June 22, 2012
Hello Everyone,
This has been a quiet week for us since our last update. Earl has enjoyed watching TV and spending time on the computer. I occupy my free minutes concentrating on the cross stitch border for our dining room. It is coming along as I have already completed half the cross stitch. We downloaded most of the photographs on Wednesday and hope to work more on that today.
On Sunday, June 17, we had lunch at the Keg Lounge in Manitou Springs. It’s the type of small town sports bar where you find pinball machines and a billiard table smack in the middle of the restaurant. I had a tasty 8-ounce buffalo burger while Earl had a mile high, roast beef sandwich. Food was great. Atmosphere Western.
We drove around the corner to the Penny Arcade. Pinball machines ranging from the 50's to familiar video arcade machines like Donkey Kong, Frogger, Asteroids, and Tron dominate the premises. Some of the modern machines are CSI and Star Wars. There is even an old-fashioned baseball game, pinball machine. Some of these are found outdoors while the arcade houses others in a collection of storefront buildings. One structure is the home for Skeeball and prizes. Horse racing is in another Former grocery store kids’ rides reside in a covered area. In all there are 250 gaming machines including air hockey and billiards. Most of the machines cost only a quarter to operate. Other cost as little as a nickel or dime.
Afterwards we drove to Canon City, about an hour’s drive away. We checked out the Royal Gorge Train and plan to take that next month. It runs four times a day ranging from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. You can ride in the Coach Car or Vista Panorama Car. More on this when we take the ride.
Monday, we stayed in all morning. Our after lunch trip was to the Manitou District Museum. If you have a shortage of time in the area, skip this one. It’s small and static and the most exciting display was the relief map of Pike’s Peak showing the cog train and car routes to the summit. Other exhibits were a 42 bottle collection, group of stereographs, Charles Perry’s botanist collection from Pikes Peak, and information on the town’s first two saloons. Yawn!
That afternoon we drove up the road to the Cave of the Winds, the area’s well-known cavern. We didn’t go in - too much hiking and steps. But you can get a great view overlooking Manitou Springs.
Tuesday was another quiet day. We went in the evening with Bob and Marge Card to see a travelogue presented by their photo group’s member, Bill. We saw 33 photos covering street scenes of 11 nations. Bill also brought books of his photos which is really a neat way to present prints.
Earl and I visited the Olympic Training Center on Wednesday. We watched the 14-minute movie on Vancouver, Beijing, and the upcoming Olympics in London. London has been the site three times - 1908, 1948 and this year. In 1908, 22 nations and 2008 athletes participated. The dates were April 12-October 31, 2008. In 2012, 200 nations and 10,500 athletes will take part. This year’s Olympics dates are July 27- August 12, 2012.
In addition to Olympic athletes, Paraolympic athletes train here as well. Their events are held three weeks later. The facilities handle 150 resident athletes at one time and 25-250 temporary athletes. There are never more than a thousand athletes here at once. There are also training centers in Chula Vista, California and Lake Placid, New York.
The center runs tours lasting 45 minutes every half hour from 9:00 to 4:30 daily except at noon. Earl rested at the visitor center. He observed the Olympic Hall of Fame with selected participants dating from 1986 to 2008. He also went to the roof to see the eternal flame and take panoramic shots of the facilities.
I did take the tour. You enter the Medical Performance building and the Sports Centers for sports like gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, team handball, and wrestling. The group looks into the enclosed Aquatic Center with an indoor pool that’s 50 meters by 25 meters. It has 10 50-meter lanes and 20 25-meter lanes. Cameras run overhead on a catwalk and underwater to allow filming of athletes in training.
The Olympic Shooting Center is the largest indoor shooting facility in the Western hemisphere and third largest in the world. It has facilities for rifle, pistol shooting, and rapid fire pistol as well as women’s sports pistols.
Walking along the Irwin Beck Olympic Pathway on my return from the tour buildings, I saw life-size cutouts of athletes and signboards on boards. I stopped frequently on my way to the visitor center to photograph the figurines and read the information about the various sports such as ping pong and basketball
No, I didn’t see many athletes. I spotted one basketball player and two others working on kicking a ball at the Sports Center. That was it.
Yesterday was laundry day (three loads) and attack the camper time. I dusted, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, and mopped while Earl vacuumed. Our efforts paid off. The motorhome had a wonderful clean smell after we finished.
Today we are just chilling out. We plan to go to Donkey Derby Days in Cripple Creek tomorrow.
Have a nice weekend.
Nan
Photos:
Earl at Arcade, Manitou Springs
Rings - Olympic Training Center
Olympic Training Center
Hello Everyone,
This has been a quiet week for us since our last update. Earl has enjoyed watching TV and spending time on the computer. I occupy my free minutes concentrating on the cross stitch border for our dining room. It is coming along as I have already completed half the cross stitch. We downloaded most of the photographs on Wednesday and hope to work more on that today.
On Sunday, June 17, we had lunch at the Keg Lounge in Manitou Springs. It’s the type of small town sports bar where you find pinball machines and a billiard table smack in the middle of the restaurant. I had a tasty 8-ounce buffalo burger while Earl had a mile high, roast beef sandwich. Food was great. Atmosphere Western.
We drove around the corner to the Penny Arcade. Pinball machines ranging from the 50's to familiar video arcade machines like Donkey Kong, Frogger, Asteroids, and Tron dominate the premises. Some of the modern machines are CSI and Star Wars. There is even an old-fashioned baseball game, pinball machine. Some of these are found outdoors while the arcade houses others in a collection of storefront buildings. One structure is the home for Skeeball and prizes. Horse racing is in another Former grocery store kids’ rides reside in a covered area. In all there are 250 gaming machines including air hockey and billiards. Most of the machines cost only a quarter to operate. Other cost as little as a nickel or dime.
Afterwards we drove to Canon City, about an hour’s drive away. We checked out the Royal Gorge Train and plan to take that next month. It runs four times a day ranging from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. You can ride in the Coach Car or Vista Panorama Car. More on this when we take the ride.
Monday, we stayed in all morning. Our after lunch trip was to the Manitou District Museum. If you have a shortage of time in the area, skip this one. It’s small and static and the most exciting display was the relief map of Pike’s Peak showing the cog train and car routes to the summit. Other exhibits were a 42 bottle collection, group of stereographs, Charles Perry’s botanist collection from Pikes Peak, and information on the town’s first two saloons. Yawn!
That afternoon we drove up the road to the Cave of the Winds, the area’s well-known cavern. We didn’t go in - too much hiking and steps. But you can get a great view overlooking Manitou Springs.
Tuesday was another quiet day. We went in the evening with Bob and Marge Card to see a travelogue presented by their photo group’s member, Bill. We saw 33 photos covering street scenes of 11 nations. Bill also brought books of his photos which is really a neat way to present prints.
Earl and I visited the Olympic Training Center on Wednesday. We watched the 14-minute movie on Vancouver, Beijing, and the upcoming Olympics in London. London has been the site three times - 1908, 1948 and this year. In 1908, 22 nations and 2008 athletes participated. The dates were April 12-October 31, 2008. In 2012, 200 nations and 10,500 athletes will take part. This year’s Olympics dates are July 27- August 12, 2012.
In addition to Olympic athletes, Paraolympic athletes train here as well. Their events are held three weeks later. The facilities handle 150 resident athletes at one time and 25-250 temporary athletes. There are never more than a thousand athletes here at once. There are also training centers in Chula Vista, California and Lake Placid, New York.
The center runs tours lasting 45 minutes every half hour from 9:00 to 4:30 daily except at noon. Earl rested at the visitor center. He observed the Olympic Hall of Fame with selected participants dating from 1986 to 2008. He also went to the roof to see the eternal flame and take panoramic shots of the facilities.
I did take the tour. You enter the Medical Performance building and the Sports Centers for sports like gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, team handball, and wrestling. The group looks into the enclosed Aquatic Center with an indoor pool that’s 50 meters by 25 meters. It has 10 50-meter lanes and 20 25-meter lanes. Cameras run overhead on a catwalk and underwater to allow filming of athletes in training.
The Olympic Shooting Center is the largest indoor shooting facility in the Western hemisphere and third largest in the world. It has facilities for rifle, pistol shooting, and rapid fire pistol as well as women’s sports pistols.
Walking along the Irwin Beck Olympic Pathway on my return from the tour buildings, I saw life-size cutouts of athletes and signboards on boards. I stopped frequently on my way to the visitor center to photograph the figurines and read the information about the various sports such as ping pong and basketball
No, I didn’t see many athletes. I spotted one basketball player and two others working on kicking a ball at the Sports Center. That was it.
Yesterday was laundry day (three loads) and attack the camper time. I dusted, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, and mopped while Earl vacuumed. Our efforts paid off. The motorhome had a wonderful clean smell after we finished.
Today we are just chilling out. We plan to go to Donkey Derby Days in Cripple Creek tomorrow.
Have a nice weekend.
Nan
Photos:
Earl at Arcade, Manitou Springs
Rings - Olympic Training Center
Olympic Training Center
