This year for Thanksgiving, Mom treated our entire family to
a 1 week trip to Colorado (November 20-26)! We had been
talking about a family trip for years, but it was put on hold when Daddy passed
away. He would have been so proud of all
our planning and the fun we had…although I know through many tears that he was
with us the entire time. Not a day went
by that we all did not say something funny that he would be doing, or has done
on previous family trips. Traveling and
being with family are 2 of my favorite things…so putting them together is even
better! Get ready for a slew of pics and
memories from our journey!
Day 1- Travels to Woodland Park, Colorado
Our day started out with 2 cars traveling to the airport
containing 5 adults/4 kids, 13 suitcases, and a carry on for everyone. That was a tight ride! The kids enjoyed the short 1 hour and 45
minute flight to Denver where we took a train to get our luggage, shuttle to
the rental car place, and then rented 2 minivans. From here, we grabbed a quick
lunch at Chili’s and then drove about 2 hours to the small town of Woodland
Park, Colorado. Woodland Park is about about
20 minutes outside of Colorado Springs and 45 minutes to Cripple Creek through
a mountain drive. Our cabin was located on the side of a mountain and we had to
drive up a steep mountain pass to get to it. The boys unloaded luggage and then
went to the grocery store while the ladies unpacked and relaxed. The kids immediately fell in love with the
downstairs living room where they could all play together. The rest of the evening we played cards,
enjoyed the cabin, made a fire in the fireplace. We had a gorgeous view of Pikes Peak that we
woke up to each morning. It was
Heaven! We quickly learned that things
like cooking and breathing are definitely much harder at 9,000 feet in
altitude.
For Jaxson’s birthday we celebrated by going via cog railway
up to Pike’s Peak. We drove to Manitou
Springs and then took the 1.5 hour train ride up the mountain. The views were amazing and we started to get
some sights of snow. We even saw some mountain
sheep on the way up. Once we reached the
summit, we were at 14,000 feet high and FREEZING! I believe with the wind chill it felt like it
was 14 degrees. The kids were excited at
first to shop and then after a few minutes outside in the air, they were not
impressed. Even after being bundled up,
we had some tears and quickly snapped a picture and then boarded the train. It was an adventure to say the least. For dinner we celebrated Jax’ birthday at a
Mexican Restaurant in Woodland Park before settling in for a cozy night by the
fire. What an adventure today was!
Day 3- A snowy day!
We went to bed last night at 11:00 p.m. and it was 45
degrees, no snow. All of us had been praying for snow for the kids so that they
could experience it. The weather man
predicted an inch of snow…however, when we awoke by 7:00 a.m., the predicted
1" was actually 8"! The kids
were SO EXCITED and ate breakfast very quickly before bundling up and wanting
to go out. We played for over an hour sledding,
exploring, snowball fights, and eating the WHITE snow. Since the snow was so heavy, we could not leave
the cabins in the mini vans, so we truly “hunkered down” and relaxed all
day. The afternoon was filled with
another snow adventure and cooking pizzas in the cabin that night.
Day 4- More snow and an escape to Garden of the Gods
When we woke up, we quickly realized the snow conditions had
not changed too much. The snow plow on
the main road helped some, but we knew we needed to try and make it out of the
cabin for a grocery run and to get some snow chains. After lunch, both vans made it down the hill
easily. We decided to attempt to drive
them up to see if snow chains were needed, and it didn’t take long before we
realized the chains would be needed.
Thus, we had a quick 1 hour "detour" as you can see below. One
set of snow chains later, we were set for the rest of the trip! We grabbed groceries in town and then headed
back to the cabin to pick up Nana and the kids so that we could venture toward
the Garden of the Gods. The kids earned
their Junior Ranger badges by completing activities at the park. We drove the scenic route and were able to
climb on the rocks for some gorgeous pictures.
On our way out of Colorado Springs, we ate a delicious homestyle dinner
at The Mason Jar. The day ended with
making/eating snow ice cream in the cabin. This would have been Papa’s favorite part!
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