Hey Guys! We spent two very full weeks in Colorado Springs. We jammed so much into two weeks I’m breaking our Colorado Springs explorations into two posts. This is part two. If you missed the first part you can find it here.

Caught up?! Awesome! Here we go with part two!

The road up to Pikes Peak is only nineteen miles, but it can take you a whole day to get to the top. There are several pull-offs and hikes on the way up.

It was early fall and the aspens were just starting to change colors. We caught our first sight of some golden aspens on the way up. It was at one of the first pull-offs and while everyone else was ogling the view…I was a bit obsessed with the trees. Y’all know I love the pretties…

We stopped for a picnic lunch at one of the parks. Well, we tried to. We were getting set up and some hornets decided we were super interesting. So, we loaded up and moved to a different section and they found us again! We ended up eating in the car.

At each stop along the road the views got more and more breathtaking. There was construction at the top so we had to park at mile sixteen and take a tram to the top. The trip was both terrifying in it’s speed/closeness to the edge of the road and awesome for the views.

They had most of the top torn up. There will be a brand new summit house sometime in 2019. We’ve been in and out of mountains over the last three years of our nomad life, but this was the first time we had been at or over 14,000 feet. We definitely noticed the thinner air. And the view. The view was pretty spectacular!

The Manitou Cliff Dwellings were originally built by the Anasazi over 700 years ago. Today, you can walk through the rooms and learn more about how the Ancestral Puebloans once lived. I honestly don’t know if these particular cliff dwellings are authentic. We’ve heard they aren’t. But it was still neat to walk through them. At the Manitou Cliff Dwellings you can walk through the rooms, climb up the ladders…you really get to explore.

The first time we went to the Garden of the Gods it was on a weekend and it was so crowded we ended up driving on through and checking out the little museum at the visitor center. The boys enjoyed perusing through the nature center that showcases all of the animals that can be found in the Colorado Springs area.

We had way more fun than we probably should have with the What’s That Scat exhibit. You look at a pile of fake scat and try to guess what animal it’s from then push the button to light up the picture of the animal.

The red rock formations of Garden of the Gods were created millions of years ago due to geological upheaval on one of the natural fault lines that run through the area.

There are quite a few different hiking trails in and around the gardens. Some are paved but several are more rustic. We ended up going back one morning during the week and managed to avoid most of the crowds. We were finishing our hike when the crowds started pouring in.

One of the best things about the Colorado Springs area was meeting up with an old friend and her family! **waves at the Lowe family** The first time we met up was at this great Mexican restaurant. The food was great and the company was excellent! One of our absolute favorite things about this crazy nomad life of ours is the chance to see our friends who live all over the country.

We had two very, very full weeks in Colorado Springs and loved it! We loved it so much we’re trying to rearrange our plans for next year so we can spend some more time in the area!

See y’all down the road!

#westernloop2018