A Colorado Weekend Mini-Vacation June 19-21, 2015
This weekend we decided to stay around Colorado and do all
the fun things that we have always wanted to do, but have never gotten around
to. We headed out to Colorado Springs to
the Florissant National Monument to hike around and see all the amazing
petrified trees. The trees are
massive! Scattered throughout the valley
are giant petrified tree stumps and some pretty cool other vegetation along the
trails. We did a few hikes and then
headed into the visitors center to learn more about the parks and history of
the area. We didn't have much time to
spend, but we were really happy to have been able to see it. And Jadeyn got his Junior Ranger Badge too!
Back to the Colorado Springs area to ride the Pikes Peak Cog
Railway! This cog rail has been
functioning since around 1890 and is the world's highest cog train. In sections of the track, it takes us up at a
25% grade! and eventually takes us to the top of Pike's Peak at 14,155
feet! It was a pretty cool thing to
experience and of course we loved the scenery along the ascent. It reminded us of all our RZRing trips above
tree line looking out over vast valleys and alpine lakes and chubby
marmots! The reward at the top was not
only the incredibly beautiful 360 degree views, but also the world famous high altitude donuts! They had to create a special recipe for them
to cook specifically at 14,000+ feet! I
must say, we were really hungry and they tasted great! Jadeyn enjoyed playing in the snow and we
soaked in the incredible views! Wow!
Such a fun experience.
After the railway, we decided to find a hotel and checked in
at the north end of CS. So, its 7pm, we
are really hungry, but gee, there is a movie theater less than a mile away!
Hum.... What to do? We decided to go to Inside
Out, the newest Pixar movie and bought a foot long hotdog to share between the
three of us and a large slushie! It
actually all tasted delicious and was the perfect amount. Now for the movie: Wow! So much fun. This movie had something for everyone and
kept us laughing and smiling through the whole thing! We were so glad we went (and skipped dinner)!
Renaissance Festival!
Saturday morning we got all decked out in our renaissance costumes and
headed for Larkspur. It has been way too
many years since we have been there and were so excited to introduce Jadeyn to
it. He was dressed up in a Robin Hood
costume that we modified to be more renaissancy and added Frodo's sword Sting
hanging on his side. Me and Kevin's
costumes were the same as before with a few small modifications: adding leather
boot covers and Gandolf's sword for Kevin, and for mine altering the corset a
tad to make up for the years and a baby! What fun! It was just as awesome as we
remembered it to be: winding though the land with unique shops on all sides,
old time food vendors selling stuff like artichokes and pickles, about half the
people decked out in costume and acting the part...We saw a few shows, at some
fun foods, watched Jadeyn joust and win!!!
He was on a wooden horse on a wire and was sent shooting down with a
lane to catch a small ring from a dragon's mouth. In all the time we watched other kids to it,
no one succeeded. Jadeyn concentrated
and nailed it! Way to go! When we took him to the real jousting match,
he was amazed! Four knights against each
other on horseback. Very exciting!
What a great weekend getaway!!
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