Home sweet home

Minnesota.  It's home. It's bitter sweet, but it's home.  Welcome home.

Our Final Day...

Friday morning and Spencer is feeling much better!  Me? Well, I'm sucking it up a bit.  Of all times to get a cold, it happens on vacation?! Yuck.  But, it's been tolerable for the most part. The worst of it being head congestion, mainly plugged years through the elevation changes.

Anyway... That didn't stop us from our day.  Started out with a little breakfast at the hotel in Frisco, then we packed up to head to Idaho Springs to go zip lining.  On our drive, we got to go through the Eisenhour Tunnel which is a mile and a half long tunnel that goes through a mountain.  On top of this tunnel is Loveland Pass.  We missed the turn off or we would have taken that instead of the interstate. We did back track a bit though and took Loveland Pass for the 4 Miles to get to the Contenental Divide. And boy was it COLD up there.  We certainly were not dressed for it!

You can see the snow/ice on the mountains....  There was actually a big ice glacier not far from where we were standing. 

The pictures don't do any of it justice... It's just amazing. 

Next stop was a little shopping in Idaho Springs. We had just enough time to kill to hit a couple shops.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to find what we were looking  for.  The second night in Manitou Springs, there was a shop that Spencer loved, but they were closed.  They had a bunch of cool, metal bronco stuff that I was hoping we would find again. Oh well, guess we will just have to go back! 😊

Time for Ziplining!!  So, the course wasn't exactly what we anticipated, however, it was still a lot of fun, even in the rain.  They had two lines next to each other so Spencer and I got to race down all of them.  I won the race 1 out of 8 times.  It was more than I anticipated so I'll be ok with it!  If I'm diligent after getting back to reality... I'll add the photos to the blog! 

So, by the time we got done with our little adrenaline rush... It was time to head to Coors Stadium for a Colorado Rockies game!!  Spencer has been looking forward to this all week.  My original plan was to surprise him, but apparently I'm not great at keeping fun secrets!  

A couple photo ops before heading in...

We ended up with some great seats!  

Spencer was hoping to get a foul ball, but instead ended up with a hand towel that the guy next to us caught.  I thought it was nice of him to give it to Spencer... That was until Spencer unfolded it and it says JEEP on it! Haha.  

We did however, walk away with a couple souvier cups and a hat bowl and some fun memories.  

Spencer was also a little bummed that Cuddyer wasn't playing, but Morneau was and he hit a 2 run Home Run!!!  

It was a fun night!  

An amazing week, we had! We reached the top of Pikes Peak, went on a Jeep Tour, explored a lot, went white water rafting, zip lining. Ate some great food, made some amazing memories.  This was the last hurrah for us in Colorado and the game was a great way to finish it off!  

It's bitter sweet that our time in Colorado has come to an end.  I would have been ok if it were to last forever. But we are also excited to get back home and finish our vacation week with a night with our best friends celebrating Will's birthday.  And then football tomorrow!  Couldn't think of a better way to ease back into reality! 

A little under the weather....

No, the weather wasn't bad today.  As a matter of fact, it was beautiful.  But, I woke up sounding like I've smoked for the last 12 years and Spencer woke up feeling not quite right.

Although he wasn't feeling the best, he still did the ALS Ice bucket challenge because he was nominated by his dear friend, Olivia Carlson.  (And just so everyone knows... He was really excited about it!)

After he completes his challenge... We packed up the car to start heading north about 60 miles to Leadville, CO to go zip lining.  As you can guess... Another beautiful drive...

However, due to the fact that Spencer wasn't feeling good and had a bad stomach, we had to cancel the trip. So, we continued on through Copper Mountain, stopping a couple times for some photo ops and as much exploring that spencer could handle...

It was all short lived as his tummy was up and down all day so we continued through to Frisco, where we decided to rest our heads.  He still rallied though, and we went to spend the afternoon in Breckenridge doing a little shopping and having dinner. 

We were back to the hotel by 7 to enjoy the pool for a bit as Spencer was feeling better. I am still a bit stuffed up, but tried to steam it all out of my by reaching the point of pruning in the hot tub! ;). Of course that didn't happen until I too completed my ALS ice water challenge.  BRRR!!

Thank goodness for the hot tub!! 

So... Tomorrow is our last day... I'm so sad to see this time come to an end... 

BUT.. We have a super fun day planned for tomorrow so I won't let the sadness set in quite yet! 😄

White Water Rafting & Hot Springs!!

Day four started with a lazy morning walking around Salida to do a little shopping, enjoying the river walk and of course, take a couple pictures...

 The "S" in the day time...

And Spencer doing the push ups he promised coach Terry...

But mid morning, we needed to head north of Beuna Vista to AVA Rafting to hit the rapids!!! 

As always.. A beautiful drive.  On one side was the collegiate mountains... They are all named after the Big 10 schools.  Mt. Princeton, Mt. Yale, Mt. Harvard, etc. 

these are all called Chalk mountains... They all appear to be covered in chalk.

And the other side was called mosquito alley... Just a lot of granite and trees.

Spencer and I stopped off for a quick picnic lunch before we got to the rafting company.

And then it was time!  

We didn't get any other cell phone photos for obvious reasons... But spencer took some with his waterproof camera. (Maybe some day I will get them posted).  As you can imagine, it was beautiful!!!  The water was down a bit, so the rapids were pretty calm but we had a blast.  In our boat was just one younger couple from Miami and our guide, Miles.

We all had a blast.  Miles was so much fun. Spencer was hoping we would get both him and his other couple. All his wishes came true.  So, the most exciting part of the rafting trip was near the end, there is a rock that they called the diving board.  You had to scale the rocks about 20 feet up and then jump out and off!  Spencer was super excited and I was super hesitant.  When we got there spencer just assumed I wouldn't do it.  Miles encouraged me.  Spencer told me I had to.  So I climbed the rocks, very timidly, I stood on the edge, wondered what the hell I was thinking... And JUMPED!!  Yep, me!  Afraid of heights and all... I jumped off a cliff in Colorado! 

Spencer was shocked... But was already on his way up for a second jump.  I got a big hug from Miles with an I'm proud of you.  Funny how I knew this man for only 2 hours at this point but he knew how scared I was.  Apparently after watching me scale the rocks to get to the top, and seeing how timid I was, he told one of the other raft guides that he didn't think I would jump.  I proved him wrong!!  Yeah me!  

Spencer and I with our raft guide, Miles... 

The rain started coming in after we were driving away from rafting and heading to the Hot Springs... And it's still beautiful with the rays shining down through the clouds over Mt. Princeton!!

And then the Hot Springs... 

What was so cool is where we were sitting here in the river, the water was quite hot.  Yet parts were cool.  They had a bunch of rock, mostly granite, that was separating the hot spring from the river so some of the cool river water was coming in, but there were parts where we were sitting that was seriously burning us.  If you dug your feet or hands in the sand, it was crazy how hot it was.  

What a relaxing, fun, amazing time with my favorite little man!!

Second Stop: Buena Vista/Salida

Up around 8.  Another breakfast of toast and OJ to tide us over. Spencer was excited to use his new knife to peel his orange.  We bought it yesterday at The Garden of the Gods gift shop.  He was ecstatic they had something with his name on it! 

After a quick trip to Target, it was time to check out of our place in Colorado Springs and head to Buena Vista.  

The drive again, was beautiful... Even though it was a bit overcast. The pictures don't do it justice!

When we got to Buena Vista, we had a quick little lunch and it was time to hit the Ariel Adventure Park.  We got pulled off about 10 minutes into it because of the weather and had to wait it out for 30-45 minutes but then was able to get back on.

<Spencer's photos>

It was challenging... And fun. Yes, fun?! sure!  Although...I may owe a bit of money to the swear jar. This is something I agreed to do to attempt to get over my fear of heights.  I am not so proud to admit... I'm not exactly cured yet!  But maybe I'm a little closer?! Haha! 

I will say, I was proud of spencer and how quickly he zipped through many of these obstacles.  It was so fun to watch him!  He left me in the dust for sure!  

These were very challenging though, and there was only 2 he tried that he got disappointed in himself.  One was the rings.  There were probably 12 rings you had to go through similar to the monkey bars (except they moved).  He made it almost all the way through but couldn't get the last 2. His hands were hurting too bad. <pictures to come> 

After the regular obstacles, we did the drop swing.  The pictures we got of that may be too embarrassing to post!  It was fun though.  Enough fun, we did it twice!

Then there was the one where he climbed what was basically a telephone post, to stand on a small platform at the top and would then jump to a trapeze bar.  Yeah, freaky, right?!  Well, he made it to the platform and then couldn't stand up.  As I'm watching him, I see the post swaying.  Although he wasn't able to make the jump... I was so proud of him for making it as far as he did. 

After all that fun was over, and my adrenaline had seen enough for the day we made it to Salida where we would rest out head.  Spencer was excited to hit the pool for a bit and we come to find out their pool is closed. :( 

But, lucky for us, there was an aquatic center across the street so we went swinging for awhile. 

After working up an appetite, we drive around town and found the cutest place, right on the river that we are at. The food was delicious! The view of the river was awesome. The waiter was fantastic. Did I mention the food was good?! 

After dinner, we took a short walk and sat by the river for a bit.  Directly across from us was a huge hill with the letter S on it. Of course we think this is just a warm welcome for our man Spencer! 

It's now time for another hopefully good nights sleep.  I am finding myself with a sore throat and a boarder line stuffy nose...  Hoping I can fight this off for the remainder of the trip! 😁.  Sweet dreams!

Day two: Exploring

After a well needed 11+ hours of sleep... We were ready for our day.

It started with a sub par breakfast... But it was a enough to get us going... And it was a beautiful morning!

After breakfast, we headed just down the road where we met our guide for our Jeep Tour: Cowboy Carl.  We totally missed taking a photo with him and his jeep and his son, Allen.  But, they showed us some great sights in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.  He had a ton of information on the history of the City and Spencer Penrose who was the founder of much of the city. 

Although we missed a photo of the Jeep & Cowboy Carl... We took our fair share of pics on the tour.  It started with Cheyanne Mountain and Helen Hunt Falls....

It just seemed like everywhere we turned it was another beautiful site. 

After Cheyanne Mountain, we headed to the Garden of the Gods.  It was amazing. Beautiful. 

After our tour was over, Spencer wanted to cool down from the almost 100 degree heat (which, by the way feels way better than a Mn 100 degree day in August).

So, he decided to enjoy a little pool time.

And after... We decided the Garden of the Gods was so beautiful, that we needed to go back to explore ourselves. 

But, not before enjoying a little treat! 

We needed a sugar high for our climbing and exlporing...  

For the most part... I will let the photos speak for themselves...

These two peaks were called the Siamese Twins.  Cowboy Carls son told us this was worth hiking up to, but we weren't exactly sure how to get there.

But.. We just kept climbing and stopping for photos...

During this exploration, I also decided I would turn it into Spencer's 12 yr photoshoot.  Those pics are on my regular camera so won't be posted here till later... But, let these give a sneak peak of the rest of our hike....

By this point, spencer was climbing so high... I wasn't sure I was up for following him as we weren't on a trail anymore.  But, the sweet boy he is... He talked me into it, and walked me through, grabbed my hand when needed and was more supportive than I ever could have hoped for.  Proud mom moment, for sure!

And then we found the Siamese Twins up close and personal... The hole between them shows Pikes Peak through it... 

Totally amazing!!

This was the point that spencer said to me "Mom, do you know that quote... It's not about the amount of breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away?!" I said yes.  He says "this is one of those moments".  

And of course... We need our selfie...

Then a little more exploring... And some heavy lifting...

And some push-ups for Terry Darby (which I can't get the video to load on here).

And then a few more pics...

Spencer was so right... This whole hike was full of "taking your breath away moments"  I almost think trying to explain it would cheapen it.  You need to see this for yourself! 

As much as it was hard for us to leave... We were a little worried we wouldn't find our car and didn't want to get stuck out there in the dark so we headed back...

We found our car and then made one more stop at the Balancing Rock...

Again, so hard to leave this breathtaking area, but we decided to head to Manitou foe a little shopping and a bite to eat.  Sadly, most of the shops were closed, but Spencer did make a new friend... His name was Sage...

Just a beautiful bird.  He was being shy though and wouldn't talk to us. :)

We also tried an Oxygen bar and had delicious and healthy smoothies 

This is suppose to just make you feel better and sleep better... It sure was relaxing!

And lastly, we found a cute pub that had the football game on!

And had Ms Pac Man!! 

Another amazing day in Colorado Springs...  It will be hard to say goodbye tomorrow, but we are also excited to move to our next destination!