Colorado Springs Vacation - Day 6

Today we visited the Royal Gorge Bridge in Canon City, CO.

We did a little geocaching along the way. It brought us to the edge of the gorge.

Randy looking over the edge. You can see the bridge in the background.

There were beautiful views everywhere you looked.

Riding the Ariel Tram across the gorge. Just ignore Mr. Pouty face
.

Looking down from the tram at the Arkansas River at the bottom of the gorge. You can see the railroad track right next to the river. We would love to ride that train, but we were traveling out of season.

Driving across the Royal Gorge Bridge.

Nathan riding across the bridge.

Nathan on the bridge. One great thing about traveling out of season . . . nobody is around. We had the bridge to ourselves.

Walking on the bridge.

Alone on the bridge.

This was an interesting vacation with Nathan being sick. We had fun, but can't wait to get back home. We plan to drive straight home tomorrow. There's no place like home, especially when you have a sick kid!!

Colorado Springs Vacation - Day 5

"PIKE'S PEAK OR BUST"

Well . . . it was a bust. We didn't make it to the summit. It was closed today because of high winds. We were able to drive up 13 of the 19 miles on the Pike's Peak Highway. That brought us up to 11,440 feet. The summit is 14,110. We were so close. We'll have to return when the weather is less questionable.

There have been many sightings in the area of a creature that resembles "Big Foot". This sign was posted for our safety.

Crystal Reservoir - Mile 6 - 9,230 Feet

I found Big Foot hanging around Crystal Reservoir.

Nathan hasn't felt well this whole trip but he was a trooper.

We saw a family of deer right next to the highway.

Looking down on Crystal Reservoir - Mile 7 - 9,390 Feet

Glen Cove - Mile 13 - 11,440 Feet

This was as high as we could get up the mountain today. The wind chill was 0 degrees and it really didn't feel that cold.

This was right above the Alpine Zone, so there was plenty of snow everywhere.

These are the giant snow and ice movers that are used to clear the highway.

This was on the way back down. Ski Area - Mile 12 - 10,990 Feet

You have to use your lowest gear coming down the mountain. At mile 13, you have to stop and have the temperature of your breaks checked. If they are too hot, you have to pull over and allow them to cool before you are allowed to continue down the mountain.

Even though we didn't get to the summit, it was a beautiful drive.

Colorado Springs Vacation - Day 4

Pike's Peak Summit was not open today. The road at the top is covered in ice. We are hoping it will melt away so we will be able to drive to the summit before we leave.

Today, we visited the Manitou Cliff Dwellings and the historic town of Manitou Springs.

We were allowed to climb all over the cliff dwellings. Nathan liked that a lot. I don't think he understood that people use to live there, but I tried to explain it to him on his level.

We went to the historic town of Manitou Springs to taste some of the spring water. There are 11 springs in the town. We tasted three of them.

Wheeler Springs - Nathan fell asleep again.

Cheyenne Springs

The spring waters contain minerals including carbonic acid. All the spring water that we tasted reminded me of Alka Selzer.

While Nathan was napping in the car, Randy and I snagged a couple of park and grab caches.

Colorado Springs Vacation - Day 3

It snowed all night long. It only left a dusting on the ground but the summit of Pike's Peak received around 3 feet of snow.

This is the view from our hotel room. That's Pike's Peak in the distance.

Today we visited Garden of the Gods.

Here's a view of Pike's Peak with Garden of the Gods in front.

Sentinel Spires - The temperature was around 43, so we had our winter coats on most of the day.

Walking the trails.

Balanced Rock

Nathan hasn't been feeling well and had fallen asleep in the car. I didn't want him to miss out so I carried him up to the top for a picture.

The Three Graces - Nathan enjoyed climbing on this one.

Nathan resting in the car with Pike's Peak in the background. You can't really go anywhere in the area with out seeing Pike's Peak.

Sunset from our hotel window.

Colorado Springs Vacation - Day 1 & 2

We are going on a road trip this spring to Colorado Springs.

DAY 1 - Driving from home to Amarillo, TX

We left early in the morning and stopped for lunch in Childress.

Having a picnic at Fair Park in Childress.

We also did a little geocaching. We found two in the park and two more at a cemetery near by.

We stopped for the night in Amarillo and saw some sites.

We played and explored at the Don Harrington Discovery Center. Nathan had a great time blowing giant bubbles.

Playing in a giant kaleidoscope.

There were also giant dinosaurs. The moved and made life like noises. Nathan was a bit scared of them, but did look at all of them.

Nathan was very excited the whole time we were there. He jumped from station to station and was interested in learning what everything was.

After three hours, Nathan hit his limit and was exhausted and hungry.

So, we headed over to the Big Texan for steaks. Three big guys tried to eat the 72 oz. steak while we were there and they all failed to eat it in 1 hour. Nathan, of course, loved to watch the timers count down and kept us informed of how many minutes they had left.

DAY 2 - Driving from Amarillo to Colorado Springs, CO.

We stopped off at Cadillac Ranch on our way out of Amarillo.

Not really sure what Nathan thought of the cars buried in the ground.

There are 10 cars in a row and are covered with many layers of spray paint. It's so thick that some people have started carving in it.

The cars are in a cow pasture on private property but everyone is welcome to come visit them.

We stopped in New Mexico for a rest and there were "Watch for Snake" signs everywhere. Thankfully, we didn't see any snakes.

We arrived in Colorado Springs just as snow flurries started to fall. We were in short sleeves and not ready for the cold temperature.

Day at the Beach

We spent the whole day at the beach today. The algae was almost all gone, it was windy and there was some great waves.

A couple of days ago we found a great kite shop. Nathan picked out this tie-dyed fringe kite. It's easy to fly and looks cool. When he got tired of holding the kite, we would clip it to the umbrella and it would fly itself.

Fetching a pail of water to make sand castles.

We enjoyed making sand castles and just playing in the sand. Nathan likes to write letters and numbers in the sand and then erase them. He also makes roads for his car, aka shoe, to drive on.

Taking a break in his beach chair.

This was my view for most of the day. But, I had finished my book early in the day and sitting in the beach chair is a bit boring. So, I spent the rest of the day playing in the sand and surf with Nathan, while Daddy took a much needed break.

Nathan loves to go out in the water and get smacked by the waves. He just giggles and laughs when the water splashes in his face. The rougher the better for him.

For our last night in Destin, we ate dinner at Fudpucker's. Nathan was so exhausted from our day at the beach that he fell asleep and almost missed dinner. This place has an alligator farm and playground. You can write on any surface in the restaurant, so that's why the horse is covered in graffiti.

We had a great vacation in Destin. As we were pulling out of the parking lot to head home, Nathan asked when were we coming back. That just proves how much fun he had. We all can't wait to get back to beach!!