Rocky Mountain HIGH

The view from Pike's Peak

So I bought a t-shirt in the gift shop at the top of Pike's Peak. It says:

Pike's Peak - 14,115 feet - Being this high is illegal in most states, but not this one!

I didn't expect to come to Colorado on this trip. After a few days in Northern New Mexico, we were supposed to go South, to Las Cruces, Ruidoso, and Roswell. But our plans changed and we thought HEY! Let's go north and see if we can find some aspen trees!

I also wanted to check out another possible retirement spot: Manitou Springs. Just next to Colorado Springs and at the foot of Pike's Peak, it's a cute town that in some ways reminds me of (a way smaller) Asheville. It just has a funky vibe to it, and lots of interesting people.

Manitou Springs

There were a lot of things I liked about Manitou Springs, but I'm still too enamored with Los Alamos to think about living anywhere else right now.

Manitou Springs is close to Garden of the Gods, and we spent several hours there walking through the park and watching some rock climbers.

Garden of the Gods: Walking in the Shadows

 

Garden of the Gods: The Descent

I still hadn't seen many of those awesome aspen trees, so we drove around the mountains via Woodland Park, Divide, and Midland out to Victor and Cripple Creek. And there they were! Words like AWESOME!!! and STUNNING!!! don't do them justice. Just look at these photos, which by the way, only capture a tiny fraction of what the eyes see.
 

Aspens along the road to Cripple Creek.

The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

My eyes are so much richer now as a result of seeing the aspen trees in their glory. I will never be the same again.

Looking forward to a return visit to Colorado. And by the way, the only Rocky Mountain High I got was breathing the air up at Pike's Peak. Oh, and listening to the John Denver song a time or two.

mm
:)

P.S. Colorado is nice, but I left my heart in New Mexico.