kind bar

Colorado is amazing! I think I could have a love affair with this state. Yesterday was a busy day full of adventure. Thus the reason I’m writing this post on day four.

I left the Ramada early and hit IHOP. From there I headed to Colorado Springs. Specifically Pikes Peak. Words cannot explain the beauty of the mountain. Of course I had to drive to the top like a rally racer. Well ok, maybe not a rally racer but a brisk speed for the little diesel Cruze. I’ve watched races up Pikes Peak on YouTube so many times but they just don’t do it justice until you experience the rush of taking a curve a little too fast. Mind you I’m talking about 30 mph here. HA! As I got closer to the summit the terrain changed dramatically. The trees were non-existent and the color of the rocks changed. I also noticed in the car that I started feeling a tad light headed. Nothing extreme but definitely a noticeable change. Being as excited as a 5 year old on Christmas I jumped out of the car and started running around the mountain to take pictures. Yeah that lasted all of 4.1 seconds before I was huffing and puffing like I was attempting to run a marathon. Needless to say the lightheadedness was worse so I had to slow myself down. I guess I should have said hello to altitude sickness. That was the extent of it though. While heading back down the mountain I stopped at several pull offs to climb rocks, take pictures, relax and eat a KIND bar. While on top a a large rock formation I ran into a marmot. Cute little guy that scampered off in a hurry after seeing me.

At the end of that adventure I headed to Garden of the Gods. The rock formations here are breathtaking. I can see why this place was voted #1 city park in the USA. You can drive through the park and see just about everything from the comfort of your car so I drove through 3 or 4 times. LOL! Each time seeing stuff I didn’t before. I did stop a handful of times to get out, stretch and climb to the top of a pile of rocks. While in the park I stopped at the Trading Post which apparently was built in the 1920s and is Colorado’s largest art gallery/gift shop. Very cool place! They have a little cafe inside where I grabbed a buffalo burger.

From there I did some more exploring around Colorado Springs. I drove some old dirt roads through the mountains to see Helen Hunt falls. Then ended the day watching the sun set behind the Rockies. The mountain range is beautiful. As I’m writing this post in a Starbucks I can see Pikes Peak in the distance.

Oh and an update on the Yeti cooler. I had to put a little ice in it yesterday. So the ice lasted from Tuesday afternoon to Friday while sitting in the hot car all day/night. Pretty impressive.

I took a lot of pictures yesterday and it may be a little slow to load. Sorry about that but it’s worth the wait.