Colorado Springs

Garden of the Gods is free, so every time we're in the vicinity we drive through.  Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day, so it wasn't as lovely as it is with sun shining on those red rocks.  It had rained on us off and on all the way to Colorado the previous day, and the clouds remained.

At the Visitor Center we watched a film explaining how the Garden of the Gods was formed.

Next, we went to Seven Falls, which I was surprised to learn had just re-opened this year after being closed in September, 2013, due to flood damage.   We parked the car at the Broadmoor Hotel, since that's the company that now owns Seven Falls, and rode a tram to the falls.

We didn't go to the highest observation platform, although ten years ago I'd have been gung ho to climb all those steps.  See those brave souls beginning their climb to the top?  It's a long way up there.

We chose to enter a hole in the mountain and take the elevator.  It doesn't go as high as those other steps, but it got us to a point where we could see all seven of the falls.

Of course I had to have a selfie of us.  If you look closely at Cliff's expression, you can almost tell what he's thinking:  "Why oh why did I ever leave home?"

On the way back to the Broadmoor, the tram driver mentioned The Penrose Heritage Museum, which was near the place where we had parked.  That gave us another place to visit on our first day.  We enjoyed it.

I believe it was shortly after this that we wandered around town trying to find a way up Cheyenne Mountain.  By the time we went through all that to no avail, I was getting sick of the Colorado Springs crowds and vowed to get out of there the next morning.

It seemed strange to drive past shops selling marijuana.  Colorado Springs only allows sales of medical marijuana, but in Manitou Springs, which is practically part of Colorado Springs, sells both the recreational and medical varieties.  I wanted to go inside the shop and take some pictures... which of course they wouldn't have allowed, but I didn't think of that.  The evening I intended to get my pictures, there was a line all the way out the door.  Not as long a line as in this picture I swiped off the Internet, though.

If you're interested, you can see the pricing and taxes on Maggies' Farm products on their website HERE.  We laughed at the couples coming out of the store, giggling like school kids playing hooky, with little bags of their purchases in hand.  

And there you have it, Day ONE of our unplanned visit to Colorado.