To Manitou springs.
Our next stop in Manitou springs left us open to a few route options and first we had to decide whether to head South back towards Fort Garland or North around the top end of the Sangre de cristo mountain range at Poncha springs. We chose the latter and made our way from the park passing San Luis state park to Hooper. Now the sand dunes were big, but leaving the park we took this photo showing the Sangre de Christo's 14000 ft peaks dwarfing the Dunes.
Heading North on 17 to Hooper we passed the Colorado Gator farm where you can get to play with an Alligator, but we didn't have the time [nor the inclination to be truthful] and continued through Mineral hot springs onto the 285.
Our next stop was for some lunch and we pulled off the road at Poncha pass that connects the San Luis valley and the Valley of the Arkansas river. It is one of the lowest mountain passes in the State at just over 9000ft and although not quite the Continental divide it does mark the watershed for the Rio Grande and Arkansas rivers. To the West lies the Sawatch range and to the East the top of the Sangre de cristo range making for some lovely views.
The rest area at the top of Poncha pass appears to be in "No man's land" as the county line signs of Chaffee and Saguache County's are at either end of it.
After lunch we head down the other side of the Pass to Poncha springs that brings us to the Junction with US50, the same junction we had approached from Leadville and headed West to Gunnison earlier in our trip. This time we head East towards Canon city and for a long time follow the path of the Arkansas river through the canyons.
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On the other side of the river was a railway line and there were miles upon miles of goods carriage's that looked like they hadn't moved in a while. I am not sure whether it was a "grave yard" for them or they were stored there but there must of been millions of dollars worth of metal alone sat there.
The scenic drive took us through to Canon city where I was reminded in no uncertain terms that "Skyline drive" was no place for an RV, Lol ! We passed the State penitentiary and as much as I would liked to have visited the Royal gorge bridge [especially after seeing Lifeys train ride pics in Denver] time would not allow it so we continued along US50 without stopping. We then headed North on 115 through Penrose where we passed the [claimed to be] Worlds largest rocking chair. I caught it out of the corner of my eye which refreshed my memory that it was there, but by then we had passed it by. The place it sits is long since closed down but the chair remains behind a rusty chain link fence.
The 115 travels alongside the Fort Carson Military base, with some Armoured tanks and Helicopters on show from the road and this statue is in memory of Brigadier General Christopher "Kit" Carson of whom the base is named after.
There is also a Blue Star Memorial plaque and garden at this site honoring all the men and women who have served and are still serving in the armed forces. Since returning home I found out that at least 59 brave soldiers have lost their lives while serving in Iraq from here alone.
It isn't long before we are in Manitou Springs and heading to the Garden of the Gods campground. As we park up we are welcomed with a light snow flurry and soon after we head out for something to eat. Louise had heard of "Castaways" a fun looking Pirate themed place close by, so we headed down the road on foot. Castaways was a fun place and we had a great meal in there and a relaxing night. We then wandered back to the RV in the cold night air, put the heating on and had a nice hot drink before turning in for the night.