Home and Away: Colorado Springs Xmas 2012

I usually go home to England for Christmas, but this year we decided to do something different. To compensate, this "something" had to include scenery and snow, as this is what I was giving up.

I was also giving up a 97% chance of flight delays and unexpected overnight stays in cold northern cities. A few years back, Mary and I spent 27 hours in Newark trying to get a flight to *insert anywhere* just so that we didn't have to spend Christmas in New Jersey. I have avoided a winter landing in Heathrow ever since.

We decided on Colorado Springs, one of my favorite places. We would be almost guaranteed at least a sprinkling of snow, and with Pikes Peak as backdrop, we had the scenery covered. So, on Saturday, we set off for Colorado.

We booked a cute little 700 sq. ft. cottage in the downtown area. Upon arrival, we commented on how spacious 700 sq. ft. actually was. We discussed how big our own home was (somewhere around 3000 sq. ft.) and how unnecessary it was to have all that space. We could easily live in a tiny house, just think how easy it would be! On day 5, we decided that a permanent living arrangement in 700 sq. ft. with a child and two dogs would be a really bad idea. We had serious cabin fever and couldn't stand being cooped up inside the tiny house full of all our Christmas vacation stuff.

The first night, we ate at Little Nepal, a wonderful Indian restaurant with great service.

It's pretty amazing, but Santa did find Mary, despite her concerns. We figured he probably went to Nana's house first, saw Mary wasn't there, and, thanks to the time difference, he was able to make it to Colorado in time. I always get super excited about Christmas and I followed Santa's trail on NORAD way after Mary went to bed.

The dogs were very excited about their Christmas gifts

and so was Andrew

Mary got a Kindle Fire!

After the "play with your new gifts" excitement had worn off, we headed to the Cheyenne Mountains to hike just enough to justify coming home and stuffing our faces on Christmas dinner. The darkness rolls in around 4pm in these parts, so we had to make the most of the daylight.

Our place had just enough pots, pans, and utensils to rustle up a hearty Christmas dinner.

Despite the bitter cold and wind, we spent one afternoon hiking around Garden of the Gods.

Chilly

What happened to my little poser?

The obligatory "Look! I'm holding up this big rock!" photos

Ah, there she is :)

Walking around downtown Colorado Springs feels much more pleasant in the summer.

Manitou Springs is a cute little town at the foot of Pikes Peak. A little too touristy, but very pretty all the same. Mary and I took the Pikes Peak Cog train from here last summer. We found a neat little pizza place, courtesy of Yelp, where we nabbed a slice and drink for less than $5.

Of course, we headed up Pikes Peak; at just over 14,000 feet, it is one of Colorado's 54 "fourteeners". Pikes Peak is in the front range of the Rocky Mountains and rises around 8,000+ feet above the city. Unfortunately, my photos don't do a good job of replicating the perspective we had; suffice to say the views were amazing.

Driving into the clouds

If it snowed on the moon, this is what I imagine it would look like.

It was extremely cold and the biting wind cut through our clothes.

After this picture was taken, we headed into the cafe to get some hot chocolate. I knew something was wrong when Mary couldn't finish her "world famous" donut. She started feeling sick and fatigued; poor baby had altitude sickness, made even worse, I'm sure, by the temperature. So, we headed back down, figuring somewhere around 9,000 ft she should be feeling better. She slept most of the way down and it didn't take long for her to feel herself again.

Cold Andy

+ wind chill = brr

Crystal Creek Reservoir (I think)

That afternoon, we also hit the Pioneer Museum where Mary earned herself a bookmark by completing the scavenger hunt, and we all got to ride in a cool elevator.

We had a taste for museums (and being cozy indoors), so next day we showed up at the Mining Museum for the guided tour. After hearing the burro biography (and learning that burro means wild donkey, meaning this likely wasn't a burro at all), we headed indoors for a really interesting tour. Our guide was very engaging and I managed to pay attention to everything he said (I'm usually the ADHD kid in the back poking at displays and playing with old apps on my iPhone). I even learned quite a bit about gold mining.

Mary loved panning for gold.

Mary was quite certain she knew the answer

Next day (Saturday), we decided to take a drive on Hwy 24, through Woodland Park and Canon City towards Cripple Creek and Victor.

Coming up towards Cripple Creek, the views were spectacular and I started planning my life as a Cripple Creek resident. There had to be a school, and where there's a school, there might be an educational diagnostician or a school psychologist! We could rent a little house until the perfect one came up for sale. I'd drive into Colorado Springs at the weekend for supplies and maybe we'd own a burro.

I'd bring picnics up here in the summer (would probably ride my burro)

On the surface, and from a distance, Cripple Creek looks like the perfect mountain town. However, after walking no more than two blocks, we realized that this was a casino town, and not much more than that. There were several tour buses loading and unloading middle aged gamblers and we had a hard time finding somewhere to eat lunch that didn't require all people under age 21 be accompanied by an adult at all times. Well, there went my plan. So, we headed on to Victor in search of lunch.

Victor was a much nicer town, almost a ghost town in this season as most of the stores were closed and the town looked abandoned. We did manage to find a German bakery and a really cool "general" store selling handmade brooms and candles.

Mary found a "10 items for $1" bucket. She couldn't believe her luck when she found it was full of cloudy marbles and old keys! Despite my nostalgic enthusiasm for a good game of marbles, she left the store with a bag full of keys to nothing.

On the way home, we drove up to an outlook and were again amazed by the views

and we had apparently found a huge quarry.

The drive home was winter-wonderlandish

It was getting late, and I really wanted to visit the Royal Gorge Bridge, the world's highest suspension bridge. Apparently, this place is actually a park with amusements and rides etc., but it was late so we only got to spend a few minutes looking and taking photos.