Colorado Springs!

Not brave enough to fly with an energy-filled toddler, for our family vacation destination, we knew we had to pick a location we could drive to with an energy-filled toddler.  We figured eight hours was the max and picked Colorado Springs for our fall get-away.  I love road trips, don't you?

Garden of the Gods

 

How awesome.  We went in the morning, and it was a bright, sunny, magnificent, albeit chilly, morning.  We had a nice stroll through the paved area of the park.

Or, more accurately, we chased Weston through the park.

And a very friendly lady offered to take our picture for us.  I believe she knew more about my camera than me.

Next we decided to get off the paved path and go for a little hike.

The off-road hike was completely non-toddler friendly, but the view was spectacular.

Colorado Springs Zoo
We went to the zoo on the coldest day of our stay, naturally.  I believe the temperature hit a record low that night as well, naturally.  Mostly, it was too cold to take pictures so here's just one:

Even all the animals were inside.  Brrr.  Okay, here's one more zoo pic:

('boo-boo' explanation: tripped, fell in parking lot after safely descending from our Garden of the Gods hike.  It adds a little character to our vacation pictures, don't you think?)

Helen Hunt Falls
On this freezing, drizzly cold day, this waterfall was exactly like being in a Bob Ross painting.   Well worth the last minute decision to drive out to see it.

Cliff Dwellings at Manitou Springs

These cliff dwellings were built by the Native American Anasazi Indians and were originally located in (I think) western Colorado.  It was another cool stop.

And the next day we drove back home!  The weather may have been 20 degrees below seasonally normal, but nonetheless we saw awesome sights, found some delicious restaurants, fell a little short on sleep, may have been a little grumpy a time or two, but laughed, smiled, and pieced together a lot of happy memories.