My wife and I just wrapped up a two-week road trip from San Antonio to Yellowstone and back. Here are some pics and reports...
As always, one of the longest drives is just getting out of Texas (but at least it is on the best highways in the country). We made it to Carlsbad, NM, the first day, went to view the bats leaving the caverns. More impressive than Austin's Congress Street bats, but they say the Carlsbad population is 1/4 or 1/5 the size of Austin's.
The next day, went to Carlsbad Caverns. Took a guided tour. We walked through the natural entrance (not the elevator). I thought the first part of the walk down was worth it, but there's a long walk past the entrance to the tour portion of the cave that I could've done without. Took a ranger tour, then were too tired to do the guided tour, went topside and hit the road.
cost: $6/person basic entrance, additional tours extra
time: we spent about 4 hours, including lunch in underground cavern
Spent a couple of days in Colorado Springs. WOW! This would've made the whole trip all by itself. Went to Garden of the Gods (free park on the south end of Colorado Springs). By the way, the GPS and the street signs direct you to two different entrances of the park, so pick one and stick with it. Gorgeous views, striking rock formations. Plenty of nice, easy trails to walk.
Next morning, drove up Pikes Peak. Definitely think driving was a better choice over the cog train. You can take your own pace, stop at every pullout for photos, spend as long as you want at the top (and you can avoid the surge of 100 train passengers who only have 30 minutes at the top). Enjoyed the famous doughnuts, Mrs. Speck got a pretty serious nosebleed... the EMTs on site said she needed to drink more water. They say you lose a LITER OF WATER driving up to the peak.
cost: $10/person or $35/car
time: we spent about 4 hours on the leisurely round trip
Toured the US Air Force Academy. Awesome! Almost missed our chance here, the visitors' center and chapel close at 5 o'clock. It is preferred that visitors enter via the north gate (and you are entering a military base, so provide ID, get your car searched...). This campus is beautiful! What a recruiting tool -- wide open spaces and amazing mountains. I was anxious to check out the chapel since the exterior is really impressive... but the inside is phenomenal!
Last stop in Colorado -- went to Denver and stopped at the Chamberlin Observatory. An active observatory over 100 years old that offers public viewing regularly. Got a great tour of the building before fitting the road to... part 2 to follow.
[This message has been edited by speck (edited 8/4/2009 9:17p).]
As always, one of the longest drives is just getting out of Texas (but at least it is on the best highways in the country). We made it to Carlsbad, NM, the first day, went to view the bats leaving the caverns. More impressive than Austin's Congress Street bats, but they say the Carlsbad population is 1/4 or 1/5 the size of Austin's.
The next day, went to Carlsbad Caverns. Took a guided tour. We walked through the natural entrance (not the elevator). I thought the first part of the walk down was worth it, but there's a long walk past the entrance to the tour portion of the cave that I could've done without. Took a ranger tour, then were too tired to do the guided tour, went topside and hit the road.
Spent a couple of days in Colorado Springs. WOW! This would've made the whole trip all by itself. Went to Garden of the Gods (free park on the south end of Colorado Springs). By the way, the GPS and the street signs direct you to two different entrances of the park, so pick one and stick with it. Gorgeous views, striking rock formations. Plenty of nice, easy trails to walk.
Next morning, drove up Pikes Peak. Definitely think driving was a better choice over the cog train. You can take your own pace, stop at every pullout for photos, spend as long as you want at the top (and you can avoid the surge of 100 train passengers who only have 30 minutes at the top). Enjoyed the famous doughnuts, Mrs. Speck got a pretty serious nosebleed... the EMTs on site said she needed to drink more water. They say you lose a LITER OF WATER driving up to the peak.
Toured the US Air Force Academy. Awesome! Almost missed our chance here, the visitors' center and chapel close at 5 o'clock. It is preferred that visitors enter via the north gate (and you are entering a military base, so provide ID, get your car searched...). This campus is beautiful! What a recruiting tool -- wide open spaces and amazing mountains. I was anxious to check out the chapel since the exterior is really impressive... but the inside is phenomenal!
Last stop in Colorado -- went to Denver and stopped at the Chamberlin Observatory. An active observatory over 100 years old that offers public viewing regularly. Got a great tour of the building before fitting the road to... part 2 to follow.
[This message has been edited by speck (edited 8/4/2009 9:17p).]