USA - Denver & Manitou Springs, Colorado

We left Yellowstone driving south and spent our first night at a truck stop (!) before driving onto Denver the following day. The truck stops are set up for the long-haul truck drivers, but welcome camper vans. It was well set up with a salad bar, access to toilets, showers and other facilities which made it quite comfortable.

After our night with the truckies, we had to get our car fixed as we’d had a problem with the heater core. It took a lot of phone calls to find somewhere available with the approaching 4th of July holiday weekend! Luckily we found a good mechanic who was able to fix it for us in a day, and we headed into Denver in the late afternoon. There was a lot going on, and it seemed like a cool city to spend some time. We loved the sculpture of the giant blue bear peering into the Colorado Convention Center!

The following day we drove south to Manitou Springs, a cute touristy spot filled with cafes and shops, which was shrouded in mist during our visit! Nestled in the base of the Southern Rocky Mountains, Manitou Springs has 11 spring water pumps dotted around the streets providing access to the natural spring water under the ground. The town also boasts a red cog train which climbs its way up to 4,300 meters to the summit of Pikes Peak.