June 9, 2020 Capulin, NM to Colorado Springs, CO

The cold front moved through late last night. We heard the winds that moved through with it. The temperature was 47 when we got up. Bob quickly got up, turned on the heat, the fireplace, and the floor heater and jumped back into bed to wait until it warmed up a bit.

It was mostly cloudy and would be much cooler today–a high of 64. It started to rain lightly as most of the campers pulled out to be on their way. We were moving at a slower pace this morning and didn’t pull out until 9:30. The top of the volcano was engulfed in clouds.

We traveled on Highway 87 and had a crosswind. The herds of cattle grazing alongside the road seemed to have had a bunch of newborn calves recently. They were everywhere. We could see mountains in the distance, but they were mostly shrouded in clouds.

The scenery was beautiful in every direction.

It continued to drizzle lightly throughout the first part of the drive. We hopped on I-25 and fought the wind through the mountains. After awhile the rain stopped. We slowed down to 40 mph as we climbed Raton Pass at an elevation of 7,834 feet.

When we reached the summit, we were in Colorado. Woo-hoo!

There were road signs that told us to be on the lookout for elk, deer, and bears along the highway.

Driving through the mountains, traffic was light and the wind was a little more blocked. We had the heat on in the bus for awhile and the skies started to lighten. After coming through the pass and over to the other side, we were back in the flats, but we could see the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

The temperature outside was 48 degrees with an expected high of 63. We had 171 miles to go to get to our campground, Colorado Springs KOA. We will be spending 4 nights to do some sightseeing in the area while we are there. As we neared Colorado Springs, we could barely see Pikes Peak as it was covered in clouds.

We arrived at our campground at 12:45 which allowed us time to relax and get some things done.

We were in site # 209 right on the end of a row so we only have neighbors on one side. We have an excellent site with lots of room for Auggie to enjoy the grass. From our campsite, we have a great view of Pike’s Peak.

We set up camp and it was good to know we would be in one place for 4 nights. We did some “house” cleaning and laundry. The sun came out and it turned out to be a nice day. The temperature climbed to 62 so Bob, Auggie, and I took a walk down to the Fountain River which runs along the campground.

Walking along the river, we came upon the dam.

We will do more exploring of the river in the days ahead. After our walk, Auggie and I sat outside in the sun. Bob pointed out this antelope across the road that was walking along the fence. I finally got my picture of one!

Auggie had a visitor while he was outside. The cute little jack rabbit hopped up really close to him. Auggie saw the rabbit and the rabbit saw him, but neither of them moved. Auggie sat so still until the rabbit took a few hops in his direction. Then Auggie lunged at him and the rabbit took off. Auggie sat there for 3 or 4 minutes without moving a muscle. Now that’s patience!

Campers arrived all afternoon, but the campground wasn’t full. We enjoyed the Colorado afternoon. We had dinner and made plans to visit Pike’s Peak tomorrow. We took our evening walk as the sun went down behind the mountains and it started to cool off. We finally made it and are excited to be here!