Colorado Vacation
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We arrived in Denver on a Friday, visited with my brother & his family. On Sat, picked Caleb up from the airport & went to Longmont to tour the Left Hand Brewery. Then went to Rocky Mt National Park & Estes Park. Returned to my brothers via Rt 25 through downtown Denver.
Sunday - took off for Colorado Springs & Peterson AFB. Stopped off at Daniels Park to see the Buffalo & the view of the Front Range. Also stopped for a tour around the Garden of the Gods & then drove over to a National Monument, Florrisant Fossil Beds. We had reservations to stay on base, but had to get there before Corbin left for work. We had a really nice 2 bedroom apartment, with kitchen & dining room.
Monday - Corbin had the day off, so we packed a lunch & headed for Pikes Peak. It was a 19 mile drive to the summit. Amazing views & some scary areas along the top of the mountain where there were no guard rails. I had bought a book that had information along our route & Caleb narrated. At the summit it was 48 degrees - Brrrrrr. They say on a clear day you can see Kansas & Nebraska. It was pretty clear but not sure if we could see them or not. After getting back to Colorado Springs we stopped at a brewery, Trinity Brewery.
Tuesday - Corbin had to work & Caleb wanted to stay back & relax, so we headed south towards Pueblo. Stopped off at the Harley dealer for a souvenior & then continued south & then west to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Incredible sight to see the sand dunes. The highest peak is 750', sure wish we had more time to hike it, but it took us 3 hrs to drive there. We took a different route back to Colorado Springs & at one point we drove for 1 1/2 hrs downhill the entire time. Drove through Bighorn Sheep Canyon & part of the road ran along the Arkansas River. (Didn't see any Bighorn Sheep). It was late when we got back, so we all went our to dinner.
Wednesday - we didn't go anywhere, sat around the apartment & relaxed & watched movies.
Thursday - Corbin had to work, so we drove around Colorado Springs, up to Cheyenne Mt Air Station where Corbin works - didn't get far. Then drove up to North Cheyenne Canon (pronounced canyon) & to Helen Hunt Falls. Back to the base to chill a bit & then went to Old Colorado City - this is a very neat historical town. It was the first capital of Denver, estabilished in 1859.
Friday - Corbin had to work for a couple hours, so we stayed on base & visited the Air & Space museum. After Corbin finished working, we went for a hike on Mt Cutler trail in North Cheyenne Canon. It was a 2 mile hike (1 mile each way), but it was all uphill going. We had views of Seven Falls in one direction & Colorado Springs in another direction. After our hike, we went into Old Colorado City for the boys to see. Stopped at the coffee shop & did some shopping.
Saturday - up at 3:00 am to drive to Denver to catch our 7am flight. Ugh - too early & it was raining. So sad to leave Corbin behind :-(
Caleb flew with us to Chicago & then his flight to Detroit & ours to Columbus. On top of the 1 1/2 hr layover, we were also delayed 2 hrs. for maintenance on the plane. And then to arrive in the heat in humidity of Ohio, I was ready to go back to Colorado.
Had a great trip....seen spectacular views & was able to be there as a family.
