Start:  Gallup, NM
Destination: <a href="http://koa.com/campgrounds/royal-gorge/" target="_blank">KOA Kampground</a>, Canon City, CO
Odometer: 106,567 (start)  107,153 (end) – 586 miles
Date:  Thursday, September 15, 2011

Unlike Gallup, where there was much to see on the way, the drive to Canon City was rather bland, especially given what we had been seeing for the past two weeks.

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Adding some irony to the blandness was the Welcome to Colorado sign, which advertised the colorfulness of Colorado through a rather colorless dark brown and white sign that was hard to see in the grey mist falling upon us.

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Fortunately, Dad and I had some colorful political discussions to enliven the drive which started in the dim light shortly after 5am and ended in the sunny afternoon shortly after 2 at the Canon City KOA Kampground.

Rather than setup the tent immediately, I had to rush to access the WiFi at the campground so I could connect to a video interview for Moishe House that had been postponed due to earlier technical difficulties. Fortunately, those difficulties initially continued to occur.

I had called the campground before we arrived to confirm that there was WiFi, and they confirmed they had it, so I relaxed, thinking there'd be no issues.  Well, we arrived during the quiet part of the day when the office was closed, and so couldn't check it.  Fine, we can do that later, I'd just connect to the WiFi.  The network was quickly found, but a password was required to connect.  Ugh.  I called the office number only to hear the phone ringing behind the locked see-through entrance door.  I tried visually scanning the office for a paper that might display the password, but saw nothing of the sort.  I set my laptop down on a shelf in a wooden kiosk near the office and was resigning myself to having to postpone the meeting again when I noticed something in the corner.  Sure enough, there was a welcome packet for us and it contained the password for accessing the WiFi.  Huzzah.  And who should appear shortly after connecting? The campground manager to check us in who told me what I now knew and invited us to take whatever campsite we wanted as the tent area appeared completely vacant.  Dad left to pick and setup a site and I went to have my meeting.

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I setup my office in the laundry room of the campground which had a large shelf-table and some chairs.  This interview was part of the process for becoming a resident of the Moishe House in Montgomery County, MD.  In short, this house is part of an <a href="http://moishehouse.org/" target="_blank">international organization</a> aimed at Jewish community building and education for 20-30 somethings.  I enjoy Jewish learning and teaching and was in need of a housing arrangement for the Fall, so it seemed like a good fit.  Indeed, the interview went well, and am writing this post in my new home at the MoCo Moishe House.

While I was busy on the computer, Dad roamed the campground.  This KOA Kampground was the most expensive campground of the trip, and KOA's seem to be on the more expensive side for campground (in the $30 range).  In exchange, they provide an assortment of amenities, from WiFi, clean showers, and laundry rooms, to a miniature golf course, go-karts, and a potato-sack slide.  We thought these would be gratis with the cost of the campsite, but apparently the entertainment amenities are extra.  It was the off season though, so most of the attractions were closed, except for mini-golf.  The course wasn't in good shape, but they still wanted to charge.  Dad finished his tour impressed with the extent of services at the campground but sour about the lack of generosity/customer service regarding the golf course.

We didn't come to Canon City to see the campground though, so we hit the road to explore the area.  The first thing I noticed was that this city needs to get some agreement on its name.  Depending on the sign, we were in Canon City, Cañon City, or Canyon City.  I know they are pronounced similarly, but the residents should decide to be anglicized or spanish and stick with it.

The main attraction in the city is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Gorge_Bridge" target="_blank">Royal Gorge Bridge</a>.  The bridge, until recently, was the highest suspension bridge in the world (nearly 1000' above the Arkansas river) and is about a quarter mile long.

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Lest this bridge not be commercialized, there is a large theme park built on each side of the bridge with a $25 entrance fee to visit the park and drive over the bridge.  Fortunately, the park was closing and the security guard informed us that we could actually get a nice, free view of the bridge, river and gorge, a few hundred feet away.

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As described, the views were impressive and we were also able to watch a swarm of bats out for a late afternoon feast.  While atop the gorge, we tried to figure out what the difference was between a canyon and a gorge.  I forget what we hypothesized, but apparently they're the same thing, with one word being spanish and the other English.

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360-acre (150 ha) theme park

The money-making venture around the we went over to the gourge bridge to see the gourge without paying the $25 fee.  it was a pleasnt drive to campsite to gourge parking lot, but can’t get to the bridge, without going through the amusement park, which is why they charge the $25.  The guard collecting the money ws nice and told us about the free overlook up the road.  went there and got very satisifying views of deep gouge and ARK. river running through it, and the bridge over it.  BTW, the question of the dif. between gourge and canyon...and the answer we’ve decided upon is that a gourge is in effect the open save, and the canyon is the walls and river floor.

for days, we had been discussing whether we should do skyline drive.  this is a one-lane road with sheer drops on both sides.  when we got ot Canon city, we saw it was highly advertisted, tourist attraction, gateway at entrance.  The decision was made for us when we foudn the entrance way closed, presumably due to rains fro the previous days.  To be honest, Dad had all but decided not to do it, and I think Rich agreed on the grounds that it was silly to put our selves into such a stressful position, even though we both knew we’d be able to do it, since millions have before us.

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DRIVING THROUGH THE FLAT PARTS OF COLORADO?

MULTIPLE SPELLINGS OF CITY NAME

KOA...FIRST TIME AT...SENSE OF THEM

DRIVING TO THE BRIDGE, NOT WANTING TO PAY

DRIVING THROUGH REST OF THE CITY

MAKING DINNER

TELECONFERENCE AND WORKING ON BLOG WHEN WE ARRIVED

DINNER

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we started the day @ 5:15
ate PB again at a rest stop
debate about route to take:  the scenic route or the freeways.  GPS suggested freeways, friend/Kirstin recommended the more scenic route.  Had planned scenic route, but when push came to shove, given the 9 hour drive, was afraid that the scenic route would be too slow and 9 hours would be 11 or 12, so we decided to take the GPS freeway route
had pleasnt drive from Gallup to Canon City, discussed some politics
the mountains came into view from colorado
the river level we passed was high from the rains
rained off and on as we drove
arrived at our site @ KOA around 2:15
altough check-in wasn’t until three
Rich found internet service in laundry room and Dad cleaned up the tarp and tent
for days, we had been discussing whether we should do skyline drive.  this is a one-lane road with sheer drops on both sides.  when we got ot Canon city, we saw it was highly advertisted, tourist attraction, gateway at entrance.  The decision was made for us when we foudn the entrance way closed, presumably due to rains fro the previous days.  To be honest, Dad had all but decided not to do it, and I think Rich agreed on the grounds that it was silly to put our selves into such a stressful position, even though we both knew we’d be able to do it, since millions have before us.
we went over to the gourge bridge to see the gourge without paying the $25 fee.  it was a pleasnt drive to campsite to gourge parking lot, but can’t get to the bridge, without going through the amusement park, which is why they charge the $25.  The guard collecting the money ws nice and told us about the free overlook up the road.  went there and got very satisifying views of deep gouge and ARK. river running through it, and the bridge over it.  BTW, the question of the dif. between gourge and canyon...and the answer we’ve decided upon is that a gourge is in effect the open save, and the canyon is the walls and river floor.
the camp site was more expensive than our typical campsite.  this one was about $30 whn we usually pay $20 or less.  but it had other amenities, including mini golf and go-karts.  Then we found out the go-karts were closd and the mini golf which included an inferior course with water-filled holes cost an additional 2.50.
we had a prive site not too far from the bathroom, which included a free shower that we both eventually used.  free wifi with rich used quite a bit.
made tuna sandwich dinner, but it rained so ate in the laundry
by this point, we had travelled 5684 miles using 179.83 gallons at a cost of $661.02

start:  106,594
end:  107,153

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