Colorado Springs Day 1.5

           Unbelievable that we failed already in creating a daily post. Very sorry. Just too much fun yesterday and all were ready for shuteye....not posting. We're back on track today. Yesterday was notable for the first meal cooked in the trailer.... pancakes! Followed by Tacos for dinner. In between the meals we headed to Garden of the God's for some amazing sights and views. This is one of the top 25 parks in the country and it is well deserved. The pictures don't do it justice. We had quite some interesting times navigating the trailer on narrow, crowded streets to get to the park. Will avoid towing a trailer unless we really have to do so. Sad part of the park was Dad's new DSLR camera that Santa bought him decided it was done working. Very sad. And now, a HUGE shout out to Costco. Took the camera back, 6 months later, and they exchanged it on the spot for a new one. Dad is back to smiling. We then navigated to our new campground, Cheyenne State Park. Very nice site up on the mountain overlooking Colorado Springs. After a late lunch we spent a few hours at Costco and Walmart getting supplies. After dinner, Bill, Alise, and Garrett went mountain biking on the 20 miles of trails at this park. All did very well! At 10 PM the military base down the mountain plays Taps... very nice.... and the coyotes all around you sing along!!

           This morning we divided and conquered. Mom, Alise, and Nathan went on a great birding hike with a naturalist. Saw lots of great birds and learned a lot. There is a nesting bald eagle here with a chick in the nest! Dad and Garrett explored some new mountain bike trails. We quickly realized last night's trails were on the easy side. This morning's trails were a bit more challenging. Bordering on epic! Trial by fire for Garrett and he did an excellent job learning new skills in real time. Absolutely beautiful. Now we're relaxing after a late breakfast before starting our afternoon hikes. Here is the view from our campsite.

 

View from our campsite

Panoramic of Garden of the Gods

 

Taming the Boulders!