We stopped at Big Mike’s after exploring Mammoth Cave.
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The property hosts a really neat rock shop, gift shop, and a large statue of a mosasaur. They had a fossil of Big Mo, a mosasaur skull. It was located on the second floor of the gift shop. There was an information sign, as well as a pamphlet near the checkout counter.
If you are in the area, I would stop by! They had lots of unique things, both in the rock shop and the gift shop areas.
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There is also a Mystery House owned by Big Mike’s, but we did not stop in there.
The last time we went into the Stockyards, we didn’t time it right to see the daily cattle drive or the gunfight show that happens on Saturdays and Sundays.
We headed back on Saturday to walk around, shop, and watch the shows. Nick found a new belt, complete with large buckle. Will and I found new straw cowboy hats.
We saw the cattle drive first. It was pretty cool to see the long horn cattle. Each of their horns were different shapes and lengths. There was an announcer prior to the cattle drive giving some interesting facts. So far, the widest longhorn horns have been almost 11 feet wide (he lives in Alabama though)! VIDEO: Fort Worth Stockyards Cattle Drive
We were waiting for the gunfight show to start, so Ben and Will explored a store (Stockyards Trading/Stockyards Back Forty) by the action. They finally found a hat for Will, but the show was starting. The shop was nice enough to hold it for us until after the show. Will thought it was a little snug, so the shop used a wooden hat stretcher to help it fit better.
The gunshow was a little crowded and it echoed a little in the area. The kids seemed to get a kick out of the show. VIDEO: Fort Worth Stockyards Gunfight Show
Ben also bought me a pair of earrings. There was so much cute stuff in the shops at the Stockyards. We’re going to miss the big Christmas event, but we still found a few things to ship back home for gifts.
Walking around the area was fun to do by itself too. We saw the stockyard pens in the back. There was a walkway that goes over the top for observation. There was a really cool old turnstile as well.
We also found two large objects: a set of spurs and a belt.
The USS Midway is a decommissioned (retired) aircraft carrier docked in the San Diego Bay. It now serves as a top notch naval museum that is open for tours. It cost us $82 for the four of us and was well worth the money. (Ticket costs are: $26/adults 18-61, $22/seniors, $18/students 13-17, $12/youth 6-12, $10/veteran.)
As with most things these days, there are COVID restrictions: your ticket is a timed start to control total visitors on board at once, masks are required, 6 feet social distancing is encouraged and it seemed like many parts of the vessel have been removed from the tour.
The boys loved the Midway. (All of my boys.) We got to see:
Several bunkrooms – these were so cramped it is amazing they didn’t go stir crazy.
The Captain’s lower quarters – really nice, but according to a Yellow Hat (tour volunteer) the Captain only used this area while the ship was in port. The Captain slept up top by the bridge when underway.
The radio facilities control room – amazing to see how they transmitted classified information over the decades of the aircraft carriers service.
NOTE: Some of the ship was closed or roped off. I’m not sure if that was due to renovations or to COVID. (For example, the website lists the chapel and sick bay below deck, and the bridge and quarters above deck, but these weren’t open.)
There was a free audio tour available. You held the device up to the headphone symbols and a recording started. You listened by holding it up to your ear. You could also connect to the tour on your phone.
NOTE: Ben was excited to get to the tour and was worried about parking so we got to the tour at least an hour before our start time. We listened to most of these audio tracks in the truck. He was grateful we did because we did not bring headphones and it was hard to hear some of these recordings while on the deck.
The flight deck of the carrier had so many planes and helicopters displayed. Most of the aircrafts had folding wings. These were really neat to see, and of course growing up watching Top Gun, Ben and I liked seeing the F14s. The Midway Museum also had all the helicopters that have ever taken off from an United States aircraft carrier. Amazing to see the older ones.
I think the whole experience was really well done. We spent over 3 hours at the museum and Ben wished we had longer. We ended up closing the museum down. With the audio tour, lots of informational signs, and eager Yellow Hats ready to help, it was a great time. The kids enjoyed learning which is a solid accomplishment for any museum. I would definitely recommend it if you are in San Diego.
We worked on laundry in the morning. There is a breakfast food stand/truck in the campground, so once we got the washers going, we walked over and enjoyed pancakes and breakfast burritos. Nick ran a burrito back to Ben so he could enjoy it while he was working.
We spent a little time playing in the arcade after folding the laundry.
We decided to drive to Garden of the Gods. We decided to take a hike around the park. After 2.5 miles, the kids were done. It was hot and very, very sunny, not a lot of shade. We took a shortcut back and ended up with a 2.8 mile hike.
Family picture and Kissing Camels (the rocks, not us)
We were all dehydrated by the end, even with the water we brought.
We drove to Manitou springs and walked around. It was about 5:30pm when we got there, and the summer hours posted showed most of the town closed at 6:00.
We found a couple of the spring fountains that Manitou is known for. Each spring is supposed to have a slightly different flavor. We only tried one today, and it tasted just like fizzy (carbonated) water! The fountains are located throughout town and are free for use. There were people walking around filling up their water bottles to try the different waters.
We ordered a pizza from Hell’s Kitchen to bring back to the RV for dinner. It was a long wait for the pizza, but the taste was pretty good! It had a nice crust, not heavy on the sauce.
Manitou Springs had several more large objects for Will as well, so those pictures will be coming soon! 🙂
If you’ve seen my personal Facebook, you have probably seen pictures of Will next to large objects. We’ve been trying to find quirky stops and large objects every place we go, some places have a lot more to see than others. For Denver, we had an entire morning mapped out with ideas from RoadsideAmerica.com.
Because it was just the boys and I, we didn’t stop and get out of the truck at all the items on our list. Some of the areas were a little questionable and I wasn’t comfortable getting out of the car. We drove through some really nice areas of town, some not so nice areas of town, and past several homeless camps. It was a little eye opening for the boys and a learning experience as well.
We did end up being able to stop at 4 different locations for the pictures. One of the favorites for everyone was a giant milk jug. It is an ice cream store, so of course we tried their ice cream. I think the boys’ next favorite was either the dog at the humane shelter or the big blue bear.
Some of the other objects we saw (but I was driving and couldn’t grab a picture) was a 3 legged chair, a dust pan and broom, and a smoke stack painted like a No. 2 pencil.
It’s been really fun trying to see quirky objects in the different towns we go to.
