Our Last Days in Colorado

2 1/2 months after our Colorado trip ended, I'm finally wrapping up with our last blog post. Whew. Technology is difficulty sometimes. 

At this point in our trip we are staying just outside of Cripple Creek, Co. We were camping on the back side of Pike's Peak and about an hour from Colorado Springs. 

And do you know what's in Colorado Springs?

The Airforce Academy.

And of course, DJ knew a guy and it's never a true football family vacation unless you visit another university. So, he called up his friend, and we had a VIP tour to the football offices at Airforce. 

We also saw their ice hockey arena and chatted with a female GA who is learning to be a pilot and was interviewed by the national news. She was pretty bad ass and awesome to talk to. She may have also tried to convince the girls to go in to the airforce after high school, and in the back of my head, I was all like 'nope, not a chance."

We stopped by to see the B52 monument, because DJ's dad worked on B52s while he was in the airforce.

After our tour, we stopped for lunch. At a real restaurant, and we all had cell phone service. So while we were waiting on our table, I looked up and every single person was on a device. 

That evening we all kind of split up, had some errands, ate a quick dinner of whatever leftovers we could find at the campsite and went to bed. 

The next day, we visited cliff dwellings. Somewhere, behind the girls in this picture is Pike's Peak. We had talked about driving up, but you have to make reservations and it's $50.00 just to drive to the top. 

So, we explored cliff dwellings. 

When I was little, my grandparents took us to Mesa Verde and this is like a very mini Mesa Verde. 

Then we drove through Garden of the Gods. This would have been fun to get out and hike, but we were all meeting back in the afternoon and our time was limited. But, it was easily driveable, and there were so many people! So, we drove through, took a few pictures, and ketp on driving. 

Then, we all met up and went to the famous Mollie Kathleen Mine and all went 1,000 feet underground. 

I won't lie, we were all a little terrified, but the mine tour was cool. This is the 2nd time we've done a mine tour- I'm not sure I need to do one again, but it's fun for the kids to see, and the elevator ride down and up 1,000 feet was pretty petrifying in a good way. 

This may have been one of the only group photos we took the entire trip. 

We drove in to Cripple Creek, and took the girls to.......

A Parlour House!

This parlour house was one of the most famous in Cripple Creek and I was excited it was open. We walked in and the lady was like "I see young girls here, you all do know what this place is." And I was all, "Yes, it's a hotel." Wink, Wink. And she was like "no, it's a brothel." Gretchen of course knew what it was, and about halfway through the tour Megan and Amelia figured it out too. Adalyn still has no idea, but I was like, come on lady, we want to see this old house straight out of a western movie, but can you give us the G rated version, and she definitely did not. 

Apparently, business was good here. 

The rest of Cripple Creek was a bummer. It's a bunch of casinos and supposedly there are donkeys roaming the streets, but we didn't see any. There were also like 2 restaurants, and one wouldn't seat us because they were short staffed and we had too big of a group. The other was in the back of a bar, and those miners or casion goers were enjoying their happy hour. 

The next day we packed up and headed toward home. 

We had a quick overnight stay in Amarillo and made it home the following day. 

Our vacation was full of memories. I'm so glad we went. I hope this is a trip the girls will remember for a long time! 

Colorado Trip Adventures

On our final day in Buena Vista, we opted to take the girls downtown to a little lake area for paddleboarding. The lake was small, the water was easy, because while we thought we'd have more time on this trip to paddleboard, we really didn't. The other option was paddleboarding in the river, and I'm pretty sure we would've hurt ourselves. This little pond area in the middle of downntown was perfect. 

While we took turns paddleboarding, the little girls played at the playground. 

We had a blast until it started to sprinkle and if I remember correctly, we also ended up falling off. Not a graceful moment for sure. 

But after our paddelboarding trip, I had a spa visit that was heavenly. Especially because I'd been a few days without a good shower, sleeping on a hard bed, and had been eaten alive by mosquitos. 

While I was at the spa visit, the girls and DJ were packing up the camper. 

We ended our time in BV with a pizza dinner, and the next day we were off to our final campground of the trip. 

On that morning, we got up and drove Cripple Creek. We dumped the tanks, got set up, and drove in to Victor for laundry day! 

While our laundry was going, we walked around the town. I mentioned before, but I have a thing for cute little towns, and Victor was definitely adorable, but gosh there was nothing there- ha! 

President Rosevelt stopped and did a speech here on one of his tours, so that was neat. 

After we all did laundry, we went back to the campground for dinner. 

Look at that cozy camper in the woods. 

Sister-cousins. 

All the guys hanging out... when you go a few weeks boondocking, you don't bother shaving. 

That night, we cooked dinner and roasted s'mores and marshmallows around the campfire. 

At this point in our trip, our time was nearing an end, and I think we were all getting antsy to head home, but we also had some more exploring to do!!!

Colorado Trip: White Water Rafting & My Birthday

On July 9, I turned 41 and we decided that a white water rafting trip would be the most fun way to celebrate my birthday! 

All the girls ready for our rafting trip. 

DJ was the sole brave man going with us. 

We opted for a family trip; it was the easiest float and the time wasn't terribly long to take up our whole day. Even though several of us had been before, we didn't want to spend the entire day, and Adalyn was a little terrified as it was. This float was a perfect beginner float but still fun enough that the girls were all happy. 

We arrived early and watched the other rafters go in and get water. The company we used was right on the river and many of the boats launched right there! We suited up with life jackets, and then had to get in to a van to drive to our launch site.

Loading up to head out. 

Megan was really excited to sit in the front! 

DJ and the guide were both in the back. 

Adalyn started in the middle, but as she got more brave, she opted to paddle and sit on the side. 

Just floating the Arkansas River. 

Our guide stopped and let us float down the river on our backs. The girls went several times; I went once and it was FREEZING!

So, so cold!

Back at the outfitters and the guide took a picture for us. It was at this point that the girls really wanted to keep going and I was sort of wishing we had booked a longer, slightly more difficulty level. 

After our trip, we changed clothes and headed back to downtown B.V. for....

birthday ice cream! 

The ice cream shop had a little play area in the back. The girls ate their ice cream and disappeared back here for a while. 

It was a pretty great way to celebrate turning 41. 

Colorado Campin: St Elmo's

Just about 20 minutes from our campsite in Buena Vista was St. Elmo's; an abandoned mine town that has been restored and is the perfect spot for feeding chipmunks. 

We all loaded up and went to explore this little ghost town.

Right at the front was a chipmunk area where you could sit and feed chipmunks to your hearts desire. We had brought some sunflower seeds, but by the time we had arrived the general store was closed. My brother and the girls came back up here several times while we were here because they loved it so much! 

While everyone fed chipmunks, I walked the little town. I have this thing for quaint, old towns and historial buildings. 

Sleepy little mountain towns are just the cutest, and this felt like we were on some sort of movie set. 

There were even hummingbird feeders outside of the general store, and hummingbirds were flying everywhere! We managed to get some great pictures and video of these birds and had to dodge some of them too! 

Meanwhile, the girls were having the time of their lives feeding chipmunks. 

They sat so patiently and had chipmunks crawling all over them! At one point, I think my brother had one on his head, but even though they would come up and eat out of your hands, they were still a little skittish. 

We spent a good two hours here, and then went for a little drive to see the rest of the town. People do still live here, but there's just not much to it. Many of the buildings have been restored by a historical society, but most of the town has been abandoned. 

We even saw two moose in the field during our drive!