Trip to Colorado

This is a bit late (and by bit, I mean WAY late)..... My Mom moved to Colorado Springs a little over a year ago and this has been the first trip out to see her.

We were trying to make it a Labor Day a girls weekend. I invited my 3 sisters... My older sister Beck was the only one able to make it. She came from Idaho, so we kind of met in the middle. We arrived in Denver on Thursday and flew out on Tuesday. So it was like an extended labor day weekend.

Thursday
I scored a $100 Delta voucher for taking a different plane that arrived approximately 8 minutes later than my original flight (not too bad huh?). After my Mom and Step-Dad picked us up from the airport, we headed to Ikea...

They have one in Orlando but I had never been. Wow what an adventure. It was a wee bit exhausting walking around the warehouse - there is just so much to look at it. 

My sister started her working on her MBA this fall so we had to get home so she could do some homework, so after dinner (I think we ate at the black-eyed pea) we just hung out at home. My Mom is renting this cute little townhouse in CO springs. Its a 2 bed with a 2 and 1/2 bath. It is perfect size for them. It would get crowded pretty quick if we all visited at once, but with just the 2 of us there, it was perfect.

Seeings how Mountain time is 2 hours behind my normal time zone, I was crashing by 10 pm everynight.

Friday
The Colorado State Fair was going on in Pueblo, CO (like less than 1 hour from CO springs). We (Me, Mom, Beck, and my Mom's friend Patsy) went there for the day. It was fun. Lots of animals to look at and vendors.

We went to the pig races!

They had some really good vendors. I went and got my wedding ring cleaned. They did such a good job, I bought the stuff... and usually I don't purchase stuff like that.

We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Yummy... Italian and Greek are my favorites :)

Saturday

We slept in for a bit. Then went to a tea at Castle Rock. 

It was a chance to dress up and be girly.

After tea, we headed into the mountains - to a little town called Cripple Creek. It is pretty much exactly what you think of when you think of "mountain town." It is 10,000 feet above sea level. The roads heading there are.... interesting. They have wild donkeys that roam freely in this town. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any. And once a year they have donkey-fest where they actually race them! They did that in July. This town had an old theater so we went and watched one of my favorite musicals Calamity Jane.



Cripple Creek, CO

 Sunday
We slept in (Saturday was a LONG day for us). Mom made us breakfast. We went shopping in the afternoon. We checked out my Mom's favorite grocery store (Whole foods), got coffee, DSW shoes, and a few other places. I fell in love with a winter jacket... then was crushed when Becky told me it was $129. I just can't justify the cost of that for a jacket when I live in Florida. I am going to keep a look out for it here though. :)

Monday
We started out at a HUGE Christian bookstore. *Love it when Mom buys* Checked out her huge Hobby Lobby. We then headed to one of the largest tourist attractions in CO Springs - Garden of the Gods. It was Labor Day and it was PACKED. But we drove around and looked at all the pretty rocks.

We then headed further out of town to Manitou Springs, which is also very touristy.

 They literally had springs throughout the whole city.

Manitou Springs is located at the base of Pike's Peak, one of the tallest mountains in CO (I think its like 35th). There  are lots of touristy shops to look at and such. We then went to the base of the mountain and walked a little ways up the trail. It was fun.

It is a 13 miles hike to the top. My Mom is thinking of doing it. I would love to try... :) 

After that, we headed back into CO Springs where we went thrift store shopping. I got about 5 Christian novels (that I am excited to read), a pair of Banana Re.public pants, and some workout pants. I think I spent less than $10 - SCORE. 

Before leaving town, we went out for dessert - just us girls. Then it was home to pack.

Tuesday
Travel back was exhausting. I bought my ticket out of Pensacola because it is always like 100-200 dollars cheaper. My friend picked me up from the airport at like 8 pm (Pensacola time, 9 pm Tally time). And I visited with her a bit and got to tour her cute new house :). I finally left Pensacola at like 10:30 Tally time and I hauled butt the 200 miles to home. Reubs waited up for me. He had cleaned the whole house - even mopped the floors. It was nice to be home and sleeping in my own bed... the cuddling didn't suck either...