We started our afternoon by grabbing lunch in my new favorite little town, Manitou Springs. It has the feeling of an old 1870's town.
We ate at a fun restaurant that was very family friendly. It also has an interesting menu for the adventurous types, like slow roasted elk. I wanted to try the pheasant chowder and the smoked fresh trout meal, but since I am not the adventurous type, I stuck with a safe choice: Fish and Chips. The beer batter tasted so yummy! My dad, who is on a quest to find the best fish and chips around, would have really liked it, I think. Brian ordered the buffalo burger, and they had a typical kid's menu which seemed to please our kids.
Here we are eating on their outside deck:
Here we are in front of the restaurant:
After we stuffed ourselves, we took a drive up to Pike's Peak. I seriously had to close my eyes the entire way up there because I was sure we were going to go right over the edge. To make it worse, we got caught in a snow/thunderstorm on our way up so I also had to worry about getting hit by lightning as we plummeted to our deaths. Fortunately the storm blew right through so we were able to enjoy some clear skies. There is also a Cog Rail that you can take up, but they charge a small fortune (over $110 for our family of 5), so we paid the $25 (minus $2 from an Internet coupon I found) to take our car. Still a ridiculous amount to pay just to drive up a mountain, but it was something we had to do at least once. Once we made it to the top, the kids loved climbing on the rocks, while I was having an anxiety attack thinking about them falling off a 14,110 ft. cliff. After enjoying some special "high altitude" donuts that are a specialty at the gift shop (which everyone hated except me), we very slowly managed to make it down the mountain without burning out our brakes. Brian was telling me that at really high altitudes your body will start eating away your fat, so I was really hoping I would come back down 5 ibs skinnier. Maybe I would have if I hadn't eaten 3 donuts. Oh well. Here are a few pics from our adventure:
10 comments:
Looks like such a great time! Isn't it funny how when you're living in a new place you want to do all these great things, but when you've lived in a place forever you take it for granted and don't go on as many adventures! We're so excited to do all these new things in MO, and we're thinking now of all the stuff we didn't take advantage of here in UT. We'll have to make a list of things to do when we're back to our home state. Have fun exploring!
Alison
Wow, can I just say that looks pretty high! Did you know that the song America the Beautiful was actually written by a lady after she got to the top of Pike's Peak? I only know this because I am playing a piano/organ duet to this song tomorrow in church and the lady I am playing it with knows this story (she is a native from Colorado). I thought that I should come check it out but after looking at your pictures and hearing your description of falling off of cliffs I might have chickened out!
FUN!!! We can't wait to see you guys too. We realized we will be stopping on your birthday so if you guys want to go out we will watch the kids. We are looking forward to seeing ya'll soon.
Looks like a fun trip. I think it is so smart to play tourist in your own home town or state. Smart thinking.
That view is awesome. It almost looks fake like you pasted yourselves in some painting. Stanton and I will have to make it up that way one day and go there.
Wow that place looks absolutley gorgeous and wonderful and fun fun fun. It makes me a little hungry for Donuts though. We need to talk this week. I need the update.
love love
Very cool jamie! i wanna go up ther and hang out for a few days --if I will lose some of this bootie, that is!:)
Our Brother and sister in law just moved to pueblo and they are finding TONS to do in "the springs" and surrounding areas. ENJOY!!
Looks like so much fun there. I want to hear more about what is going on with oyou guys. Email me!
By the way.....that's cool what HEather said about Pikes Peak.....
Looks like you're ready for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb race on July 20. They start at 9,000 feet and race to the top, with the winner making it in about 10 minutes in street-legal cars. You're Sequoia should be competitive with Brian at the wheel and Jamie navigating.
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