Garden of the Gods

This trip was my first time ever visiting Colorado.  I was very excited to see super tall mountains.  Just for a point of reference, the Air Force Academy is located at 7,258 feet above sea level.  That's incredible!  

Our plan for the first day was to go see the Garden of the Gods and to have lunch at a brewery.  But first, we had a beautiful morning at the camp ground, and Rob found a little too much nature for my taste!

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

Oh, this snake skin is hanging halfway out of a hole in the ground. I think I'll pull it out. WHO DOES THAT??? Rob, apparently.

He then laid it out for me to find and be afraid of. He's so nice.

Isn't that majestic?

My kids' favorite part of this whole, 3.5 week odyssey was this playground.

After a quiet morning at the campground, we were ready to head to the Garden of the Gods.  This is such a cool park, and I recommend it to anyone who visits Colorado Springs.  There are excellent views of the mountains, including Pike's Peak.  There is an informative welcome center where you can learn about how the mountains were formed.  And then you can hike through the rocks and do a little amateur bouldering.  Take plenty of water and remember that you are about 6,500 feet above sea level, so don't over do it!

View from the Welcome Center.

A display of all the animals you can find at the park.

Rob's vacation beard is starting to come in!

All I want is one picture where we all 4 are looking at the camera!

Which way do we go?

Yeah, people are crazy.

When I see them like this, I always wonder what they are talking about. How awesome is it to go through life with your best friend?

This is a terrible picture to show this, but there was an area where kids could climb all over the rocks. Mommy couldn't handle the height, so the kids and Daddy went exploring.

We worked up a good appetite with all the hiking and climbing, so we headed to Trinity Brewing for lunch.  The beer was good, the food was ok, and the service was painfully slow.  

Rob takes crazy beer drinking pictures for the app On Tap.

We spent the rest of the day doing a grocery run at the commissary and hanging around the campground.  This is the perfect speed for us. See a sight, then some downtime.  I cooked dinner at the camper and we went to bed early.  The elevation and time change, plus all the late nights playing with cousins had finally caught up with us!