Colorado Springs: Part Two

Here we are again - for part two of the Colorado Springs weekend adventure! There are going to be three parts to this because I realized that I just took so many pictures. And these are only the pictures that I took with my phone, I have plenty of pictures to fill up a Facebook album sometimes this weekend. I feel like pictures can often say more than words could say; sometimes there aren't adequate words to describe certain things and you know the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words". I think that statement is pretty accurate, so without further ramblings from me...away we go on part two...


We started Saturday morning with breakfast - yay for a waffle station at the hotel. I probably should have taken a photo of the glorious waffle that I crafted on Saturday morning. It was topped with strawberries and whipped cream and it tasted pretty amazing if I do say so myself. Also, I'm not sure what kind of coffee they were brewing at the Academy Hotel, but with some sugar & vanilla creamer it was absolutely delicious and I drank some every morning. I wish I had some right now. After breakfast we were off to Denver to see Red Rocks Amphitheatre. I've never been and it was certainly a sight to behold. I really think I need to go to a concert there - maybe I should add that to my bucket list?

Red Rocks Amphitheatre - In one word: Incredible

Posing at Red Rocks - I'm so cheesy y'all!

Apparently dinosaurs used to roam where Red Rocks is and this is my hand in the footprint of an Iguanadon. Not a creature I would have preferred to share any landscape with.

Lindsey and the jaw of a T-Rex. Again, no thanks.

Feet next to the S on the compass, because we are some Southern girls.

Absolutely beautiful. Glad I got to see this.

After we surveyed Red Rocks, we decided that we needed a little afternoon snack. We knew that there was a Gigi's in downtown Denver and since my Nanny had never experienced the magic of Gigi's cupcakes we decided that was where we had to go. I know there are different baking rules for high altitude and I'm pretty sure that is what made the difference, but these cupcakes tasted a little different somehow. Not bad, but just different. They were a bit more dense than the ones I am used to having in Jackson. They were still delicious though and I think my Nanny approved of all 4 flavors that we tried.

Lindsey with our "mascot" - Robert the cow.

View as we were en route to Gigi's...more of those gorgeous red rocks.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Scarlett's Red Velvet and Italian Creme Cake. The red velvet was easily the best and we all agreed on that. It was the cupcake I chose. ;)

We were gifted with absolutely beautiful weather on Saturday and Sunday, so in an effort to take advantage of the gorgeous outdoors we went to the Denver Zoo because Lindsey has been before and was pretty impressed with all the animals they had. The Denver Zoo is pretty huge, so we rented a wheelchair for my Nanny - not necessarily because she needed one but because we didn't want her to get worn out wandering the zoo. The altitude in Colorado can really do a number on you if you aren't used to being in such thin air. Of course, when my Nanny wasn't using the wheelchair Lindsey and I made sure that we got our money's worth by riding in it. Also, I do think that Lindsey craves jet engine speed with any vehicle she is manning...including a wheelchair. She was driving Nanny around the zoo like it was the Daytona speedway. Thankfully, Nanny seemed to think it was great fun as opposed to fearing for her life. I rode in that wheelchair with Lindsey driving - it was touch and go at every moment. High adrenaline stuff. That being said...on to the animals!

A little monkey napping on a branch - he was cuter in person, this picture didn't quite capture his sweet little face. I guess the bars are kind of in the way...

A sun bear, ironically enough..laying out in the sun.

A grizzly bear - I'm telling you, these things are absolutely massive. I think if I ran into one in the wild I would save that bear some trouble & just go ahead & die of fright.

I took this picture solely for Nickolee because not only did it say Madagascar but the Gallery of lemurs was called the Malagasy Gallery! My Mom & I were pretty excited about that. :)

Some kind of rock penguin that doesn't necessarily have to live in the cold..they were all hiding in their burrows...

I told this goofy animal to smile...this was as good as she could give me. Silly Nanny.

A monkey just roaming free overhead in the Elephant Passage - he took a bathroom break while he was hanging up there and every little kid within 100 feet was reduced to a puddle of giggles. What is it with little kids and the toilet?

A statue of Ganesh in the Elephant Passage; they believe that more elephants in India are being saved because Hindu people worship Ganesh and the likeness of the god is that of an elephant. Thought that was pretty neat.

If only this peacock would have fanned out his tail - it would have been amazing.

Sleepy snow leopard...all the cats were asleep. That figures.

Lindsey took us into downtown Denver to the Cherry Creek area to get some supper at a place called the Cherry Cricket. It was one of those places that look like a hole in the wall, but the food was excellent. I ate an amazing burger with bacon, Swiss and barbecue sauce on it that was killer. And the house made guacamole was to die for, especially when mixed with the salsa.

Yes please - I'll take a jar to go.

After we had finished eating, we headed back toward Colorado Springs and made a short stop at the outlets at Castle Rock. We made one last stop at Starbucks where I got a tall Vanilla Spice Latte, which was delicious and then we headed back to the hotel. Mom and Lindsey played catch-up on one of their favorite new shows and then we all crashed, another good day under our belts. Well...until part three, that's the end!