Colorado

There are a lot of pictures in this post but, if you want to see more check the albums on facebook in a few days :)

After sitting in the hotel this week while Warren was working, this weekend was so worth it. On Saturday morning we drove down to Colorado Springs and took time to explore and enjoy the mountains.

Our first stop was at Garden of the Gods. The views and formations were amazing. We started by walking through the paths for up close views and then drove around the perimeter to see the whole view.

After taking in the breath taking views there we drove over to Manitou Springs to check out the base of Pikes Peak. We had originally planned on spending the evening shopping and sight seeing in Manitou and riding the Cog Railway on Sunday but when we went up to get reservations we found out they had openings for the the 4pm train that day :)

The Cog Railway starts in Manitou Springs and takes you to the very top of Pikes Peak. We enjoyed spectacular views and learned a lot. Below are a few of the pictures of the accent, the top, and the decent! For all the pictures check out my facebook album.

Since we had not seen all that we wanted we spent the night in Colorado Springs rather than going back to Denver. We were both exhausted!!! 

Today we started out in Cheyenne Canyon. We took a short hiking trail, about 1/3 mi, up to the top and while that doesn't sound hard to most of you let me tell you that it was. In that hike we went up over 200ft!!! So in addition to the VERY steep  grade, we were at a high altitude. However; I would recommend the hike to everyone, the view was so worth it. Here are a few pictures...

 

To leave Cheyenne Canyon we took the 2 lane (really 1-1.5 lanes) dirt road over the mountain. This was a treacherous and stressful drive....but I did it and I'm so proud of myself. I got nervous sometimes because we were on the outside and there if not careful you would slide off the edge and straight down the mountain (no guardrails or anything) The really cool thing about this road was that it use to be a rail line so when we went through tunnels they were super narrow and you could see the specific purpose they were created for. Of course, once we made it over we had to turn around and go the other way so Warren could get a chance to drive it too ;)

Finally, we ended the day back in Manitou Springs with dinner at a charming restaurant called The Stagecoach and some souvenir shopping.