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On day two of our trip to Colorado, we woke up at 6 AM MDT and we all felt refreshed since that was 8 AM our time. We got showered, grabbed breakfast in our hotel – they had a big spread every morning – so we all had fresh waffles, scrambled eggs, and fruit. Brian and the kids also grabbed some sausage and various other items.
After breakfast, we hit the road for Colorado Springs to visit Garden of the Gods! I had been to Garden of the Gods once before this in 1994, but I was only 12, so I only remember bits and pieces of it. Brian and the kids had never been, so it was a first for them, and a nice refresher for me since it had been so long. On the way, we saw so much fog in front of the mountains. It was so beautiful.
Anyway, after our Walmart trip, we pulled up to the Garden of the Gods Visitors Center. We were so early that they weren’t even open yet, so we had to wait a few minutes before they opened the doors.
We browsed the visitors center for a bit and stepped out on the observation deck, and then we headed to a trail. But first, a bathroom break! And look at those faucets in the bathroom! Each arm had a soap dispenser, a water dispenser, and a hand dryer all right there in one!
Our hike took almost an hour because we stopped a lot along the way to take pictures and explore, and it was such a cool experience. From our trail, we were able to see the “Kissing Camels,” the “North and South Gateway Rocks,” the “Three Graces,” and the “Cathedral Spires.” Oh, and there were lots of good views of Pikes Peak! And, of course, pictures don’t do any of this justice. It’s impossible to capture the vastness of Colorado on camera! It’s stunning.
The drive from Garden of the Gods to Red Rocks was an hour and a half, but thankfully, it was in the direction of our hotel for most of it (and then went out in a different direction), so it wasn’t going to be a crazy long drive back to the hotel afterward.
On the way there, I got this text from my cousin, Shelby, because she and my Aunt Joy and Uncle Greg were officially en route with Mama Cass!! As I mentioned in my first recap, the whole purpose of this trip was to attend my cousin’s celebration of life, so many of my family members were making their way to Colorado, all on different days and by different means of transportation. Mama Cass, Joy, Greg, and Shelby were all flying together (I would have flown with them if Brian and the kids had decided not to come) and my parents and my brothers all decided to drive together. So, we were getting updates from them as well.
By the time we arrived there, it was blazing hot – the high was 89 degrees that day – but the heat feels so much stronger there because of the altitude. I learned a lot about the altitude while we were there. We discovered that in addition to getting altitude sickness (which none of us experienced, thankfully) and nosebleeds (which we all experienced), you also get sunburned much easier there, you get dehydrated much faster there, you get winded much easier there (and I did thanks to my asthma), and alcohol has a much stronger effect so you have to watch out for that, too. My vision also changed while we were out there… I didn’t have that on my Bingo card for the trip!
Shortly after we arrived, I realized that I could barely read my Apple Watch, nor could I see anything else up close. It was like the sharpness decreased. At first, I thought it was my contacts and that it was time to throw them out, but then I realized that wasn’t the case. With a quick Google search, I found that, sure enough, I was not going crazy because, yes, high altitudes can change your vision. The air pressure drops the higher you get, and there is less oxygen (which we all know), and the lack of oxygen can cause physical changes in your eyes resulting in decreased acuity, trouble seeing in the dark, dry eyes (mine were awwwwful), peripheral vision loss, washed out color perception, and floaters (which I have all the time anyway).
I had no idea any of that was a thing, nor had I experienced that before (even when skiing in the mountains in West Virginia), so I was shocked to find out. The more you know!! Oh, and my vision was completely back to normal shortly after we got off the plane when we got home.
Okay, now that you’ve learned something new (maybe), back to the recap! It was HOT at Red Rocks and we hadn’t eaten in forever, so both kids got a bit cranky while we were there. It was no fault of their own, though – we were all hot and sweaty and hungry and in a new environment that was taxing, so I couldn’t blame them – but we kept our visit quick. And our kids are great little travelers, and they very rarely get cranky, so I know that if they’re cranky (especially Jacob) then they must feel really, really bad.
We walked all the way to the bottom and back up, and it was just so surreal to be there. While we were there, they were pressure washing the stadium to get ready for the next show that night. And we could also see the city of Denver way off in the distance from the top of the stadium. So cool, right?
We were all starving by the time we left because it was already 12:30 PM MDT and we’d been up since 6 AM. Brian and I had seen that they still have Quiznos out in Denver, so we wanted to eat at one of those since we used to love it so much. We had them here at home forever and Brian and I frequented ours when we were dating and in our early marriage years, but then they all closed, and we’ve missed them ever since.
So, we found the nearest Quiznos and that’s where we stopped for lunch. The kids had never had it, and Jacob wasn’t all that impressed. He did just get a basic turkey sandwich, though, so it’s kind of hard to be impressed by that anyway. Haha. Olivia got a chicken sandwich and just ate the chicken, and she loved it because they had honey mustard for her, too. And Brian and I enjoyed it, of course, because it had been way too long.
After lunch, we drove to the hotel to change clothes and freshen up a bit since we’d gotten so sweaty being outdoors all morning. We didn’t stay long, though, because there was still much to do!
The kids both wanted to visit the aquarium, so we drove into Denver yet again. The drive took about 40 minutes because traffic was so bad since it was Friday afternoon, but the aquarium wasn’t very busy at all. We are spoiled because we have the Georgia Aquarium just a short drive away, and it’s the largest aquarium in the United States/Western Hemisphere. So needless to say, we knew the Denver Aquarium wouldn’t be nearly as impressive as ours, but it was still worth a visit!
We spent about an hour there, seeing all the creatures. Our favorites – the seahorses, the eels (check out the picture below… it’s so creepy), the sawfish, and of course, the jellyfish. On the way out, they even had a spot where you could touch the moon jellies, so Brian and Olivia got in line for that.
We headed to dinner next. When I asked all of you dear readers for suggestions of what to do in Denver, one of the most recommended places was Casa Bonita. Brian and I had never even heard of it, so upon doing some research, we saw that it was a Mexican restaurant with a whole bunch of stuff to do. It sounded like the most random thing ever and we couldn’t for the life of us understand why it came so highly recommended.
We were told that we needed to get reservations weeks in advance, but we dragged our feet, and by the time we decided to make the reservation, they were completely booked for our whole trip. Brian was able to sign up to get notified if anyone canceled their reservation, and we ended up getting a notification that a 5 PM MST reservation opened for Friday. Brian was able to snag it, and man oh man, are we so glad that he did. That place is INSANE in the best way possible, y’all.
We arrived right on time for our reservation, and we had to go through metal detectors and have our bags searched upon entry… a first for a restaurant! Haha. And from the outside, the place didn’t look that impressive other than the fact that it was a bit gauche. I mean, we love a bright pink building, but I wasn’t expecting it to be in a strip mall next to a Dollar Tree, so I was thinking, “How special could this place possibly be?”
Right after we entered, they gave Brian and me bracelets to wear in case we decided to drink, and then we were escorted to our table. There were literally tables all over the place in this restaurant, and we ended up being seated in the mine.
The service was awesome, though. Each table has a flag, and you raise it when you need something. So, when we were ready to order, we raised our flag, and a server came to help. After Brian and I finished our house margaritas, we decided to split one of their watermelon margaritas with the hope that it was better than the house ones, so we raised our flag and got one. Friends, it was not good either. Haha. I was so disappointed with the drinks.
After dinner was done, our server brought us sopapillas drizzled in honey, and I have to say, that was my favorite part of the whole meal, although Brian and the kids weren’t impressed with those at all. I really enjoyed them, though.
As we were finishing up, our server told us to make sure that we explore the whole restaurant from top to bottom, and he told us to stay as long as we like. And y’all, we most definitely did that. Our eating experience was less than an hour, but we spent THREE HOURS IN THERE because there is so much to see and do!
Right after dinner, we went to watch the puppet show. Yes, they have a random puppet show that runs continuously throughout the day at 15 and 45 minutes past every hour. We were coming up on 6:15 PM at that point, so it was the perfect time to go get in line to get seats.
They are incredibly strict there about phone usage… while they encourage you to take photos and videos of everything there, they would not let anyone take photos or record videos of the puppet show, but I did take a picture of the stage.
The puppet show was only about 10 minutes (I think?) and that put us at the perfect time to go watch the cliff divers next. Yes, there are actual cliff divers. Inside this unassuming restaurant, there is a 30-foot cliff and a 14-foot pool where professional divers do shows – one at the top of every hour, one at 20 minutes past, and one at 40 minutes past.
One of the cliff diving shows had just ended, so we got front row for the 6:40 PM show, and it was so much fun to watch.
