A Good Ole Lazy Day!!

Sometimes you have to have a lazy day while on vacation too. Today we started the day by sleeping late. We got down to breakfast within just a few minutes of it being closed for the morning. After that, we came back up to the room and did nothing until about Noon. Then we walked over to the movie theater. Daniel and the kids played in the arcade for about half an hour.

Then we got popcorn, pretzel, iced coffee (that was for me), cokes and candy before going to sit down. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. We all really enjoyed it. Even the mermaid scene didn't bother anyone too much. I did cover Amelia's eyes just in case.

After the movie, we came back to the hotel and all went swimming. Once we were tired of that, we came back to the room, got dressed and went to Fazoli's for dinner. We picked the right night because it was Kid's Night. They ate for 99 cents.

We spent the rest of tonight getting things packed up and ready to go in the morning. We plan to get up early to leave. We will be traveling most of the day through the rest of Colorado and Kansas, hoping to make it to Kansas City by tomorrow evening.

Good night everyone!

Playing at the Park and Wing Nuts

After we came off of Pike's Peak, we decided to go to one of the parks in Colorado Springs for the kids to play a bit.

Yes, that is writing and drawings on Amelia's legs. She has been doing this every chance she gets when we are driving somewhere. She says they are pictures of police men.

We ate dinner at the Buffalo Wild Wings that we walked to from our hotel. Amelia and Alex split some mac-n-cheese, but Annessa and Andrew both ate wings. They said their lips were burning by the time they finished.
It's been a good day! Good night from Colorado Springs!

Pike's Peak

Pike's Peak, nicknamed "America's Mountain," is the one of the most visited mountains in the world, with more than half a million people reaching the summit each year. With an altitude of 14,115 feet above sea level, Pike's Peak ranks 31st among Colorado's 54 Fourteeners (mountains above 14 thousand feet).

On the trip up....

This little fella is called a marmot...kinda like a groundhog.



At the top...
Check out those Rocky Mountains in the far background!


Coming down...They checked the temperature of your brakes. If they were not under 300 degrees, you had to pull over for 30 minutes to let them cool off.


The Reservoirs....
There were 3 of these reservoirs scattered throughout the trek up the mountain. The city of Colorado Springs and other surrounding communities use this water as their main water source. They allow people to fish with artificial lures, canoe and other recreational uses, however humans nor pets can swim in them.

It took us about 3 hours to travel up the mountain, spend a little while in the gift shop at the top, then travel back down. It was absolutely beautiful. And cold! The temperature dropped by 30 degrees at the peak. And very windy too. But simply amazing! This tablet was at the observation tower at the peak and truly says it all!

Hotel View of Colorado Springs

Here is our view from the window of our hotel room. Just look at those mountains in the distance!

Mountains and Rivers of Colorado

I told Daniel that every new state we come into, I say that it is the prettiest state so far. I never cease to be amazed at the beauty. I know I keep saying that, but it is so true.

We got up this morning and went to worship with the Mesa Avenue Church of Christ in Grand Junction. It was a very small congregation (smaller than the one in Albuquerque) but a very friendly bunch. We ate lunch at Arby's and spent that time to decide on what we were going to do the rest of the day. Up until late Saturday afternoon, we had only planned to drive from Grand Junction to Denver, with no specific places to go. However, Daniel's mom, Kay, called us and asked if we had thought about going a little south of Denver to Colorado Springs. She said that is where Pike's Peek and Garden of the Gods was located. So as we ate, this is what we decided to do. We also decided that we'd like to stay there a couple of days to rest up, since we've been driving a lot since we left San Diego.

Leaving Grand Junction, we followed the Colorado River for several miles as it winded its way through the mountains. I heard one of the ladies at church say that the river was at its highest. You can tell that in some of these pictures.


These mountains were so very different from the ones we saw yesterday in Utah. These mountains had much more green on them. So beautiful.We drove around mountains, between mountains and even through the mountains via tunnels.
We reached some pretty high elevations and passed through several alpine villages with snow slopes that still had some snow on them.
Finally, we reached Colorado Springs around 6:30 PM (local time). We booked us a room at the Hampton Inn and Suites. We are on the 4th floor with a lovely view of the mountains in the distance. We are within walking distance to several restaurants, the movie theater and Target. ;) I think we are going to like our stay here.