Day 12 - wildfires and rain

We woke up to overcast skies and cool weather (so glad I kept out my hot weather gear). We were back on the freeway heading to Colorado and points south. As we moved into Colorado and approached Denver, the surrounding countryside became more densely populated - as did the highways. As we neared Colorado Springs we saw some signs of the wildfires on the hill sides. We didn't see any burned out houses and the rain clouds were hanging low so we also didn't see any smoke. As we got to the South side of town we saw signs for the Garden of the Gods park. We decided to take a break from the drive and headed into the park for a short walk and fresh air. The park included some really interesting rock formations and there appeared to be a number of rock climbers giving lessons to novices on the rocks. We spent about an hour at the park before resuming our journey south. From that point on we played tag with the rain. First a drizzle, then a downpour and then dry pavement. The temperature dropped from 81 to 58 in about 10 miles. Most of the rest of the drive it averaged in the upper 60's. It was great! We pulled into Sante Fe at 6 PM. I'm glad to say that the drive between Cheyene and Sante Fe did not include a single sea gull!