A much-needed escape from the flat land and crowds of Chicago took us
to Colorado Springs, where we saw everything, did everything, and eyed
"for sale" signs along the way.
Day 1
Arrived at the
Denver airport and were troubled by the "tornado shelter" signs outside
the restrooms, seeing as how the roof of the terminal is a *tent*.
Picked up the rental car, which just happened to be a Mustang
convertible. Not the most practical choice, but hey, it's vacation!
Drove to
Colorado Springs, only needing to pull over once to frantically put the
top up
during a sudden thunderstorm. I'm sure the locals were amused. Checked
into the Wyndham, where our room had a view of Pikes Peak. We learned
to pick Pikes Peak from the crowd over the course of the weekend. It is
much more rounded than I expected, and not really "peaky" at all. In
the hotel parking lot we met several pesky native magpies, which are
the size
of a crow but are black, white, and blue. I'm sure the locals hate them
but we thought they were cute!
Visited Garden
of the Gods, a city park in Colo. Springs with dramatic rock
formations, hiking, wildlife, and kissing camels.
Can you find the camels
in this picture?
Stopped at the
trading post for a heavy dose of kitsch. We then headed into adorable
Manitou Springs, the town that time forgot, and had pizza at Savelli's
("Eat where the locals eat!" was surprisingly true) before trekking
down the road to look
into the stores and sample the water from the various springs. The
springs all taste about the same, slightly salty and slightly bubbly,
with very subtle differences that I suppose were very important to the
people seeking their healing benefits a hundred or more years ago. We
also bought a box of chocolate popcorn that lasted the entire weekend.
