Colorado Springs and Roots Report

It's been almost a week since we arrived at Cheyenne Mountain State Park outside of Colorado Springs, and it's been a whopper of a weather week. Fellow full timers and bloggers Hans and Lisa, of Metamorphosis Road are here too and they just did a great job of summarizing and describing, so I'll refer readers to their post, appropriately entitled Wet and Wild and Beautiful.

Rick, Lenore, Lisa and Hans at Bristol Brewery

We've had lots of rain, thunder and lightning, wind, hail, snow and clouds for our week here. 

The trails have been a little too muddy to hike much. The mud here is clay-like - thick and sticky. Within minutes you've got an extra pair of heavy clay boots. Some of the higher trails are not too bad.

We never know what we're going to wake up to next. 

Some mornings we even see Cheyenne Mountain above us.  (Yes, it's the location of the fictional Cheyenne Mountain as in Stargate and the actual Cheyenne Mountain as in NORAD.)

We try not to let weather change our plans too much, so we put on our Alaska gear and did some sightseeing. One stop was the Garden of the Gods, just outside of Colorado Springs.

The park is free, dog friendly, and heavily visited. We had a hard time finding any parking even with the volatile weather.

Rain and hail started just as we were leaving. 

The Western Roots Report

My great aunt Lula and great uncle Roy Davis (on my mother's side) lived in Colorado Springs for many years, so it was one of those places we visited on our family summer road trips out west. I knew that they lived on Tejon St. but had only a general recollection of what their home looked like. I remembered it as a three story Victorian home, with a porch, some typical architectural detail and a side driveway. I recalled the back yard distinctly, having played in it a lot, but wouldn't be able to see that from the road.  We drove up and down Tejon St. one day, but I couldn't identify the house.

After doing some research online I found a website about the Old North End Neighborhood with a list of historic homes. The Roy A. Davis Home was one of them, and it gave the exact address! So on our next trip down Tejon St. we found the house.

It was just as I remembered it, once I saw it.  The Old North End Neighborhood has been preserved beautifully. The inside of this house was what I remembered most vividly though. It had been dark, and decorated in typical Victorian style with velvet upholstery; heavy, carved wood furniture; Oriental rugs; and fringes on the lamps. The most remarkable room in the house was Uncle Roy's library. He was a hunter, forged in the image of Teddy Roosevelt.  His library was filled from floor to ceiling with animals that he had shot. I believe there was every mammal and large bird in North America somewhere in that house, and most were crammed into that spooky library. There was even a bald eagle soaring frighteningly over the main staircase.

Roy A Davis

My Aunt Lula was a social worker, and did disaster relief work for the Red Cross.  I believe these pictures of her might have been from somewhere in the South after a flood. 

"On a wrecked beach where all kinds of wreckage washed up" - Lula Hall

Lula Bob Hall, circa 1914

Lula Bob Hall, circa 1914

I also found an article online from the Colorado Springs Gazette, 1967, that announced a civic citizenship award presented to Roy A. Davis for his contribution to the community over the years. He apparently was a member of the Colorado legislature, belonged to all the local clubs (Rotary, Elks, Old Fellows, etc.) and was a great promoter of social welfare programs. I imagine Lula and Roy may have met through their community welfare work. 

But this is how I remembered Aunt Lula and Uncle Roy from our visits to Colorado Springs.

Lula and Roy Davis, circa 1960, Colorado

Next I'll report just one more sightseeing visit here before we move to the Denver area, if it hasn't been washed away in the rain and flooding they've been having.

For now I'll close with this nice picture that Metamorphosis Lisa took of us after dinner.  Thanks Lisa!