The Last Trip: An (Eastern) Fantasy Food Adventure-Bonus Feature, Pam & Her Mom Pt 2 Sept 17 the end

So the day didn't start as expected.
Well, isn't that kind of expected for your trips?

They gave us a whole bunch of stuff about how we didn't need to buy the third seat and she cancelled it but all we had to do was tell them that we needed an extra seat and they would give it to us. Not sure how much I believe that! And after the last trip, I don't!
Yeah, I wouldn't buy that either. I mean if you don't buy the extra seat how would they even be able to reserve it so that you can "just tell them?"

The Clive Cussler Car Collection.
Oooooh! The only bad thing about a car collection is that they won't let you drive any of them.

When our lemon cake and butter cake arrived I was in so much of a food coma that I couldn't even take a bite.
It all looked fantastic!

We even took what was left of our wine togo. Leftover wine? I've never heard of such a thing before!
Yeah, that's definitely a new one! Most states probably have an open container law that wouldn't allow them to serve you and then let you leave with it.

I should have paid more attention to the reviews where people said service was slow, because it was like the sloths at the DMV in Zootopia were cooking and serving the food.
Oh wow... That's always frustrating, but especially when the restaurant isn't very busy and you feel like it should be a lot quicker!

Eventually we came upon a gas station with a mini mart and while they didn't have any cold or individual bottles, I was able to get a 2 liter bottle of Ginger Ale and a cup full of ice. I sipped on this as we came down the mountain and finally I started to feel human again, even hungry!
I'm glad you were able to find some ginger ale and that it helped. I'm sure the combination of altitude and riding in a car up and down and around mountain curves just had you a little bit queasy.
 
The night before we left a friend of mine in band asked, “what Disney attraction is in Denver?”

To which I replied @jedijill!

:rotfl2: Works for me!

John Williams would be conducting three concerts over Labor Day weekend.

That would be such a cool experience.

As we waited to board it became obvious that a lot of children were going to be on the flight. The family seated next to us had a rather rambunctious toddler and I hoped all the running around she was doing would tire her out and she'd sleep the whole trip. Nope.

I imagine this is what people think when they see us board with Drew.

From the moment the door of the plane closed the kid proceeded to scream at the top of her lungs.

:faint: If nothing else, pick her up and wander up and down the aisle a bit, just to change the scenery.

The chicken and fixing were awesome and we left stuffed and taking home leftovers.

That looks amazing!

After we gave up on our lunches, Jill brought two kinds of fry bread to the table, one coated in cinnamon and sugar and another with Berry jam on top. They were both delicious, but there was no way we could finish and finally we surrendered.

Lesson learned--next meal, just skip straight to this part.

Dinner tonight was going to be at Del Frisco's. If you've read my previous reports, you'll know how much Fran and I love this place!

Someday, I'll try that one out!

Onion Rings

Yes, please.

Thick Bacon

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A Ribeye Steak

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Creamed Spinach

:crazy2:

Mach Choux Corn

Gesundheit.

Potatoes au Gratin

Yes, please!

The drive to Estes Park followed this river much of the way.

Isn't that beautiful! Jill advised us to go in the same way, and I'm glad we did.

And to this Southern California gal, snow in August was a shocker! Even when I knew it was 10,000 ft or higher.

It feels so exotic!

We drove around the grounds of this hotel, The Stanley where Stephen King’s inspiration for The Shining came from.

Never read the book, but I did see the movie!

I should have paid more attention to the reviews where people said service was slow, because it was like the sloths at the DMV in Zootopia were cooking and serving the food.

:faint:

We got an order of their Tater Tots which I thought were pretty tasty.

Those look pretty awesome.

Neither Jill nor Fran liked their Beer Cheese soup. It was way too thin and had a funny taste to it.

That's disappointing. I thought it was hard to mess up a beer cheese soup.

It became clear that we wouldn't make our reservation when we ran into construction traffic at 1:30PM. We sat here for half an hour waiting for our turn to go through a one lane portion of the road.

Oh, that's so painful. We had the same experience in Yellowstone. The roads are usually very narrow and there's nowhere else to go--no detour routes. Summer is usually the only time they can do any road work, too.

After we passed the construction I counted the cars that were lined up to go through the one lane section and lost count at around 124.

:faint:

And we were above the tree line by now.

Such a beautiful place! I loved it there.


Great shot of you!

Fran asked us if we wanted to climb this hill, but there was no way I was going to exert any more physical energy at this elevation, my head was somewhat spinning already!

Yuck. I read somewhere that the key to fighting altitude sickness was to stay hydrated.

Jill told us that the posts along the road are to help the snow plows know where the road is when it’s time to clear it in the spring.

::yes:: There was still some snow piled by the roads when we were there in late June.


Great sighting and nice shots!

I sipped on this as we came down the mountain and finally I started to feel human again, even hungry!

Thank goodness.

I got the Peach Crostada which was the seasonal dish.

That looks amazing.
 
I'm so happy you guys came to visit me! I love showing Colorado off to my out of town friends!

Jill in CO

We had a blast the entire weekend! We need to come back and do all the things we talked about and didn't get to!

I'd really like to, actually.
Reminds me... need to email you...

:rolleyes1

Woot!

Or should that be Toot!

Where is that train emoji?

Jill is an attraction?

In a sense....

whoa. She was really adamant!

She is serious about her John Williams!

Good thing Fran was so adamant!

It worked out for the best.

So you were aiming for 8:15PM. So... leaving at 6:30AM gives you... just under 14 hours to get there.
Wow. You said LA traffic was bad... I didn't know it was that bad!!!



:rolleyes1

Please....its been fixed.

Now you know what to do when you want her to move. ;)

Not sure it's worth the stress.

Hmmm.... two thoughts.
hasty clothes. wonder if that will getcha.
feeding the cats.
I retract my comment about the 14 hours. It'll take you at least 10 hours just to feed all the cats.

No it was the careful planning that did.

So an hour door to door. That's not bad at all!

I was amazed!

Hmmm... not quite my experience there... :rolleyes:

Can't wait to hear about it! :laughing:

Uh, huh. Yeah, I wouldn't believe that either.
"You don't need to buy the third seat!"

Followed by:
"The flight is fully booked. If you needed a third seat you should have booked it."

That's what I expected! Glad we booked it on the previous trip to WDW.

Well, of course. It took you an hour to get there, so you still had 15 hours to go!

:rolleyes1

(I'm just gonna keep milking this. Don't mind me.)

I'm not minding you at all.

Oh, dear Lord.
You didn't bring your noise canceling headphones? Sounds like the ultimate product test.

It was when I posted on FB about the baby when one of my friends suggested them.

You should have. Maybe even a triple. That would quiet her down.

Yes I should have.

Oh? Come up here for a visit and I'll take you to a place that's a bit of a secret, but has the best fried chicken in town, is cooked to order, but doesn't take 30 minutes.

Coming to visit sounds fun, but not sure I could convince Fran to visit the prarie....and it would have to be in summer.

You can pass that over to me, then.

OK

No. It wasn't.



Or maybe it was. :)

Wha...

No. Freaking. Way.

::yes::

Yes Freaking way.

No kidding! I would love to see this!

It was pretty cool.

Interesting! I've had bison... usually in a burger... but never ribs.

It was unique and they were great ribs!

:laughing: I can see you waving a little white flag.

:lmao:

As am I.
Midnight shift as I write this. Only 7 more hours to go!

Woohoo!

So.... you hadn't packed for rain? Or you had but it was nice out?

I had packed for colder weather and it was mostly nice and warm unless we were over 10,000 ft, but we didn't stay at that height very long. In fact it was cooler in Florida on my trip last month than it was in Denver.

Those things are huge!

And tasty too!

<drool>

Sorry about that. Lemme just wipe up.

I'll wait.

whoops! Obviously an error of some sort.

I love creamed spinach!

:laughing:
You don't know me at all.

:laughing:

Awwww... poor sleepy Alison.

:cloud9:

She's really going all out for you guys! :)

She totally did!

She's a keeper. :)

::yes::

To this Northerner too. Living in the prairies, we don't see mountains.
We see horizon.

We see mountains except when they are obscured with smoke.

Thanks for that! Never knew that. Did know he'd stayed there, but not those details.

When I was writing up that part I was like, "what did Jill tell us about this hotel?"

Wow! There's tons!

::yes::

Uh, oh..... "in theory"...

Ugh.
No surprise it's packed if no one ever gets their food.

Yeah, kind of like the Hotel California. You can check out, but you can never leave.

You're not exactly selling this place, Alison.

Not really trying to, unless service improves.

Looks pretty good.

The burger was definitely good.

Might as well and...

... that one's especially nice. :)

:goodvibes

The elusive High Altitude Siren.

:laughing:

Interesting! And look how high they are!
We had markers up in Churchill, (and not that high... maybe 3 feet) but they were so that in case of whiteout conditions, you could pick your way back to town by crawling from one marker to the next. Just had to remember to keep the white ones on the right.

Wouldn't you freeze to death in the process?

:( Sorry to hear that.

Stuff happens.

Huh. I wonder why that one was banded.

:confused3

Alison. That photo is postcard worthy. :worship:

Thanks you. I also considered that one when figuring out where to put Fran and I in whacky situations, but I didn't think it was believable that we would be walking on water!

Whoops... and... crap.

It all worked out in the end.

Look! Teenagers!

We weren't the only ones.

That looked like a ton of food!

Enough to feed us two meals!

That looks (and sounds!) delicious!

It was :)
 


I love your trip to Colorado! Now I know where to go if I'm there, and yay for DISMeets!
It looks so beautiful there, and the food you ate looks so good! Starting from that fried chicken to order, plus the fry bread, yum!
And Del Friscos is soooo good. Your pictures of the mountains are gorgeous!

There is so much to do and see there and in the surrounding area, we barely touched the surface in a weekend.

Wow, your trip to Colorado looks amazing. The scenery is really stunning. The food looked delicious, too.

Corinna

It was very beautiful, and we had plenty of good eats.

Very much enjoying reading about your Colorado adventure with Jill :)

Too cool about a Clive Cussler car museum!!!

I've got one more chapter coming up to complete the visit.

Mom and her boyfriend went to The Stanley and had dessert. She said it was beautiful inside. I enjoyed that snippet about Stephen King.

I wouldn't mind staying there, it was actually somewhat reasonable for such a nice hotel.

Horrendous to sit in that traffic :(

The moose picture is awesome!

Sorry you weren’t feeling the best. Glad the ginger ale helped.

Yeah, the traffic wasn't fun, but they can only work on the roads about 3 months out of the year and they were very heavily traveled. That moose was just wanting to be photographed! I'd had the nausea problem at home before, I wonder if it's at all related to my vertigo. I keep a 12 pack of ginger ale in the fridge at home.

What beautiful views! Looks like you had lots of good eats.

Thanks! We had a lot of fun!
 
Well, isn't that kind of expected for your trips?

Well, I guess you're right. We're never ready!

Yeah, I wouldn't buy that either. I mean if you don't buy the extra seat how would they even be able to reserve it so that you can "just tell them?"

Yeah, we're still buying the extra seat, we did to Florida and we did for our trip to Kansas City next year.

Oooooh! The only bad thing about a car collection is that they won't let you drive any of them.

True...wouldn't that be novel if you could!

It all looked fantastic!

It was! I just wish we didn't have such a big lunch!

Yeah, that's definitely a new one! Most states probably have an open container law that wouldn't allow them to serve you and then let you leave with it.

But then again recreational Marijuana is legal in Colorado.

Oh wow... That's always frustrating, but especially when the restaurant isn't very busy and you feel like it should be a lot quicker!

Totally, I mean they didn't make up every pot of soup and how hard can it be to throw a burger on the grill?

I'm glad you were able to find some ginger ale and that it helped. I'm sure the combination of altitude and riding in a car up and down and around mountain curves just had you a little bit queasy.

I was having bouts of queasy even at home, at sea level back then, so the altitude did not help one bit.

:rotfl2: Works for me!

:thumbsup2

That would be such a cool experience.

We've been seeing him just about every year since at least 2002. I know we heard excerpts from "Catch Me if You Can" the year it came out. It's the one show that we always try to make even if we don't see anything else at the Bowl.

I imagine this is what people think when they see us board with Drew.

You may be right.... :rolleyes1

:faint: If nothing else, pick her up and wander up and down the aisle a bit, just to change the scenery.

I do have to say they were really trying to calm her down. I don't think wandering down the aisle was much of an option as the seat belt sign was on almost the whole flight.

That looks amazing!

Now I'm thinking that I need me some good fried chicken again soon.

Lesson learned--next meal, just skip straight to this part.

As long as you don't have diabetes! :lmao:

Someday, I'll try that one out!

It's a pricey chain, and there aren't a lot of them around, but I remember the first one I ate at in Fort Worth, Texas it tasted like no other steak I'd ever had, and I mean that in a heavenly way. They even had a note on the menu. "The following cuts are heavily marbled. If you want a lean piece of meat, do not order the items below." That's my kind of steak!

Yes, please.

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:crazy2:

I got two Homers and gagging! :rotfl2: :lmao: :rotfl:

Isn't that beautiful! Jill advised us to go in the same way, and I'm glad we did.

I remember the Pike's Peak part of your TR, but I don't recall Rocky Mountain National Park. Then again that was how many years ago?

It feels so exotic!

Snow, to me, is exotic.

Never read the book, but I did see the movie!

I don't do horror.

Those look pretty awesome.

They were, much better than the frozen kind I get out of a bag.

That's disappointing. I thought it was hard to mess up a beer cheese soup.

And now I want to make the Le Cellier cheese soup. That is if it ever cools down around here. 80 degrees is not soup weather!

Oh, that's so painful. We had the same experience in Yellowstone. The roads are usually very narrow and there's nowhere else to go--no detour routes. Summer is usually the only time they can do any road work, too.

Spoken by the Transportation Engineer.....

Such a beautiful place! I loved it there.

It really was breathtaking. Literally and figuratively.

Great shot of you!

Thanks! :goodvibes

Yuck. I read somewhere that the key to fighting altitude sickness was to stay hydrated.

Oh believe me I was hydrated. I stopped at every possible opportunity because of it! :laughing:

::yes:: There was still some snow piled by the roads when we were there in late June.

I'm not surprised. Jill showed me pictures of her drive that she took during the first week or two after the road reopened and the snow was still like 9 feet high!

Great sighting and nice shots!

Thank you!

Thank goodness.

Ginger Ale is now my "go to" for queasyness.

That looks amazing.

I'm really missing the ripe peaches of summer about now....
 



soon.

Where is that train emoji?

trainsmileyf.gif


In a sense....

Hmmmmm...

Please....its been fixed.

Aw. Takes all the fun out of it!

Not sure it's worth the stress.

Perhaps not.

Can't wait to hear about it! :laughing:

Soon!

I'm not minding you at all.

Probably wise.

It was when I posted on FB about the baby when one of my friends suggested them.

Ah. Yeah I can see how that would do it.

Coming to visit sounds fun, but not sure I could convince Fran to visit the prarie....and it would have to be in summer.

Yes it would.
We actually have beautiful summers up here.
And we do have things to see.

No mountains though.

Yes Freaking way.

:laughing:

I had packed for colder weather and it was mostly nice and warm unless we were over 10,000 ft, but we didn't stay at that height very long. In fact it was cooler in Florida on my trip last month than it was in Denver.

That's not something you hear every day!

I love creamed spinach!

No.

Just.... No.

We see mountains except when they are obscured with smoke.

I imagine that's the case now.

Yeah, kind of like the Hotel California. You can check out, but you can never leave.

They don't serve spirits there since 1969 either probably.

Wouldn't you freeze to death in the process?

In a truck Alison! In a truck!

(And I say "truck" because... I don't think anyone owns a car up there.)

I also considered that one when figuring out where to put Fran and I in whacky situations, but I didn't think it was believable that we would be walking on water!

Oh, I'd believe it.
 
We needed somewhere to go in the summer that wouldn’t be overly hot and thought about visiting Jill in Denver! The hotel was substantially cheaper near Jill’s house than in Houston, and so was the rental car, so the trip was planned!

That's all the convincing I'd need to deem it better!

So the day didn't start as expected.

Oops!

I left the bedroom curtains open when we went to sleep to aid in our waking. Imagine my surprise when we woke at 6:15 to a bright bedroom. My first thought was, “Why did I leave the curtains open? What is going on this morning that is special?”

Wait! You forgot it was a travel day?? I rarely even sleep the night before travel.

We were out the door by 7:15, a little later than we planned for, even if running ½ an hour late.

Not bad. Not BAD at all!

I really like this Pre-chek thing, it takes no time to get through security!

I got that too for the first time last flight. It was nice, but we both didn't get it, so I ended up waiting anyways. Ah well...

When we got to the gate, they hadn't even boarded the flight before ours, so we sat patiently playing my game and her reading on the tablet.

I love this scenario. Having too much time is so much better than too little. :)

Ham and Cheese Panini from one of the overpriced airport shops

So it was a mere $158.32 then?

The family seated next to us had a rather rambunctious toddler and I hoped all the running around she was doing would tire her out and she'd sleep the whole trip.

:rotfl2::rotfl::lmao: Funny.

Fran shamed me out of ordering the drink. A

Huh?

As soon as the stewardess left, the kid started again and never stopped howling the rest of the trip.

See? Your instincts were right.

. It was a Gimlet not a Gibson.

And I've tried neither. Hmmm... April??


May I please get Plaza chicken? Pretty please? It's been quite a while since I've had fried chicken?

The Clive Cussler Car Collection. If you've read his books, you know Dirk Pitt has a collection of cars outside his headquarters and often chooses a classic car to drive on his adventures. The cars featured in the books had a copy of the book in which they were mentioned in front of said car.

Oh. My. Goodness. I've read almost all of them, and adore antique cars. I need to go there.

before deciding on Indian Tacos
Good choice. Last time I had one was on the Res in some podunk village served by a little old Navajo lady. I about died and went to Heaven.

I got a shredded Bison taco with beans, tomatoes, some kind of salsa, cheese, sour cream and green chilies on the side. It turns out they weren't really spicy at all so I dumped them all over the taco. Yummy!

q17DV0810LCH01.jpg

Ummmm.... yum.

Dinner tonight was going to be at Del Frisco's

It just keeps going.....

We even took what was left of our wine togo. Leftover wine? I've never heard of such a thing before!

I think this is becoming more popular now. I've seen that done recently in fact. :)
 
We drove around the grounds of this hotel, The Stanley where Stephen King’s inspiration for The Shining came from. He stayed at this hotel for one night before it closed up for the season. You can thank Wikipedia for this:

And if you come up here and visit, I can show you where they actually FILMED the outdoor portions of it. It's a gorgeous hotel/lodge that I'd love to stay at someday!

https://www.timberlinelodge.com/
 
In that case, yes. You would die.
Either freeze, or be eaten.
Coin toss.

And that's why I don't visit cold weather climates if I can avoid it.

That's all the convincing I'd need to deem it better!

::yes::

Wait! You forgot it was a travel day?? I rarely even sleep the night before travel.

I usually am so exhausted from trying to get everything prepared that I pass out and wake up rather disoriented.

I got that too for the first time last flight. It was nice, but we both didn't get it, so I ended up waiting anyways. Ah well...

We registered and paid for it a couple years ago, so I'm glad we don't have to wait in lines.

I love this scenario. Having too much time is so much better than too little. :)

Absolutely :thumbsup2

So it was a mere $158.32 then?

Pretty much

See? Your instincts were right.

:sad2:

And I've tried neither. Hmmm... April??

You can taste my Gibson, but I'm not reccomending a Gimlet. :crazy2

May I please get Plaza chicken? Pretty please? It's been quite a while since I've had fried chicken?

Sure, I'm always up for it.

Oh. My. Goodness. I've read almost all of them, and adore antique cars. I need to go there.

Wow, that's a lot of books. We listen to them and we've only been through about half of them.

Good choice. Last time I had one was on the Res in some podunk village served by a little old Navajo lady. I about died and went to Heaven.

I wish we had a place that served them here. We ate tons of fry bread when we went to Monument Valley.

Ummmm.... yum.

::yes::

It just keeps going.....

That's what happens when foodies get together.

I think this is becoming more popular now. I've seen that done recently in fact. :)

I was surprised that we had any left!

And if you come up here and visit, I can show you where they actually FILMED the outdoor portions of it. It's a gorgeous hotel/lodge that I'd love to stay at someday!

https://www.timberlinelodge.com/

Interesting, not that I've ever seen the movie, except a couple of scenes that were playing at a party in college many years ago. It looked scary, so i went in another room.
 
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So here's wrapping up our little weekend trip to Denver to see @jedijill last summer.....

Saturday August 12


Yesterday's long day sort of took a toll on us. I needed a hot bath to try and soothe my muscles as well as a shower. I was done by 8:20, but Fran didn't start moving for almost another hour or so.

Jill stopped at Starbucks again and we were on our way by around 10AM. We skipped the hotel breakfast and instead ate our Protein packs/Lunchables along with a glass of V8 while we got on the road.

Today we were going to Pike's Peak. I was afraid that the altitude sickness I was feeling the day before would get to me since this would be another 1000 feet higher, but I still had my trusty Ginger Ale, and hoped that would soothe my stomach.

There it is, off in the distance.

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It was just before 11AM when we arrived and there was a line up to pay your fee and enter the park. We had thought about taking the train, but when we finally looked into making reservations it was all booked up. Driving to the top did end up working out better for us.

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They gave us this map so that you could chart your progress up the mountain.

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Most of the time we were following other people up a winding road.

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Someone had a sense of humor.

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Just keep climbing.

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This rock formation was really cool.

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The view became more and more spectacular the higher we climbed.

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And it seemed like the grade got steeper too…

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We stopped at the halfway point for a bio break and to check out the gift shop.

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Fran wants one of these.

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Nice Rock formation.

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And interesting flowers.

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We were about halfway there, so we continued our journey to the top.

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These were crazy people

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Man are we high up!

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Looking back down on the crazy people climbing the rocks.

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Now without zooming in.

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[Continued in Next Post]
 
[Continued from Previous Post]


It was just beautiful country.

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And then we saw a Big Horn sheep.

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And then we ascended the last bit to the summit.

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Still snow here too!

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We finally made it to the top.

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At the top we did some picture taking.

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The Railway car showed up shortly after we arrived and everyone made a mad dash into the souvenir shop or the potty.

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Jill bought us a half a dozen donuts. They weren’t bad, not the best donuts in the world, but I think they just want you to be impressed that at that altitude they can make something that tastes good.

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Soon the train was making it’s way back down the mountain.

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Fran and I decided to hop on.

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No, seriously, I actually made that picture after I learned something in photoshop that I used for a future update on the WDW trip report. For those of you reading along on both, when I get to the picture that I made that for, I want to see how many of you are paying attention and can spot the doctored shot!

Then we made our way back down. We saw several marmants, but this was the only one who would pose for me.

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We decided the donuts filled us up enough that we could skip lunch. So our next stop was to drive through The Garden of the Gods. We arrived at the Trading post where we got some T-shirts, and then it started to rain. We waited it out for a bit, but decided just to go ahead and get the scooter in the car as quick as we could.

Once we were back in the car drove around via the various one way roads. They have a little “course” laid out that takes you by the various outcroppings. It’s a pretty interesting area and Fran would like to go back someday and spend more time exploring when it’s not raining.

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Fran wanted to check out the Visitor's center and found more stuff to buy.

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They had this model of the outcroppings, kind of cool how they are just randomly there.

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They had a few photo ops.

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I got some fudge and so did she, we took some pictures in their photo ops and then headed back via the Harley Store in Colorado Springs. This was another cool outcropping we saw on the road.

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One bonus of the rain was that we saw some pretty rainbows.

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When we made it back to the hotel, Jill went home to get things ready, and Fran and I packed up her computer and got everything else that we wanted to bring over.

We ate our leftovers and had a great meal, sorry no pictures.


Sunday August 13


Today we were planning on having dinner at Jill’s house and she was cooking for us. We were going to enjoy the fresh produce that was in season at the time so we I went with Jill to the Farmer’s Market to check it out. Sorry no pictures, but we got corn, wax beans, peaches and I picked up a lovely Colorado tomato. Plus I got some Wisconsin Cheese curds and Elk Bratwurst to enjoy at home.

After the Farmer’s Market I went back to the room and Jill went home and got busy baking and cooking up a storm. I packed up just about everything while Fran worked on eBay. When we were finally all packed, I waited until she could tear herself away from eBay. Then we packed up her computer, I got the laundry and we headed over to Jill's place.

Jill had prepared quite a feast with flat iron steak, corn, wax beans, baked beans, and a lovely dessert with sugar macerated peaches and ice cream.

Fran and Jill watched Games of thrones while I worked on bonus updates from the DCA F&W Festival, and then we said goodbyes as Fran and I had to catch a plane the next day.


Monday August 14


Fran had definitely overdone it these past four days, she didn't want to get up for breakfast so I went down myself and had a waffle and this day they had sausage patties. After I finished my breakfast, I made her a sausage muffin with cheese and brought it back to the room.

I finished packing and weighing the suitcases. We only had three total and Fran decided that even if we don't need them on the way there, I should always bring four suitcases so that we have extra room for souvenirs on the way home.

It was probably 11:20 when I was finally wheeling the trolley filled with our luggage down to the car. Fran went to the business center computers to see about things we could do on the way to the airport.


What?????


We had agreed that we wanted to drop her and the bags at 1PM, then I'd return the rental car and then we would both go check in. Even though I had done online check in the night before at Jill's because she has her scooter they need to check her in at the gate. The airport was about an hour away so we had about 20 minutes between the time we would leave the hotel to when we had to get on our way to the airport, what could we drive to, park and explore in that time? I don't get how she can't work out time management! Instead she checked her eBay accounts until about noon when I finally told her that we needed to get going.

We made it to the airport in good time, and the entire process of getting settled at our gate went smoothly. There was an excellent sandwich shop located in the Southwest terminal and we sat at our gate eating lunch while waiting for the sign to switch over to our flight. We are strange and prefer to wait at our gate killing time than cutting it close when it comes to flights.

Eventually we boarded our plane and had an uneventful flight home.
 
Yesterday's long day sort of took a toll on us. I needed a hot bath to try and soothe my muscles as well as a shower. I was done by 8:20, but Fran didn't start moving for almost another hour or so.

:hug:

Jill stopped at Starbucks again

She did again? She sure is spoiling you ladies! :)

along with a glass of V8

Ah! There it is. :)

There it is, off in the distance.

What? Behind the mountain?


Sorry... couldn't resist the Monty Python-esque line.

We had thought about taking the train

That would be tempting... but I think I'd prefer to drive and stop when and if I want.

They gave us this map so that you could chart your progress up the mountain.

So many "points of interest"!

Someone had a sense of humor.

What? You don't want to run into one, you know.

Just keep climbing.

:fish:Whoops! Wrong emoji.

This rock formation was really cool.

Surreal. It looks like something Dali would do.

The view became more and more spectacular the higher we climbed.

::yes::

I'm obviously not going to multiquote all your photos, but suffice to say that I greatly enjoyed seeing them! :)

We stopped at the halfway point for a bio break and to check out the gift shop.

Whacha get?


Reminds me of BTMRR.


Love that shot!

Fran wants one of these.

She should get one.


Those are cool. Looks like a dandelion on steroids.

These were crazy people

Why? Because the rocks looked unstable?

Looking back down on the crazy people climbing the rocks.

That really gives you a sense of just how much you climb.

And then we saw a Big Horn sheep.

Cool! I've yet to see even one.

Still snow here too!

Same here!

Or doesn't that count?


:laughing: I like that.


Thumbs up, I see. So you guys didn't have any altitude sickness this time?


You bought that and took it home, right?

Jill bought us a half a dozen donuts. They weren’t bad, not the best donuts in the world, but I think they just want you to be impressed that at that altitude they can make something that tastes good.

:) I can see that. And very nice of her... again.


Add some sugar and cinnamon and then we'll talk. (or eat.)

Fran and I decided to hop on.

Pikes-Peak-Funny.jpg

:laughing:

No, seriously, I actually made that picture after I learned something in photoshop that I used for a future update on the WDW trip report. For those of you reading along on both, when I get to the picture that I made that for, I want to see how many of you are paying attention and can spot the doctored shot!

No promises, but we'll see! :)

Then we made our way back down. We saw several marmants, but this was the only one who would pose for me.

Cool! Never seen those either.

Once we were back in the car drove around via the various one way roads. They have a little “course” laid out that takes you by the various outcroppings. It’s a pretty interesting area and Fran would like to go back someday and spend more time exploring when it’s not raining.

Sounds interesting. I might want to check that out too.

Fran wanted to check out the Visitor's center and found more stuff to buy.

Such as?

They had this model of the outcroppings, kind of cool how they are just randomly there.

That is weird! I get that erosion probably allowed them to become visible... but you'd think there'd be more, then.


And took that one home too?
No?
Why not??

I got some fudge and so did she,

Yessssss.... Yum!

headed back via the Harley Store in Colorado Springs

Woot!

Today we were planning on having dinner at Jill’s house and she was cooking for us.

All that and she cooked for you too???? :worship:

Plus I got some Wisconsin Cheese curds and Elk Bratwurst to enjoy at home.

How were the brats?

Jill had prepared quite a feast with flat iron steak, corn, wax beans, baked beans, and a lovely dessert with sugar macerated peaches and ice cream.

Yum!

We only had three total and Fran decided that even if we don't need them on the way there, I should always bring four suitcases so that we have extra room for souvenirs on the way home.

Makes sense. You have a bighorn sheep and a bison to take home with you.

Fran went to the business center computers to see about things we could do on the way to the airport.


What?????

:lmao: I can imagine how perturbed you were.

We are strange and prefer to wait at our gate killing time than cutting it close when it comes to flights.

I prefer to be early too. I don't like being late.
 
I see that there's a new update for me to read! YAY! But today it's work... after cleaning up after the houseful of people. So just briefly popping on to say a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and Fran. I got your email and will be buying my tix soon. :)
 
The views from Pike’s Peak are gorgeous. I think driving would be better than the train for control purposes. Too cool about the sheep.

Beautiful rainbow pictures.

Your fresh veggie meal sounds sublime.

What a lovely trip all around, thanks for sharing :)
 

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