Colorado Vacation: Manitou Springs

Happy Labor Day everyone! Time for Part 2 of our Colorado Vacation adventure. After staying in Denver, we headed south to a town outside of Colorado Springs called Manitou Springs, where we stayed the next two nights.

There are so many cool and fun things to explore in the area. The first thing we did there was visit Garden of the Gods park. It was of course, more walking, and we walked through the whole park and hiked a little further than we wanted (maybe got lost a little bit), but we saw some pretty cool stuff there!

A small deer came out to see us all and pose for photos. He was really the only bigger animal we spotted at this park, but it was cool to see so up close.

The rock formations at Garden of the Gods really were "godlike." They were huge, and walking among them can really show you how small we actually are.  

We had a nice, sunny day to explore. A little hot, especially when we were walking so much, but hiking up the different trails there was really worth it to see the spectacular views from the top of the park.

Sitting up there, it was really cool being up there so high, you felt like you were on top of the world.

Garden of the Gods was one of my favorite things we did in the Colorado Springs area. It wasn't as high up as Pike's Peak, but there were some pretty amazing views there.

And of course, you can't leave the place without seeing Balanced Rock and taking a picture there!

While in Manitou Springs, we stayed at The Cliff House, which was a nice, bed-and-breakfast-like hotel. It's a historic old building that also has a nice restaurant where you can sit out on the porch and enjoy the quiet outdoor atmosphere. We had marble tile floor in the bathroom, a steam shower,  2 sinks, a fireplace, and TV/DVD player in the room. It was a pretty comfortable place!

The next morning we explored the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, which were created by Native Americans who built their homes in the cliffs of Manitou Springs.

You could walk through them and see where they lived, in these small, cramped little spaces. It's nice and cool inside the cliffs, but it is pretty tight in there!

It's not a big place, but we were pretty impressed. There are also quite a few little shops and a museum there as well, with tons of Native American souvenirs.

And there is of course, a view. Like pretty much everywhere you go in Colorado, as we found out!

After the Cliff Dwellings, we boarded our Cog Railway Train headed to the top of Pike's Peak!

We decided this would be the best way to see the scenery and ride to the very top of America's favorite mountain. It's the highest cog railway train in the country, and it goes pretty slow to the top so you can see all the beautiful scenery on your way to the top of the mountain.

You are going uphill, and into some pretty high altitudes. Some people are facing forward, and some backward. We rode up to the top backward, but it didn't phase us too much. We still got to see all of the scenery as we rode up to the very high 14,110 ft. summit.

It was so beautiful and scenic, and every once in a while we would see some wildlife, like a deer or a mountain goat.

Once we got to the top, the view was incredible. I will probably always remember it as being very cold! In fact, it was about 34 degrees with the windchill. It's totally worth it though, for this view.

I still can't believe we were at the top of Pike's Peak. It was definitely a pretty cool experience. Trent could have stayed up there all day. I on the other hand, was a little too cold! I may have spent a few minutes at the Visitor Center to warm up and get some cappuccino. :)

This is the train we rode up to the top. Some people drive to the summit, but I've heard the drive is a little treacherous. To ride the cog railway train, it's recommended you reserve your seats ahead of time - we bought them online a couple of months ago. We just liked the idea of not having to drive and being able to enjoy the ride up and down the mountain a little more than if we drove.

It ended up being a pretty fun experience. We even saw snow on the top of the mountain. In August!

Definitely one of the best and most expansive views we experienced on our trip.

The ride down was of course more scenery, just a different view. We were facing forward this time. :)

After we got back from Pike's Peak, we also made a trip over to Seven Falls, also in Manitou Springs.

It's a string of 7 waterfalls that all cascade on top of one another, and it's pretty cool to walk the 224 steps all the way to the top of the falls and experience them up close.

There are also really cool views of the falls and surrounding landscape. 

The walk up to the top of the falls is a little long and can make you a little dizzy, especially if you look down! I don't recommend it if you're afraid of heights, but it is totally worth it once you're at the top.

Along the way, there are signs that tell about each of the waterfalls.

They light up at night, and since we were there into the evening, we got to see them pretty lit up before we left, which was cool.

We ate dinner at Restaurant 1858, at the bottom of the Falls. There's both indoor and outdoor seating, but we opted to sit outside on the patio. That's just how we roll.

After a long day at the Cliff Dwellings, Pike's Peak, and Seven Falls, it was nice to relax a little while here and have some food and drinks. It's a little on the pricier side, but I got the biggest veggie burger I had ever seen in my life! The portions are pretty big and filling.

After a busy couple of days in Manitou Springs, it was safe to say that this area has plenty of things to do! There are even tons of gift shops, arcades, restaurants, and ice cream shops in town which we got to explore a little bit. 

The waterfalls, cliff dwellings, rock formations, and mountains are all part of the natural beauty that makes this area so amazing! We wish we could have spent more time here.

I'll be sharing the last leg of our Colorado trip next, which includes the Royal Gorge, Peak to Peak byway, Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. More amazing and beautiful scenery to come!

Colorado Vacation - Part 1: Denver

Hello all, and happy September! And can you believe it's already Labor Day weekend? It's so nice to have a few days off to enjoy with family, friends, or whatever it may be. We had a nice Friday night going out for pizza with Trent's aunt and uncle, then coming back here and all getting together out back having a fire and some laughs well into the night. We're enjoying the milder, more fall-like weather we're having, though it's supposed to get back up into the eighties and nineties after the weekend.

Today Trent and I are cleaning around the house and trying to be productive. I thought I would take a little break though, and share the first leg of our Colorado trip!

We had such an awesome time in Colorado, and it the first time visiting the state for both of us. We drove from Illinois, so the drive was a little long, but we definitely made the most of the time we had there.

We stayed in Denver for the first two nights. Our hotel was right downtown, which was perfect because we were within walking distance of the 16th Street Mall and Coors Field, the two places we spent the most time at while in the city.

The 16th Street Mall was full of shops, restaurants, and bars, and our hotel, The Magnolia, was on 17th Street, so we didn't have to walk far. Our first night in Denver, we ate at Rock Bottom Brewery and were not disappointed.

We just got drinks and appetizers, but the nachos we got were huge, and it all definitely filled us up!

The next day, we went to a Rockies / Cubs game at Coors Field, but not before stopping at Colorado's oldest Brewpub, Wynkoop Brewing Company.

It did have a very old school vibe, with tons of character. Trent and I each had a drink before walking down to the baseball stadium.

We also walked through Denver's Union Station. It's a lot more than just a train station - there's restaurants, coffee shops, and stores all inside, so you will never go hungry or thirsty while you're waiting for your ride.

We headed down to Coors Field to watch our Cubbies play. The stadium is huge and pretty cool inside. Very different from Wrigley - a lot newer, and more outside areas to hang out at.

You also can't beat the mountain view! Especially from the purple row of Mile High seats. We had to try those out just to say we sat there. Our seats were a little further down from those, but still pretty high up.

We were hoping for cooler weather while in Colorado, but the day of the baseball game in Denver, it was HOT. It was a Sunday day-game, and our seats were directly in the sun. I was sweating my butt off! 

We were also a little disappointed, because not only did the Cubs lose, but they lost big that day! Oh well, maybe one day we'll get to see them play some awesome baseball!

While in Denver, we also had to check out the Big Blue Bear statue at the convention center. We walked there on our way back to the hotel. Then we stopped for some cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory on 16th St...Because yum, who can pass that up?

We thought Denver was a pretty cool city. Just too bad the Cubs game was so disappointing! 

Before heading down to the Colorado Springs area the next day, we made a pit stop about 20 miles west of Denver at the Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre.

If you are ever visiting the Denver area, I definitely feel like it's a must-see to check out at least once. It was really cool and surreal to actually be there after seeing bands perform there on TV, and hearing about so many concerts taking place there.

The stage and amphitheater is built into the giant natural rock formations, and the scenery from the top is gorgeous. It's free to visit during the day, and people actually use it as a workout space. They run up and down the stairs and do yoga and pilates on them! Meanwhile, there are people working on the stage setting up for the concert that's about to take place that night.

We walked down all of the stairs to check out the little museum/ shop at the bottom. Then had to walk all the way up again. It was much more walking than I ever thought, and gave us a workout, for sure!

Just outside of Red Rocks, there's a lookout point that Trent and I checked out, where there are really expansive views of the hills and valleys in the area.

And we saw even more of the red rock formations that jut out of the hills.

That was only the beginning of the mountains and scenery we saw, though! Next up: Manitou Springs!  Where we visited Garden of the Gods, Seven Falls, Pike's Peak, and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. Stay tuned. :)