~Country Livin'~: Colorado Trip Day 6

This day came too fast! We were not ready to leave Estes Park where it is so beautiful, cool, and relaxing. Ricky especially had a hard time "getting going" this morning~imagine that! :o) We finally got the van all packed up and headed out taking one of the most beautiful drives we have ever seen. Ricky and I both were just in awe of the beauty (the kids didn't even pay attention as their noses were either into a movie or a game!) Once we were out of the mountains we were really sad!! The drive to Colorado Springs was not too bad and Ryder slept the WHOLE way which was really good since we knew we would hit the ground running as soon as we got there. We had people warn us about the wildfires and smoke in the area, but honestly all we saw was a little smoke in the mountains as we drove into town. We did not smell any smoke whatsoever. I'm glad we decided to visit this town toward the end of our trip instead of in the beginning.

Anyway, our first destination was Cheyenne Mountain Zoo which was really cool as it is all in the mountains! The very first thing we saw when we walked through the entrance were all the giraffes up close and personal. We could even feed and pet them...it was so neat! The kids really enjoyed doing this and Ryder was really fascinated with them. After we were done playing with the giraffes we went to the cafe to get some lunch before seeing all the other exhibits. It was quite expensive as you can imagine! After lunch the kids wanted to go see the bears and monkeys so that is what we did. There were several different bears but most were hard to see because they were staying in the shade obviously and napping. Ricky said the monkey pavilion was stinky, but Kalyn and Sheldon enjoyed seeing them while Ryder and I put on sunscreen and drank some Dr Pepper. Don't worry I didn't give him too much! I'm not even sure where we went next, but we saw many other animals....a wolf, moose, tigers, African lions, mountain lions, fish, a bald eagle, leopards, snakes, wallabies, alligators, mountain goats, and zebras. I'm sure there are others that I can't think of at the moment. The elephants were not out for exhibit due to a new area being built for them...bummer! As we concluded our tour of the animals, we took the Mountaineer Sky Ride which was definitely the highlight of the zoo for us! It was so fun to ride up the mountain and look down at the zoo below us. At the very top there we looked around and it started to rain! We ran under a tent that had the whole wall made just for rock climbing all the way around. Kalyn and Sheldon immediately got busy doing that and eventually Ricky and I followed...so fun!!! Even Ryder got to try it too~ha! We had lots of good laughs and really enjoyed ourselves. Apparently it had rained too much that the sky ride wouldn't take us back down so we had to wait for someone to come up to take us back down to the bottom. Before we left the zoo, we let Kalyn and Sheldon shop for souvenirs...more stuffed animals and a bear claw necklace. I am so glad we were able to visit this zoo because it is very unique and was a great experience for us.

The next destination was Pikes Peak. Oh my, this was an experience not to be forgotten! I had already gone there many years ago with my family as a young girl so I knew what to expect. It was fun to do it again and see what Ricky and the kids thought. It had just started to drizzle a little bit, but was still ok for us to go on up to the top of the peak. Ricky started to get a little nervous the higher we went because the roads were so narrow and the turns were sharp. We finally made it to the top and almost froze to death! It was so-o-o cold with the wind blowing...it was 45 degrees but felt colder with the wind chill. It felt so good just for a little while! As neat as Pikes Peak is, we still much prefer Fall River Rd in Estes Park.

We were really hungry by the time we got down from the peak so we decided to head in the direction to our hotel and find a place to eat...Chili's. It was good to eat at a familiar place and again, we had lots of laughter and really enjoyed our meal together. After a quick run into Target to get a few neccessities, we checked into our hotel and took a quick swim before bed. Tomorrow morning we plan to go to the Garden of Gods and possibly Seven Falls before starting the long drive back home. As I put Ryder to bed not too long ago, I kept thinking about how blessed we are to be a family and how God has provided us through the years...I am so grateful and humbled! This trip has been far more perfect than Ricky and I could have hoped for and I pray the kids will remember all the fun we had together for years to come.