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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.
Garden of the
Gods was around a 45-minute drive from our hotel, and on the way, we also
stopped at Walmart to grab some sunscreen since we hadn’t packed any. And it was so weird (but refreshing!) to see
that Walmart only offered paper bags.
The state of Colorado banned plastic bags at most retailers, so they
only offer paper, and I wish more states would get on board! They are so terrible for the
environment.
Hence, the
reason I always use these reusable bags when we’re at home. I’ve had them for years and they are the
best… they still look brand new! They’re
huge, they’re sturdy, just four of them hold two weeks’ worth of groceries for
our family (and all four fit in one shopping cart), you can wipe them down
since they’re vinyl, and four of them fit perfectly across the back of my SUV. I seriously couldn’t love them more. I get asked about them all the time when I’m
out shopping.
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!
Brian had researched the trails before we arrived, and he had picked out the Central Garden Trail since it was an easy 1.5 miles. Most of it was paved, too, although, we did choose to go off the beaten path a couple of times. There was a
wedding going on right at the entrance of our trail. Apparently, you can get married there, but
you can’t book it as a venue… it’s first come, first served, so that’s why they
were getting married at 10 AM on a Friday.
Haha.
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.
After we were
done at Garden of the Gods, we decided to go ahead and make the drive to Red
Rocks, too. That’s been on my bucket
list for most of my life. I’ve always
wanted to see live music there, but since we weren’t interested in seeing
Widespread Panic, we just decided to go take a little tour during the day since
it’s free and open to the public.
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.
The drive to
Red Rocks was easy, and I have to say – seeing this space that I’ve seen so
many times in photos was surreal. It was
easily my favorite part of the whole trip even though we didn’t get to see live
music there. Nothing can prepare you for
the beauty. It is STUNNING. And to see those thousands of seats carved
out between the two massive rocks is just crazy. Apparently, they are hand-carved into the
natural stone, and there are 70 rows for a total capacity of 9,525 people. One of these days I will see Dave Matthews
Band there. That would be a massive
bucket list check!
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?
If you’re ever
visiting Red Rocks, there are numerous ways to enter the amphitheatre, but we found
that the easiest access point was to drive all the way to the top until you
can’t drive anymore. There is a giant
parking lot up there, so we parked there and entered the venue from the
top. That way, if you don’t want to have
to climb all the way to the top on foot, you can just see it from the top
without having to climb all the stairs.
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. Brian and I enjoyed it, of course,
because it had been way too long.
Funny story –
when we arrived, Brian pulled up, turned off the car, and then tried to lock
it, but for some reason, no matter what he did, the car wouldn’t lock. And it kept beeping at him, but we couldn’t
figure out why. Eventually, he gave up
trying to lock it, and we all went inside to eat. When we got back in the car to leave, he
realized that he had never put the car in park and that’s why the car kept
beeping and wouldn’t lock.
LOLOLOLOL. Yeesh. The rental car we’d gotten was new-ish and it
had all the updated technology, but it wasn’t intuitive
at all, and half the time we were in it, we couldn’t figure out how to do the
most basic things, so that wasn’t the only time we had something cringe happen
like that. Haha.
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.
When we left,
we passed right by Empower Field at Mile High (the stadium where the Denver
Broncos play) and there was a giant sign saying that Usher and Chris Brown were
kicking off their tour that very night at that very stadium. I was soooo tempted to try to find tickets
and go, and if we hadn’t been so exhausted already from such a jampacked day, I
totally would have.
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?”
Well, my
friends, it turns out that this building is MASSIVE (Google search tells me
52,000 square feet!) and it is the most immersive place ever. You could very easily get lost in there, and
I’m not even kidding.
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.
At Casa Bonita,
you pay one set price for adults and one set price for kids, and you get to
choose from a variety of different entrees.
Alcohol is extra. I will say this
– I wasn’t impressed at all with the food or the drinks. The chips and salsa were just okay, the
cheese dip wasn’t good at all, the margs didn’t have much alcohol in them, they
weren’t very flavorful, and they were fizzy – WHAT?!, and our entrées + sides
were majorly lacking (I got the carnitas tacos and Brian got the chicken
enchiladas). But y’all, I will tell you
this – it is worth it to go just for the experience! Both of our entrees were served with rice,
beans, and cabbage salad, and all of it was extremely unique, but just not
good. Haha. I feel like I’m pretty easy to please when it
comes to food, but this place missed the mark.
Brian liked it more than I did.
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.
Our server took
our picture after we were done eating, and we also saw a gorilla man walking
around. Haha. Like a character at Disney World? It was the most random thing, and that was
only the beginning.
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.
I have to say, I’m not a fan of a puppet show, so I didn’t have high hopes, but
it ended up being so funny, and we all loved it. The main characters were a taco, a beef
burrito, and sopapillas, and that’s all I’m going to say about that.
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.
After that show
was over, we got in line for the sorcerer’s show. Yes, they also have an entire theater in
there where a sorcerer does a magic show.
I told y’all this place was outrageous!
The magic show
was funny, and when it let out, we threw some coins in the fountain, visited
the arcade, walked through the haunted house, listened to a guitar player (who also
tossed some prizes down to the kids), watched the mariachi band play for a bit,
and then we watched the cliff divers again.
We were all Casa
Bonita’d out by the time that was all done, so we finally decided to
leave. The kids were wanting to find
some dessert, so we drove to Edgewater Public Market (the cutest indoor food
hall with all sorts of options) and we got ice cream from Happy Cones Co. Brian got hokey pokey, which was vanilla ice
cream with honeycomb toffee, I got mint chocolate crack, Jacob got cookies and
cream, and Olivia got cotton candy gum drop with whipped cream. It was all delicious.
After we were done
eating, we headed back to the hotel because, as you can imagine, we were all exhausted
after our long, busy day. The kids got
showered, Brian and I made our game plan for Saturday and ordered tickets for
the things we wanted to do, and then we went to bed at 9:45 PM MDT, which was
almost midnight our time!
What a day!
