Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity

Colorado – Friday, October 18

It was chilly, a little snowy, and very foggy when I got up, and I heard the Denver/Boulder area was getting even more snow. I took my time getting packed up, and the sun began to peek out, and the little bit of snow on the ground in Colorado Springs began to melt. When the fog had lifted, I ventured out and my first stop was at Garden of the Gods – more big red rock formations with good trails to be able to wander around a lot of them. It sort of seemed like I was back in Utah! Tula and I walked more than 2 miles admiring all the rock formations.

Then I had been hoping to drive up to the summit of Pike’s Peak, which is at an altitude of 14,100 feet, but the road was closed again today due to the weather, which wasn’t surprising. They thought part of the road might open later, but if I’m going to drive on the road, I want to be able to go all the way up! I decided to take my chances and hope that the snowy weather would move out by tomorrow, and maybe the summit road would re-open. I found a bike trail along a creek close to Garden of the Gods, and Tula and I walked another mike along that.

Then I drove into old Colorado City, which had been a mining town back in the day, and I walked another couple miles in the historic downtown area. I passed several big signs (on the side of a bus stop shelter, and on the back of a park bench) for the local Pike’s Peak Habitat for Humanity, and that made me realize I hadn’t donated to Habitat for Humanity for quite a while. I figured running across these big signs was a reminder for me, and I had wanted to make a donation to some organization that was helpful for the Colorado snow/flood victims, and this would be a good one! So after I finished walking in Colorado City, I drove over to the Pike’s Peak Habitat for Humanity ReStore shop, and made my donation. There were lots of people buying some discounted building supplies and the manager appreciated the donation.

Then I had to take care of an oil change – today was a good day to do it since I wasn’t roaming too far, and I found a Jiffy Lube that was able to get me in without waiting too long. They told me the air filter was really dirty (and I could see that for myself) but they didn’t have any for my van, so the guy told me where an auto parts store was, and showed me how to change it (no tools required – even I could manage that!) and said if I still had trouble putting it in that he would do it for me if necessary. So I found the auto parts store after the oil change, and got what I needed, but I still had trouble with one of the clamps, but the guy from the shop put it in. Nice people at both places!

By this time I was in a historic part of Colorado Springs – in the old north end neighborhood, and Tula and I set out for almost 3 miles of walking through a neighborhood of big old homes, many of which were decorated for Halloween. It was fun to be out walking as it was getting dark to be able to see some of the Halloween lights – some people get pretty elaborate! I stayed on the north side of Colorado Springs, crossing my fingers that tomorrow would be a sunny day!