The Gratts in Colorado Springs

Ben's mom called us one day and said, "Would you guys like to go with us to Colorado Springs in October?"  After our brutal Texas summer, Fran said she needed some cooler weather.  So of course we said, "Sure!"

And we're off!

I got a shot of Pikes Peak from the plane.

Fran and Harvey's selfie game is on point.

We picked up our rental car and hit the road!

To earn my keep, I planned the itinerary and our first stop would be Old Colorado City, a town founded in the mid-1800's and made popular by the gold rush in 1891.  Since Colorado Springs was dry, all the miners flocked to Colorado City for the liquor and brothels!  

Today it's just a cute town to walk around in.

The pizza place I had planned for lunch was unexpectedly closed so we found a cute cafe for our first meal in Colorado.

Ben and I split a breakfast burrito.

Happy to be here!

After lunch, we made our way to our hotel, stopping at an overlook that would give us our first view of the Garden of the Gods park.

Then we made our way to our hotel, the Garden of the Gods Resort.

We had rooms on the second floor of the lodge with a great view of the park!

Home sweet home.

Ben and I got settled and then headed down to the Rocks Lounge for a drink on the patio.  Ben and I spent alot of time here on the trip!

Drinks with a view.

Then we met Fran and Harvey for dinner at the hotel's Grand View restaurant.

I had the potato and leek soup which was really good and the short rib as my entree.

Ben got an old fashioned as his reward for a long day of driving!

Even Fran couldn't resist a sip!

It was a great end to our first day!

The next morning, Ben and I were up around 5:00 am which felt like 6:00 am to us. We lounged around in our room and were first in line for coffee at 6:00.

We took our coffee back to our balcony to watch the sunrise.

We went down to the area in front of the lounge to take pictures at the reflecting pool.

Fran and Harvey got their coffee and joined us.

After breakfast at the hotel, we headed over to the Garden of the Gods park.

The Garden of the Gods got its name in 1859 from surveyor Rufus Cable who said the scenic standstone valley was "a fit place for the Gods to assemble."  It is free to the public, honoring the wishes of the Perkins family who donated 480 acres for the park.

This sign at the Visitor's Center told us which rock formations we were seeing from our balcony. 

The exhibits at the Visitor's Center were very interesting.

We did a combination of drives and short walks through the park.

The maps showed us what we were seeing.

We had considered taking a trolley tour but the open air trolley doesn't stop at any of the formations so we chose to walk and drive with the A/C instead.

We saw climbers on the top of one of the tallest rocks.

This is the famous "kissing camels" rock formation which is a major feature of the park.

Do you see the camels?

Balanced Rock is 700 tons of hematite, coarse sand, silica, and gravel.  In the 1930's the park charged 25 cents to see the rock!

We stopped at the trading post for souvenirs and ice cream.

I scream, you scream....

We had a great time touring the park!

Back at the hotel, Ben and I went to the lounge for a refreshing non-alcoholic beverage before dinner.

While we were at the lounge, Fran got this gorgeous video of sunset from her balcony!

We then drove to downtown Colorado Springs for dinner at the famous Rabbit Hole restaurant.

The restaurant was the site of the city morgue and crematorium in the early 1900's.

I got a drink called the White Rabbit with a flaming marshmallow.

For dinner, I got the filet and Ben got the pork chop. Everything was good.

Back at the hotel, Ben had a nightcap in the lounge.

The next day was my favorite day of the vacation, our trip up Pikes Peak on the Cog Railway!  But first, coffee.

Pikes Peak is named after Zebulon Montgomery Pike, an American explorer who discovered the mountain in 1806 during an expedition to map the Louisiana Purchase.  Although the mountain bears his name, he never reached the summit. 

Hard to believe I will be standing there soon.

We left at 9:00 am for our drive to the depot where we would catch the train that would take us to the top of the famous 14,115 foot mountain.  

All aboard!

Ready to go!

The train would gradually climb 7,800 ft to the top of Pikes Peak.  I knew to sit on the left side for the best view.  The sun was hitting the train at an angle that made it hard to take pictures but I was able to get some good videos.  Around 10,000 ft, it started snowing.  It was a really fun ride and we all enjoyed it!

We saw the famous Colorado aspens.  

Aspens are known for their thin white bark.

After about an hour on the train, we were at the top!

A new visitor's center was built in 2021 to replace the original building built in 1964.

There were some storm clouds at the top, it was snowing and we even heard thunder!  Even though the views weren't the best, it was still amazing!

Fran was able to get video of the storm coming in.

Fran and Harvey had their heads in the clouds.

At the Visitor's Center, the thing to do is to get the famous donuts, the only donuts in the world made above 14,000 ft.  The recipe is specially adjusted for the thin air and has been used since 1916.

#overrated

Then it was time to make our way back to the train.

Back down from the mountain!

Next we went over to Manitou Springs, a cute little town known for its mineral springs and mountain views.  There are several attractions located here, but we planned to just browse the shops and get ice cream.

In 1872, General William Jackson Palmer established the town as a health and mineral spring resort.  The eight mineral springs located through the town were thought to have healing powers. Technically it's safe to drink the water in small quantities but we decided to give it a pass!

But ice cream was definitely on the agenda!

We took a short detour through the park on our way back to the hotel.

There's our resort!  

Back in our room, we spotted wild turkeys outside our balcony.

Ben and I decided to wine down at the lounge.  

Fran and Harvey joined us later for dinner at the lounge.

It was another great day in Colorado Springs!

And just like that, our last full day was already here.  Today we would be heading to a waterfall park and having lunch at the famous Broadmoor Hotel.  But first Ben and I went to the Garden of the Gods park for sunrise.

As soon as we were in the park, Ben spotted bighorn sheep!  We knew early morning would be our best chance to spot wildlife so it was exciting to see them!

Hello there.

This site was a former chuckwagon pavilion where dinners were held for visitors from 1935 until the 1980's.

Some of the rocks in the park are estimated to be over 300 million years old.

Ben and I took a little offshoot trail to see some different rock formations.

We also saw deer.

Another sheep sighting!

We thoroughly enjoyed our walk in the park!

Then it was off to Seven Falls, a park containing seven cascading waterfalls of South Cheyenne Creek in Colorado Springs.  There is no parking at the falls so you take a 15-minute shuttle to the park.

Every day I'm shuttling...

It's a .80 mile walk to the falls so Fran, Ben and I did the walk and Harvey went ahead of us in a golf cart.

The walk through the park was lovely.

The park has been open since the 1800's when it was 10 cents to enter.

Harvey met us near the entrance to the falls.

To view the falls, you must climb 185 stairs or take an elevator up to the Eagle's Nest viewing platform.

Decisions, decisions.

Ben and I decided to do the steps and meet Fran and Harvey at the top.

Up we go!

Taking a break at the first platform.

Too tired to wave.

Made it!

The falls cut through the South Cheyenne Canyon.

Once at the Eagle's Nest, Ben and I realized that to get to the top of the falls, you had to climb 224 MORE steps!  I thought it was 185 to the Eagle's Nest and then only 39 more to the top!  Whoops!  

But since we were here, we had to do it!

Those stairs though...

Once we got to the first platform, I decided to stop there so I could get pictures of Ben at the top of the falls.

Fran and Harvey watched from the Eagle's Nest.

Waving goodbye to Ben.

I took pictures while waiting for Ben to reach the top.

He made it!

That blob down below is me.

There wasn't a ton to see at the top so I was glad I had stayed behind to take pictures.

Then we made our way back down to Fran and Harvey.

Harvey waiting patiently for us to finish our shenanigans.

Harvey took the golf cart and Ben, Fran and I walked back to the entrance.

We had a great time at Seven Falls!

Then it was time for lunch at the Broadmoor, a famous hotel in Colorado Springs.  Fran had originally wanted us to stay here but it was sold out due to several large conferences going on during our dates.  

Opened in 1918 and set against Cheyenne Lake and Cheyenne Mountain, it is the longest-running 5-star hotel in the world.

Fancy schmancy!

Fran, Ben and I did the mile walk around the property to take pictures of the beautiful grounds.

At 1:00, we went over to La Taverne for our lunch reservation.

Ben with his shrimp cocktail.

I got yummy chicken salad and ate it with the house made bread.  I didn't get a picture of Ben's turkey club sandwich but it was delicious!

Harvey got French Onion soup and was given scissors for the cheese!

Harvey is ready to cut the cheese.

Back at the hotel, Ben and I had a drink at the lounge.  Fran and Harvey joined us later for a light dinner on the patio.

Then we went to the room and I relaxed with a hot tea and my zucchini bread from lunch.

We were pooped after our big day!

And then it was our last day in Colorado.  Our flight wasn't until 4:00 pm so we still had the morning and early afternoon to enjoy. Ben and I did our usual 6am coffee run but then he asked me if I wanted to go to the park one more time for sunrise.  After 17k steps yesterday, I wasn't sure if I was up for it but I said, ok, let's go!

We looked for the bighorn sheep but didn't see them.  But coming around a turn, we saw a deer crossing right in front of us!  

The deer were so tame and would get really close!  This one jumped out right in front of us.

Then we saw a bunny.

The light in the park was really beautiful.

I would love for this to be my morning walk every day!

We saw more deer and I was able to get pictures with Pikes Peak in the background.

As we made our way back to the entrance, we saw a wedding in progress.

They picked the perfect spot.

Before going back to the hotel, I asked Ben to drive over to Balanced Rock.  There was a picture I wanted and I knew this would be the perfect time to get it with the great light and no crowds.

Success!  

This ended up being one of my favorite things we did and I was so glad we went!  Back at the hotel, we met Fran for a delicious brunch.

We ate breakfast here almost every morning and it was so good!

Then we went back to our rooms to pack up and enjoy a little more time on the balcony.

Don't want to leave.

One last view.

I love you Colorado Springs!

After checkout, we hung out at the lounge for awhile before heading to the airport.

And then we were back home.

We all loved Colorado Springs.  There was so much beauty everywhere you looked.  We had a great time together as always!  

Thank you Fran and Harvey for inviting us to tag along!  We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!