfriendly. He liked me too, just as the younger one did. Made my day!

Sunday morning, we all said our good byes and started on our separate ways. 

Mandalay Rallies are the best!

See ya!