We departed Nashville on June 18th to drive to CO to visit Jenny, Jesse and Christine. Its a 3 day drive but there is a lot of beautiful scenery along the way. We got a bit of a late start on the 18th because we went to see the Rolling Stones on the 17th at Nissan Stadium - awesome concert.
The first night we got as far as Shawnee OK. We stayed at a Comfort Inn & Suites at exit 186. We had dinner that night at a really cool local restaurant - DeGraff's Restaurant & Tavern. They had live entertainment that we enjoyed.
We made it as far as Colby KS the next night. We stayed at a Sleep Inn at exit 53. Had dinner at Montana Mikes - another local restaurant. Wasn't as good as DeGraff's but we had a decent meal.
On the 20th we arrived in Colorado Springs. Spent the week at the Best Western Executive Inn - wasn't the best but it was OK and it was close to Jenny and Jesse's.
June 21st was Father's Day. It was the first one Rusty had spent with his girls in about 20 years. We all enjoyed our day visiting and having dinner together. We had pasta and then we had cake - yummy.
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| White cake (Jesse's fav) |
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| Chocolate (Rusty's fav) |
Enjoyed the afternoon and evening on Jenny's patio. Jenny has created a wildflower garden in her backyard. She has also painted a mural on her fence - she is really a talented artist.
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| Rusty reading his cards |
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| Christine, Jenny, Jesse and Rusty |
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| Rusty, Christine, Jenny and Jesse |
Jenny's wild flower garden. Sitting on the patio enjoying some music and visiting with Jenny Wood and Christine McKenna. Beautiful night.
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| Wild flower garden in backyard |
Due to Jesse's disability, Jenny has Diane come in a couple hours each morning to sit with him so that Jenny can run errands or do whatever it is she wants to do. Diana came in so that Jenny could go sightseeing with us. June 22nd we headed to The Garden of The Gods. This is one of our more spectacular National Parks. You can't visit Colorado Springs without making a stop here. We love to hike at The Garden of the Gods. There are many trails. This year Jenny took us on an outer perimeter (Palmer's Trail) before we went to the interior.
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| The Garden of The Gods |
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| Trail Map |
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| Sheryl and Rusty (Garden) |
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| Jenny and Rusty (Garden) |
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| Jenny, Rusty and Sheryl (Garden) |
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| Creek |
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| Fog |
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| Cheyenne Mountain |
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| Creek |
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| Deer hiding in brush |
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| Really cool bridge |
It was a beautiful, arduous hike. It was so lush and green. The "creeks" were flowing a lot more than Jenny said it ever did in this area and we got a little wet crossing the creek several times. It was wonderful.
After our hike we went back to Jenny's for a bit. I went to the hotel to rest and take a shower. That evening Jenny and I went out for dinner and drinks in Old Colorado City. We had a great evening.
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| Murel on wall I thought funny |
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| Bike in shop window |
After dinner we took a drive back over to Garden of the Gods to watch sunset and it did not disappoint.
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| Sunset - Garden of the Gods |
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| Sunset 6-23 |
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| Sunset 6-23 |
June 24th Rusty, Jenny and I took the Cog Railroad to the top of Pike's Peak. Quite a spectacular journey. The views from the top were amazing.
At the bottom of the peak where you pick up the train, is an incline that people flock to to walk to the top. Jenny does it on a fairly frequent basis, but said a lot of people don't take into account how thin the air gets as they climb the incline and several people each day need medical attention. There are about 2500 steps give or take. Needless to say we did not climb to the top.
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| Incline at Pike's Peak |
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| Sheryl and Rusty at incline |
We were finally about to board the train and take our journey. It is amazing. It was in the 70's at the bottom of the Peak but got considerably colder as we got closer to the top. It ended up being around 34 - good thing we planned for the drop in temperature. Couldn't believe there were some "parents" that didn't have coats or even sweatshirts for their young children - who were freezing.
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| View from train car up peak |
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| small falls on trip up peak |
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| Climbing higher |
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| Views of mountain lakes |
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| Mountain views as we climb |
It wasn't a clear day and you couldn't see very far but the views are truly amazing from the top.
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| Memorial on Peak |
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| Summit at Pike's Peak |
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| Our train car at Peak |
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| Rusty and Sheryl |
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| Jenny and Rusty |
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| Rusty at Peak |
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| Views from the top |
The trip down was uneventful but the views are no less spectacular.
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| Point on way down |
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| Prairie dog |
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| Rain clouds moving in as we descend |
After we returned back to Manitou Springs where we walked around for a bit.
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| Church in Manitou Springs |
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| Different view of church |
We departed Manitou Springs and stopped at a little cafe for lunch before heading back to Colorado Springs. Rusty was now going to spend the rest of the day and night with Jenny and Jesse.
I headed back to the hotel to rest up a bit and get a shower to meet Christine for dinner and music. We went to Front Range BBQ (good thing Christine reserved us a table as it was very crowded). We had a great seat to listen the the live music, a bluegrass band called Woodshed Red. We had a wonderful time. Dinner and the music were both great. This was the first time Christine and I have spent any significant time together and we had a very enjoyable evening. Christine is very social and she knew quite a few interesting people there
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| Cool sign I had to photo since I worked at Firestone |
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| Our delicious BBQ dinners |
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| Baby headphones, Woodshed Red |
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| Woodshed Red |
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| Christine and Sheryl |
June 25th we again went hiking with Jenny. Christine is not much for hiking and such so, she met up with us later in the day. Today we went to a City Park that is part of the Palmer Park Trail System. So far this trip we have hiked at a National Park (Garden of the Gods), a State Park (Cheyenne Mountain) and now this city park. Colorado Springs is an outdoor paradise if you like to hike.
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| Palmer Park |
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| Pike's Peak from Palmer Park |
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| Amazing rocks |
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| Rusty and I with Pike's Peak in background |
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| Spectacular views |
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| Pike's Peak |
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| Rock formations |
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| More rock formations |
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| Beautiful view |
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| Rusty climbing rocks |
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| Rusty and I with great view |
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| Amazing views |
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| Great view from top |
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| Rock formations |
After hiking in Palmer Park Jenny directed us to the Broadmoor Hotel. I had never seen it before and wanted to at least see it one time. We parked and walked around the property. Truly another beautiful day.
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| Broadmoor Hotel |
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| Lake view from patio |
We just walked around the hotel and property. Sat on the patio and had a dessert from the bakery. It's a beautiful hotel.
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| One of their fountains |
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| Fountain at entrance |
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| Golden Bee Club |
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| Cool steps with fountain |
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| A visitor to the property |
Our last evening in Colorado Springs all of us (Rusty, Jenny, Jesse, Christine and I) went downtown and had dinner at Lucha Cantina. They had really good food and margaritas.
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| Humpty Dumpty |
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| Cool bronze rose on street corner |
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| Sunset as we departed after dinner |
We had a fantastic visit with Jenny, Jesse and Christine but it was time to head home.
Until we see them again, it is time to say goodbye.
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| Jenny's back yard |
June 26th we began our journey home. We had read about a very scenic drive in Kansas so we decided to take it just to change up our journey. This drive was called Gypsum Hills Scenic Drive. Drove west to east. It started out very slow, but toward the end of the drive it got very scenic. All is all we decided it was worth it.
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| Cool church along the drive |
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| Scenery |
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| Gypsum Hills |
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| Rusty at Gypsum Hills |
We arrived home on June 28th. It was a long journey but we had a great trip. It was AWESOME spending time with Jenny, Jesse and Christine. We only see them every couple of years. This trip was packed with lots of activity.
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