Day # 57 - Manitou Springs, CO

We had trouble deciding where to go today. There are numerous attractions and landmarks here in the Colorado Springs area. We decided we would start with the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. The cliff dwellings are authentic Anasazi Indian cliff dwellings built over 700 years ago. They are similar to the dwellings we saw at Montezuma’s Castle in Arizona, but they are much cooler because you can actually walk around and go inside them. It was extremely fascinating to walk through the structures and envision how these peoples must have lived. The kids enjoyed climbing up the ladders and squeezing themselves through the small openings. We have long ago established that I am a complete geek about these kinds of places so I was totally in my element, and my husband and the kids seemed to be enjoying themselves too.

As we were exploring the sight, we discovered that during the summer months there are Indian dance exhibitions. As luck would have it the first one of the day was starting in 15 minutes. We made our way down to the small amphitheater area to watch. There was a single drummer and two dancers. The drummer explained some of the traditions surrounding the dances and the costumes. The dancers were very good. Everyone sat mesmerized. Our favorite dance was the hoop dance. The traditional hoop dance taught balance and agility. It was impressive to see the movements he could make with 5 hoops. I think I got winded just watching him. For the final dance, all of the kids got to join in on a friendship dance. Sarah and Abby had a lot of fun. We wouldn’t turn AJ loose on the unsuspecting dancers and he wasn’t very happy with us. Fortunately, he doesn’t hold a grudge very long.

After the dancing, we finished looking at the cliff dwellings and then headed over to the Anasazi museum. The museum is housed in a 3-story pueblo. The original 6 rooms were built in 1898. They have expanded and modernized the building several times, but it is an impressive replica. We enjoyed looking around and locating the smashed penny machine so we could fill our passports. We headed back to the car for change. While I took the kids back to smash our pennies, Tony had a look around the tables of t-shirts they had set up on the upper level. He found a great deal on some kids-sized glow in the dark t-shirts. Abby couldn’t wait to wear her new “glow-up” shirt.

We were staring to get hungry and went in search of lunch. We decided to head up the road a few miles into historic Manitou Springs. Manitou Springs sits at the base of Pike’s Peak (the tallest mountain peak in the continental US). It is a very quaint little town. We found a public lot and paid our 5 bucks and went in search of a good place to have lunch. Tony really wanted BBQ, but the place was packed so we headed down the block to the Historic Stage Coach Inn. We had a very enjoyable lunch. We had great service, good food and touristy prices. After lunch, we headed back out into town to check out the sights and walk the streets. Once again the weather was beautiful and we could actually enjoy taking a stroll without feeling like we were going to melt. The main attractions in Manitou are the mineral springs. There are 11 named mineral springs in the city. This area was once considered sacred by the neighboring Native American Tribes. The springs were thought to have healing properties. Today, the springs flow and freely for public consumption. Each one has its own design. The kids were really excited about drinking the water until they tasted it. The high mineral content gives the water a metallic taste in my opinion, but many of the people we saw liked it. What was also interesting is the each springs water had a unique flavor. Tony tried 4 different springs and declared that the Shoshone Spring tasted the best. As we strolled along, we spotted a penny arcade with a huge section of mechanical kiddie rides. Of course the rides were all a quarter (inflation?) but the kids had a blast trying them all out. A half hour and 5 dollars later we finally managed to tear them away. At the far end of town, we spotted a small city park with a playground. It had some unique play equipment that I’d never seen before. AJ’s favorite was a merry-go round like wheel that you could lay down on and be spun. He squealed with delight and rode that thing over and over again. The girls were partial to the giant swings that looked like a cross between Frisbees and UFOs. We coaxed the kids away from the playground and strolled back down the other side of the street towards our car.

We headed back to the campground for dinner and a relaxing evening, or so we thought. We had a terrible wind storm that woke the kids up and made our two drama queens cry. In all honesty, it was a little unsettling. The wind gusts were pretty big and our little canvas sided camper was rocking and rolling pretty good. I know that Tony was thinking of all the wood, metal and screws he replaced (and the parts he didn’t) as the camper was being shook by the storm. In the end the camper held fast and the storm passed without major incident.