Colorado Adventures - June 2010

What can I say, yes, we had another little vacation!! Since Joe and I haven't had much time getting out before, this year seems to be our year of trips!!! This adventure took us out to Denver, Colorado to visit my sister whom we haven't seen since last September. We flew from Duluth to Minneapolis to Denver. Not such a bad flight, but that thanks to Ativan, it does wonders if you ask me! We arrived in Denver on Thursday morning, taking advantage of some realixing time after traveling. We were exhausted, but I think that had to do from the lack of sleep we had the night before.

Emily came over to our hotel and we finally got to give her her birthday present that was stolen during our flight home from Jamaica. Thus, that was why she had to wait for it, it wasn't going to be mailed, thats for sure! After that, we headed out to dinner at a nice little pub, talked a little and enjoyed each ones company while we could.

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel, did I mention it was right next, literally next to Invesco Field AKA Mile High Stadium!? That place was beautiful, although our hotel was a little out dated, but very functional for the price. No complaints here.

Friday, Emily picked us up and we head to Red Rocks park. Wow, those rock formations were amazing and beautiful! It's amazing how nature had turned and changed things. Just beautiful! We parked in the South lot, so unfortunately for us non-Colorado people who aren't accustomed to the elevation, we had a bit of a hard time climbing all of those stairs and ramps!! Well, worth the effort, though. Look at these rocks!

This was taken at the top of the Red Rock Amphitheater. Just amazing!!!! When we were at the top, there were gym classes going on! I was amazed!! I'db e out of breath, although training at that elevation I'm sure would just get easier and easier. For a started, I was dying! Anyways, people were running up and down this theater. If you run from one side to the other, along each step here, you'd have done a 5k. Pretty neat, huh!? you cann't see it too well, but Denver is in the far background of this pic.
The three of us, after our breathtaking hike up the stairs!

If we were smart, we would have driven to the top like a lot of others had done, but the exericse was well warranted!

Just breathtaking!

A view from the bottom of the theatre.

After the Redrocks, we headed over, picked up Kyle and went to the Coors Brewery!
I've now been to five brewerys! And I don't really care for beer, figure that out!

Emily and I sitting and enjoying our free beer at the Coors Brewery! Minersmoon was what we were drinking. Half Killians and Half Bluemoon. Very tasty I must say so! You need to try it! By the way, we got a little tipsy there. You get three beers and a fresh brewed taste as well. Hey, that's a lot of beer for me!!! Especially since I don't drink all that much anymore. Wow, tasty, if I do say so myself!!!

After the brewery, we headed back to get ready for the baseball game. Lucky for us, the Brewers were playing the Rockies at Coors Field while we were out there! Joe, Emily and I went to the game on Friday night while Joe and I went to the game again on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun, unfortunately they didn't win until Sunday, go figure!

This is Coors Field, not a bad baseball park. I do think Miller Park is my favorite though.

Sunday was a bigger adventure. We drove down to Colorado Springs to Pikes Peak, the highest Cogwheel railway. We took the cogwheel to the top of the mountian. It was about an 1 to 1.5 hours to get to the top of the 14,110 feet elevation. A beautiful ride. The temperature changed from 92 degrees at the base (7000 ft) to 55 degrees at the summit of 14,110 feet. You can definately feel the lack of oxygen, but it was so beautiful.

Isn't this just beautiful! Breath taking, I must say so myself.

In the far background, you can see the continental divide!

Emily and I posing for the camera!

Yep, had to take a pic as a tourist! Pikes Peak, 14,110ft. The 34th out of 54 of the 14ers ( mountians greater than 14,000 feet in Colorado are called the 14ers!).

All smiles from 14,000 feet! Don't mind the hair, it was a bit windy up there!

After Pikes Peak, we headed over to the Garden of the Gods for a picinic lunch and a little walking and viewing the rocks. All of these places were amazing. Some, actually most, of these pictures do not do justice to the sights themselves.

This is what is called the Kissing Camels. If you look closely on the top, you can see the two camels kissing. Cute! Nature made, I must say!

Aren' these rocks amazing!? There were a couple of people actually climbing them, neat!

Joe and I at Garden of the Gods.

Here is the view from Garden of the Gods looking up to the top of Pikes Peak. It doesn't look too intimidating from here, but really, the top point there is 14,000 feet!! This picture just doesn't do it justice!

All in all, it was an amazing vacation. Breathtaking views and great company. It was so great to see Emily and I can't wait to go back to visit her again. A beautiful area. I highly recommend visiting it if you can. Just be warned, they drive very crazyily out there!