American Idol

Seriously, what is the chance that we would land in Little Rock on the weekend that AI is in town with try-outs for their last season AND 2 dog shows? Apparently pretty high! We managed to get one of the last rooms in a reasonable hotel with a nice pool. Oh, but wait...the pool was occupied by loud, beer drinking young adults. Fortunately, the pool closed at 9:00 and the front desk said they expected the crowd and noise would most likely move to the back of the hotel, away from us, which it did.




The next day took us to Newton, Kansas. You know Newton, right? Yes, it's north of Wichita and half way to Colorado Springs from Little Rock. Asked at the front desk about decent dinner options and was told about Reba's in downtown Newton. Perfect dinner, cool local spot. It's nice to chance upon a find like that every now and then!









Then on to Colorado Springs, CO. Did you know that Drury Hotels serve a buffet breakfast and dinner with your choice of 3 free alcoholic drinks? I rarely use my drink coupons but Bob gets a beer or two. The food is always good and the people super friendly. The room price is a little higher but well worth the money with all the extras. We ended the day with a walk in the park across the street.



The first full day in CS we drove south about 10 miles to the Pike's Peak area. We took the hour long Cog Railway up to the top walked around in cloud cover, listened to horror stories about trying to drive the 18 miles to the top and down and rode back down on the Cog. It was interesting but less than inspirational due to the overcast conditions. If it looks like the rail line ends at the side of a cliff, it does!












 We did see a few lake areas like this one on the ride.




Next we found a free park, that the locals suggested and it was nearby, called Garden of the Gods to check out. It's filled with red rock that has been pressed straight up into the air in sections over the centuries. The rock formations were unusual and we enjoyed the walk. The person that owned the property donate it to the state with the prerequisite that it be maintained and always stay free to the public.









As we walked around, clouds started moving in and we could hear thunder in the distance. Fortunately, we had a nice look around and decided to start back to the truck.We almost made it without getting wet, and/or struck by the lightning, which was pretty severe!





As it was we made it just in time to avoid being soaked by the rain and pummeled with hail. It was a definite flash flood and everyone was scared the hail was hard enough to break something. We all managed to come out unscathed in our vehicles but we wondered about those that continued to walk around as if nothing was going on as we ran for the truck!





We thought the storm was a normal thing but apparently, it made the nightly national news as we had family inquiries about our whereabouts and safety. Yep, we are still loved!

We were fine and our truck didn't sustain any hail damage so the day was fun, all in.