Our Annual Pilgrimage to Colorado Springs

This is our fourth time to escape to Colorado Springs. We first went back there during 2022. We'd been talking about working remotely and decided to give it a shot. Plus, we have friends that live there, so another reason to go back. And finally, we really like it there.

But to get there....

You head north on 287 and you pass through several small towns. In keeping with our "stop and smell the roses" them in retirement, I've wanted to stop in these towns. So we picked one to check out. This is Claude, Texas. It's the county seat of Armstrong county and it's about 30 miles south of Amarillo. This is the courthouse, the second for the county. It was built in 1912.

This used to be the Armstrong County Jail. Now it's the sheriff's office. I'm not sure where the prisoners go now. We got to go to the Armstrong County Museum, which was the highlight of this visit. We thought it would be small and quick. It was not. It was quite extensive.

This is the Gem Theatre. It opened in 1915 as the Claudia Theatre. It started out hosting live performances before it transitioned to movies. In 1992, it was renamed the Gem Theatre when it became part of the Armstrong County Museum. When we toured the museum, we went through. It's been restored, including the balcony. 

Also part of the museum is the Claude Newspaper building. We were outside taking photos before we went inside. We met this lady, I'll call her "Bea". She must have been about mid to late 80s. She was the sweetest lady. She said, "Well, I was about to come out there and ask if I could help you!" I guess she was watching us. I told her we were taking pictures and she said, "Well take all you want outside but you can't take pictures in here." Rats. But, we got a guided tour through the museum. It was awesome! She talked to us for an hour going over exhibits and photos in the museum. 

Next stop was Amarillo. We've stopped here before but we've never stuck around long enough to do anything. So this time, we spent a day there.

Amarillo is the county seat of Potter County. This is the Potter County Courthouse. Those people sitting on the benches are inmates! I'm just walking around taking photos and John said, "Uh, honey..." There was a sheriff sitting there as well.

I'm sure you've heard of the Cadillac Ranch where all these Cadillacs are buried nose first in the ground. That's way off the beaten path. But right near our hotel is the Slugbug Ranch! Same thing, different car.

Almost as soon as we got on 287, we started seeing these signs for the Free 72 oz steak!

Well, here's the restaurant in Amarillo. There are rules. First you have to pay up front. It's $72 plus tax and I would assume tip. Then you have to eat all of the steak AND the fixins which include a roll, a shrimp cocktail, a side salad and a loaded baked potato. You have one hour to finish the entire meal. You can't leave the table once you start. No one can help you or touch your plate. If you get sick (I think they mean yak) then you automatically lose. Oh, and if you lose, you're welcome to take the leftovers with you. The first person to complete the challenge was a 445 lb. wrestler named Klondike Bill back in 1963.

As we were driving around, we saw this sign and the field. So John did a little googling and we found out that Amarillo has a double A baseball team and they were playing that night. Of course we went.

The Amarillo Sod Poodles were playing the San Antonio Missions. The Soddies were on a winning streak but they lost to the Missions that night. The Sod Poodles are a feeder team to the Arizona Cardinals and the Missions are a feeder team to the San Diego Padres. It was fun.

One other quick stop on the way to Colorado Springs was Dalhart, Texas. Dalhart was founded in 1901 and is named for Dallam & Hartley counties. It was a railroad town and a junction for one of the biggest ranches in Texas: XIT Ranch. The XIT Ranch was founded in 1885 and, at one point, consisted of three MILLION acres of land. This is the Dallam County Courthouse. It's a cool looking building.

In Colorado Springs were were going to go to the gym at the hotel to walk on the treadmill when we realized we were in a beautiful part of the country. So, this was our walking trail: The Garden of the Gods! We've been here before but it's so gorgeous that we went back...twice!

This rock formation is called the kissing camels. Can you see them?

Colorado Springs is the county seat of El Paso county. This used to be the county courthouse but now it's the Pioneer Museum. It's free and it's gives the history of El Paso county. They had some pretty cool exhibits and they had a courtroom that they kept in tact.

Later, we had happy hour with our friends, Evangeline and Ariel. John and Ariel used to work together. We always enjoy hanging out with them.

This is called "Selfies with Gideon". We had so much fun playing with the kids. They are most entertaining.

This is the view of Pike's Peak. You can see this from most of the places around Colorado Springs. I never get tired of this view.

We were at Ariel and Evangeline's house when these guys came walking through the yard. There's a lot of wildlife in their neighborhood.

While in the Springs, we got a guided tour of the US Air Force Academy. Our future niece-in-law, Destiny, attends school here. One of her friends was kind enough to give us a tour of the place. It's really cool. You can do a self-guided tour of the campus but you don't really get a feel for what it like for the cadets. 

After the tour, our guide was nice enough to take a photo of us with those amazing mountains in the back. This was outside the gym. If I had to look at this everyday going to and from the gym, I'd be in heaven! 

Just outside the Academy gates is this memorial. This is a B-52 bomber, the type that was used during the Vietnam War. It's huge! Kylie, our guide, is going to be a pilot. I can't imagine her flying something this size. But, girl power! 

On our last day there, we did a hike in the neighborhood. That's Gideon and his Uncle Yoni waiting for us to catch up. I kept getting side tracked by the amazing views.

On the trail is this rock formation. Gideon calls it the animals. I guess they are shaped that way to him.

And he's right. Here's a turtle.

When we got all the way to the top, we got another photo. We had so much fun with everyone. We appreciate them giving up their weekend to hang out with us. We liked it so much that we will have to go back again soon...