Manitou Springs

Denny and Kenny took their motorcycles out for a drive in the mountains again this morning. So Cecilia and I ventured off to the little town of Manitou Springs. Boy, that must be one popular place, we had to hunt for a parking place *laughs*

Eventually we found one a little way off and hiked down into the town. Immediately we saw a big banner advertising a castle....A CASTLE! Woo Hoo! We decided we must check this out!

It turned out to be Miramont Castle. Originally built by a Catholic Priest, Father Francolon, as a home for himself and his mother then it was later donated to The Sisters of Mercy as a Sanitarium.

It was really amazing to explore all the old rooms with their original furnishings and some period clothing. We were really amazed that the beds were so small in the 1800's. No such thing as a King (or even Queen) sized bed back then I guess *grins*

One thing that I really loved was a large music box that was continually playing. It was beautiful, crystal clear and plenty loud. Really amazing for such an old treasure.

There was a gorgeous sun room on the second or third floor that let streams of sunshine in on the plush settee.

This next room is special because the ceilings are 24 carat gold! Wow! And, look at that enormous fireplace! I bet THAT would keep you warm in the Colorado winters huh!?
We finished off the tour with a walk through the Victorian Gardens. We really had a teriffic time exploring the whole place. Then we continued on into the heart of the city to wander through the little shops.
It was a lot like Old Colorado City, some art galleries, antiques, jewelry, etc. We found a good deal on some tee shirt souvenirs and then decided it was about time for lunch.

We discovered a neat German style restaurant and once again perfectly split a sandwich. We're such good sharers *winks*

After lunch we drove back to our hotel in Woodland Park to meet back up with the boys and finish off our evening. A rainstorm let loose just as we got back inside and ended in the most amazing rainbow you've EVER seen!!
Can you see that!?! There are TWO seperate rainbows it's so intense! This is one of those rainbows that makes you want to go hunt for the pot of gold *winks*

And you know what? It was the perfect end to a glorious two weeks of vacation! We had dinner and I got my bags all packed and prepared for my flight bright and early then next morning, all the while saying a little prayer of thanksgiving for our Yellowstone adventure!

Old Colorado City

Today I had a glorious day of shopping with Kenny's Mom, Cecilia! The boys got up bright and early and headed off for a day of motorcycle riding in the mountains so we had plans to entertain ourselves with shopping and sight seeing.

We drove about fifteen minutes outside of Woodland Park and arrived in the sweet little town of Old Colorado City.
There is a main street with all sorts of shops. We perused several amazing art galleries and were just flabbergasted by the amazing art. There were a few pictures of Colorado Aspen trees with beautiful inspirational quotes hidden within the bark. So pretty!

There were also lots of antique shops and jewelry shops and small specialty clothing shops. We just had a great time looking at all the unique finds.

By this time we were starting to get hungry so we stopped by a neat-o restaurant. I don't know about you guys, but I can't ever seem to finish an entire restaurant entree by myself, and it would have been tough to take any leftovers because we'd have to carry them around while we shopped, so we split a yummy club sandwich and onion rings! What a perfect meal *grins*

We just had a great time browsing and laughing and talking! *grins* Here is a picture of us from last year.
After lunch we headed back to Woodland Park to meet back up with the boys. We were all pretty tired so we decided to go for a dip in the pool to cool off.

After swimming we decided it would be fun to order pizza and rent a movie to watch together back in our room. So Kenny and I went and picked up Pizza Hut and decided on the movie "Taken".
It was a really good movie, suspensful and dramatic with a good plot and it kept us all on the edge of our seats! I'd say two thumbs up! *grins* It was a nice end to a great day!

Denver Zoo

This morning we got up early, once again to beat the heat, to visit the Denver Zoo. Can you tell we are animal people!?! *laughs* In a zoo, in the wild...we just like watching them!
Well, THIS was a busy day at the zoo! We barely found a parking place, and we thought we got there early!? Once we bustled inside we could spread out a little more and avoid the crowds. We got to see a bunch of adorable animals!
This elephant was just playing and playing with this big ball on a chain. It almost looked like he was trying to start a game of tether ball, but his buddy there in the background was too busy with his nap to come play! *laughs*
This Daddy and Baby mountain goat were pretty cute too! I love how Kenny caught the picture just as they're about to butt heads!
It was kind of shocking to see this dreary looking bear after having seen some in the wild! He looks so pooped, not healthy and frisky like the ones at Yellowstone. Awww, poor guy, I hope he's just having a sleepy day.
They also had a couple of Baby Giraffes!! My favorite! They look so soft and sweet with their big eyes and l-o-n-g eyelashes!

This zoo had an aquarium area too, but it wasn't quite as big and neat as the Omaha Zoo. I think we got a little spoiled at the Omaha zoo *winks*
There was a zoo trainer here with the polar bear. He had some fish that he was going to feed her if she did her trick. She was pacing back and forth and back and forth and he kept yelling "up on your rock....come on, up on your rock" over and over.
We waited with anticipation.....the trainer kept calling out.....eventually a crowd was forming to see what in the world was going on. Finally, after about twelve minutes of pacing the bear climbed UP on her rock, the trainer threw a big fish in the water and she dove off to get the fish! What a show!

I think she knew all along that the fish was going IN the water, so why in the world would she need to climb way up there just to get the fish in the water!?! *laughs*

We left to zoo about 12:30 and were on our way to find lunch and stop by some outlet malls on the way to Woodland Park to meet up with Kenny's Mom and Dad!

We ate some yummy good Chick-fil-a and explored all around the Castle Rock Outlet Mall.
We found several great deals! I got a banana republic shirt for $7.00 and an Eddie Bauer one for just $5.00! Woo Hoo! I love a good deal!

By this time Denny and Cecilia called to let us know they had arrived and we headed straight on over to Woodland Park.

Oh MAN we have fun!!

I'm so thankful that I was able to take some extra time off to extend our trip over into Colorado. One, I love getting a chance to spend time with Kenny's Mom and Dad. Two, (almost) any vacation is a good vacation. Three, it was like de ja vu of the trip we took here last year right after our Honeymoon in St. Thomas! Some hotel and everything!
We arrived just in time to check in.....another great hotel with soft, warm, yummy cookies in the lobby! And then we headed out to go eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant! Ohhh I had the best Taco Salad ever!!!

Eating all that good food was enough to send us to bed for the night! It's a good thing too because the boys had an early morning of motorcycle riding and Cecilia and I had an early morning of shopping and sight seeing planned! *grins*

Hyatt Place in Denver

Today was another day of basically just driving... I know it sounds boring, but it actually goes by pretty fast. It's fun to watch out the window as the scenery changes from country to city or vice versa.

Today we drove from the tiny town of Moab Utah into the GIANT city of Denver Colorado! Whoa-momma that was quite a change. Again I was so very thankful that Kenny was driving and I only had to be his faithful sidekick and navigator *winks*

The fun and glorious thing I have to blog about today's adventure is actually our hotel *laughs*. Although we booked all of our hotels for the ENTIRE trip ahead of time, today we actually left up in the air until kind of the last minute. We weren't exactly sure what route we wanted to take and what city we'd be staying in tonight, but finally decided about two days ago that it would be Denver.

At that point Kenny hopped on hotwire.com (I am telling you, you can find A-M-A-Z-I-N-G deals on here!!) and found an excellent deal on a three and a half star hotel which turned out to be just stunning!!

We checked into the Hyatt Place hotel in Denver Tech Center.
It had JUST been completely remodeled! Seriously, you could smell the newness, such modern fixtures and posh lobby and an enormous suite just for us! Dork that I am, I even took a video of our room for posterity *laughs*
There was a separate living room area and bedroom area, a kitchen and office area and THE biggest high definition flat panel TV I've ever seen in my life!

And do you know what we did tonight!?! We ordered Chili's to go and just soaked up the luxury in our glamorous hotel room! *winks*

And the next day, man-o-man, you should see the free breakfast! You know how you might normally run downstairs to grab a bagel or toast....well, this was elaborate! Omelette's, bacon, sausage, gravy, all the fixins and crystal and silver to eat off! Eeek, how intimidating! *laughs*
I'm starting to re-think my career choice.....I think I could totally be a hotel reviewer, or, even better the author of a series of travel books! What fun would that be!!

Arches National Park

This morning we drove straight to Arches to take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures! Whew, what a break, it was way down around 98 degrees *laughs*

First thing we went to hike the double arch trail. What a spectacle of nature this is! It's amazing enough to see one arch, but to see two right together like this is really rare! Wow!

We also ran across about ten different little lizards scurrying about along the way. We had fun trying to capture them on film. Kenny's pretty good, but I always zoom in real close then lose them from the viewfinder and just look like a maniac all hunched over creeping along the ground mumbling "where'd he go?"....."I can't find him".... *laughs*

Next we took the Park Avenue trail down into a valley. This hike was about two miles round trip. We got to see a ton of the monuments up close just looming over head dwarfing us. I personally named this one (below) Pharaoh with chalice.

See how it looks like King Tut holding a big golden cup out in front of him! *winks*

Next we wandered over to see The Delicate Arch from the lower viewpoint. It's pretty breathtaking even from down below. *smiles*

After seeing a few more glorious sights the temperature was starting to soar and our tummies were growling so we decided to head back to Moab for lunch and a little siesta.

We happened across the cutest little eatery called Moab Diner. Just like a 1950's diner complete with little red and chrome stools. Soooo cute!

Then we went back to our hotel to enjoy a little nap and some air conditioning. About 5:00 we headed back to Arches to take on the monster hike up to see The Delicate Arch. I remember the last time we were here I thought I.was.going.to.die on this hike. *laughs* It has some really steep mountainous portions plus you're higher up in altitude than I'm used to, so it was quite an endeavour. Plus, I was a newly engaged little lady and had to be a sporty hiker, plus a glamorous fiance who doesn't sweat or complain at all *laughs*

This time the hike was actually pretty easy! I think because I had built it up in my head it was easier than expected. I enjoyed it and really soaked it in this time!

The view at the top was spectacular as always!

Once we hiked back down we got to see some amazing cliff drawings! Can you believe these are from 1800 BC!!! And they're still so dark and discernible! I'm amazed!

We drove out of the park just as the sun was setting and got to see some amazing red and golden orange colors bouncing off the rocks.

Once we were back in Moab we found a neat little frozen yogurt shop called Hogi Yogi and had a tasty treat just before bed! Wow I love that hubby of mine!

Canyonlands

Today we made the drive from Salt Lake City to Moab. Once you get out of the big city you start to see some really beautiful scenery all around! We just love all of those plateaus and sculptural looking beauties *grins*

It was also quite a temperature shock! Being used to those nice lower sixties, then reaching canyonlands where the thermometer on Kenny's car registered 102!! Whew! Luckily it was a dry heat and not intolerable. *winks*
Our first stop for the day was at Canyonlands. And it is, exactly what the name entails. *winks*
A land of canyons.
We got to see this beautiful arch, the Mesa Arch, see how you can see more "monuments" through the arch!
Then we went over to see the upheaval dome. Scientists aren't exactly sure what caused this, whether it's pushing up from underground or whether a meteor struck down here many years ago... either way, that white stuff in the center is salt and it is beautiful!
After we saw it up close we decided to do a longer hike that would take us up to a better vantage point.
I think it's funny when you're hiking...if you come across another person along the trail you immediately ask each other "what's up ahead?"......"how much further"........"is it worth it"? It always makes me think of pioneers along the Oregon trail running into another person! *laughs*

Well, this was a long hike, over some pretty steep and narrow pathways, down rocky staircases and finally back up and around a cliff side to see the view. So exciting!
Look at this nifty guy Kenny caught on film! Yet another creature to add to the notebook of wildlife *smiles*
After finishing off the tour of Canyonlands we headed on over to Arches National Park. I was so excited! We were here last March for our spring break trip to the Grand Canyon and loved it, so, needless to say, I was glad to be back!
It was approaching sunset as we pulled into Arches (the perfect time to get some great photographs!) so first thing we went to the balanced rock...
as you can see we had quite a fun time posing for "fake" pictures with the rock *laughs*
This is a sunset view of Park Avenue...it is just breathtaking with the orangy sun bouncing off the rock faces like that!
We headed back to check into our hotel for the evening and get a good nights sleep for hiking tomorrow!