Day 6, Part 2 - "Hippie" Springs

After an awesome time at Royal Gorge, we came back to the RV park and hung out. Then we decided to spend some time in downtown Manitou Springs, a historical town know for its naturally carbonated springs.

To start off the evening, we went to get food at this place called PJ's Diner. Sadly, they were "out" of half the things on the menu. They managed to scrounge us up some food and then we set out for a scavenger hunt around Manitou Springs.

We were out to find the historical springs spread out around the area. We had a map that told us where these springs were in the town, and that we were free to sample and drink from the water as we pleased. We found all the springs and tasted them, they tasted like alka-seltzer. The springs varied in taste, but the majority were basically alka-seltzer. In olden times, this water was considered to have "healing powers," I wasn't very attached to it myself.

Tired from our day at the gorge and our hunt for the springs, mom had to get a coffee from somewhere. We found this little coffee shop towards the outskirts of town, and I quickly realized that our family was out of place there. I stepped into the coffee shop and thought i had stepped into a fairy tale book. The shop was meant to look like a fairy glen or something. There was live trees formed into seats and booths, and the actual coffee bar had a roof made of wood over it. The lights were dimmed and an earthy, wood scent filled the place. Also, Celtic fiddles were the soundtrack of the coffee bar.

I quickly left the shop; it was too trippy for me...

I sat outside with the rest of the family and waited for mom to get her coffee. Just then, 3 interesting characters walked up and saw us sitting there. One of them walked up to my dad and said, "Hey do I know you man?" My dad was surprised but answered politely that he did not know him and, trying to be friendly, asked him his name. "Virginia." the guy said, "Whats yours?" My dad answered and said "Dave." The guy was like "Cool man, shake my hand." My dad shook his hand and then Virginia said "No man, like this," and shook his hand again. Then he left with a "Peace and love man, love you guys."

I quickly concluded that we had just met a hippie. As i looked around, i began to notice more strange people. We left very soon after. On the way back to the RV park, we heard tribal drum beats coming from a nearby park. They sent me to investigate, and I found a hippie convention playing the drums and dancing around. As i look back on my time in Manitou Springs, i will never forget the strange and slightly entertaining hippies.

-Derek