USAFA: Let's Take a Tour

Tuesday, 7 July 2015
Peregrine Pines FamCamp; USAFA, Colorado Springs — Colorado
Temps: Hi 61F (16C) / Lo 54F (12C)

Brrr!  Turned on the heater today and yesterday.  A cold front parked itself over us and cooled things down considerably.  Not complaining; enjoyed the change of pace from what, by my standards at least, were rather hot days … especially at the altitude we’re sitting at.

Two drizzly days, preceded by a couple of big afternoon/evening downpours, put the kibosh on our plans to hike the trails on the USAFA campus during our self-imposed confinement over the 4th of July long weekend.  What can I say … we prefer to hunker down and stay out of the way during holidays.  It wasn’t that the rain was continuous; rather there was enough of it falling to make the dirt trails a muddy mess.

No matter, we still managed to get out here and there.  And we used the time at home to plan our route for the next leg of our trip; complete a few errands; get the awning fixed … it was extending, but not retracting; and have the LCD panel on my Mac replaced a second time … turns out the first panel had what I can only describe as an Ebola virus-like squiggle behind the screen.  Mui even managed to drag me shopping to pick up a few casual chic outfits for our fall cruise.  But that’s an entirely different story.

USAFA Map — need one to help us get around!          

Falcon Trail: 13 Miles Up and Down … and a Side Trip to 1871

Saturday, 20 June 2015
Peregrine Pines FamCamp; USAFA, Colorado Springs — Colorado
Temps: Hi 86F (30C) / Lo 63F (17C)

The morning dawned bright, with blue skies and puffy clouds, and comfortably cool temps.  The forecast was for a hot day, but by leaving early to get on one of the hiking trails here at the USAFA we figured we just might beat the worst of the heat.  Hah!  We were wrong!

For today’s hike we opted to do the Falcon Trail, a multi-use loop trail that runs entirely within the boundaries of the USAFA.  When we left the Phaeton at 7:00a, we were still debating doing just a portion of the 13-mile (21 km) trail as an in-and-out hike.  By the time we were at the trail access point five minutes later, the decision was made to hike the entire loop.  Five minutes after that we were walking, our Camelbaks heavy on our backs … the water bladder filled to the gills with the liquid refreshment we knew we would be needing for this moderate-to-difficult hike.

A Day at Home … Fixin’ a Leak and Makin’ “Kuru Köfte”

Tuesday, 16 June 2015
Peregrine Pines FamCamp; USAFA, Colorado Springs — Colorado
Temps: Hi 77F (25C) / Lo 53F (12C)

Sometimes you decide to stay home for one reason — in this instance, to relax and catch up on “living life on the road” type of stuff.  But today it turns out to be good for an entirely different reason that we decide to spend the day at home.

Welcome to USAFA

Friday, 12 June 2015
Peregrine Pines FamCamp; USAFA, Colorado Springs — Colorado
Temps: Hi 68F (20C) / Lo 56F (13C)

Get used to references to USAFA.  Why?  Because United States Air Force Academy is simply too much of a mouthful to say for the 30 days we will be here.  Actually, 25 days now, since we arrived here five days ago.

Boy, time sure flies fast.  I’ve said that before, haven’t I?  Well, it’s true and repeating it doesn’t seem to slow time down; or speed it up, for that matter.

Almost at the USAFA South Gate.  It won’t be long before we’re settled for a month!     

So, how did we get here and what have we been doing since we set up camp at USAFA?