Monday & Good Times

Woke up this am with the full intention of getting back to the gym, but I also woke up with a horrible cold. Back in TX and thar she blows! I felt so good in Colorado... I would seriously move there if my whole family wasn't here! Speaking of Colorado... I have been putting off writing about my trip because I miss my peeps and it'll be too long til we're back together again! But I checked in on Jan and she had put a slide show together with pics of our trip. SO that got me to thinking and recalling some good times! I only took about 40 pics, most of the time I didn't even carry my camera, because why would one need 500 photos of the same thing? That's what happens when a bunch of scrapbookers get together! So Jan is getting all the pics and burning discs for everyone! What a peach! SO, Thursday, June 26th, DH (Dear Hubby) for you non-sb(scrapbook) types took me to the airport at 7am and I met Suzanne and we flew to Denver where Jenn picked us up bright and early. The rest of the day was spent running back & forth to the airport to pick up others, good thing she's 10 minutes from DIA. We finally got on the road to Manitou Springs and arrive at our humble abode for the next 3 days, The Keepsake Inn. It is a B&B on a hillside a block from downtown Manitou, and beautiful! We were greeted by Val our innkeeper and cook extraodinaire! We took a bit to get settled and get a snack and got busy scrapping! We had made a few plans, but it was going to be a relaxing weekend with no stress! We got to bed fairly early since we were on a different time zone and all the running had exhausted us! This is where Jodi and I bunked, the La Salle de Couleur room (you may have to scroll down some). Friday we all woke up to breakfast being made and it was scrumptious, every meal Val made was awesome! We decided today was the day to go see Pikes Peak. Only a few of us went because Jenn; who is 8 mos pregnant couldn't go, Jonnie lives there and wanted to go with her bf and some just wanted to scrap. We headed up the street to the Cog Railway. It is a train that runs up and down the mountain numerous times a day, round trip is an hour and 1/2 with 30 minutes at the summit. In the photo, l-r; Jodi, me, Lynn, Jan, Suzanne.It was awesome. When the tour guide was talking about how Katherine Lee Bates was on a trip there in 1893 and made the arduous trip up the mountain in a wagon (!) and when she rounded the corner a song came to her. She is the author of 'America the Beautiful' and as he said the title of the song we rounded the same corner and saw the view and I don't think there was a dry eye on that train! It was amazing and definitely beautiful! Wish I had pics to show, but I'll do that as soon as I get my disc! We got to the top and it was cold and wonderful, there was a bit of snow and ice in places. I admit, I like to think I'm in shape, but when we went down a trail, coming up I was huffing and puffing a bit! Here we are at the top:Coming down we saw a few elk grazing and deer were on the tracks at some point and the conductor had to blow the horn to get them to move. All in all we had beautiful weather, it was cool and clear and just very enjoyable. It had been raining down in town and we saw the prettiest rainbow when we got off the train. We got back to the house and got ready for dinner. We all went out that night to the Stagecoach Inn for some good home cookin! Then back "home" to work on a few projects. The next day we went to find a castle we had passed on the way up to the railway station. There were only 4 of us on this trip. It is called Miramont Castle and was just gorgeous. I wish I could have lived in this house back in the day. As we were paying to get in, there was a ghost hunter there too. The lady behind the desk explained that there were "visitors" there that day and if we captured any images such as "orbs" to share with her. She also warned that 'they' might play with our cameras...whatever! Nothing happened! After the tour, we had lunch at the Queens Parlour Tea Room. It was really good, though we wished we would have ordered 'High Tea' then we would have gotten served with the gorgeous tea pots and would have been able to wear the big hats! There was a family there with a little girl who was over the moon about "dressing up" and having a tea party. Too cute! We enjoyed the gardens out back, I can imagine what they would look like when everything is in full bloom! Back at the house Val had spaghetti cooking for us and we all had dinner together, it was delicious! Sunday we spent the day shopping in town and trying out the springs that are all thru town.

They are mineral springs and there are 9 different springs to try, but they all tasted the same, YUK, to me! Like flat Sprite. I actually spit it out... I was expecting cold mountain spring water..that's not it!! We did actually wade in a stream that ran thru town and it was ICE cold. There were kids playing in it that I'm sure have pneumonia now! ;) Later that day we headed back to Denver and got to a hotel by the airport as many of us had early flights out the next day. We got checked in and met up later with Jenn for dinner at a local mexican food restaurant, good food, good friends and GOOD TIMES! The worst part was saying goodbye. Next time I see Jenn, she'll be a Mommy, hate that I can't be there when Dylan makes his way into the world, but I'll see him in pictures and IRL in December! Caught another early flight back to Houston, and I swear as I was crossing into Texas airspace I could feel my head swell! LOL! Well, that's it in a nutshell, will post more pics when I get them!