Crash!

Sunday, August 14th. Driving South from Denver was a breeze. Our first glimpses of the mountains! We are officially on the road!

First stop: FOOD! It wasn't even 10 a.m. CO time but we were starving! Guess that is what happens when you get up early...see usually back home in Wisconsin we are just rolling out of bed and eating breakfast at that time! (only in the summer that is!)

As soon as we had some nourishment we headed to Garden of the Gods. This has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world! A stop in the visitors center gave us a little history and interesting facts...we even found out one of the helpful volunteers was from WI! It's a small world because we parked next to a couple from Madison and we saw another WI family hiking!

Hiking through Garden of the Gods was amazing, challenging and exciting for all of us! The 3J's had a blast hiking off trail climbing and exploring. Add in the element of rattlesnake territory and it's watching every step!

Our list of license plates began and within a few hours we already found 30/50!!!! Amazing!

Time to "check-in" to our mountain rental home for the week. This can be nerve wracking. Will we find it easily (we brought the GPS)? Will the lock box work? Will the house be what we thought it would be? Well, we found it just fine though the mountain roads are extremely steep and scary........our driveway was a trip n a half!!!!! Put it this way: the kids were crying, I was freaked and we all jumped out and left D to fend for himself! Bye bye daddy :(
Ok, so now we have kids on a side of the mountain crying, a stuck crappy rental car, and now what? D wanted me to SIT on the hood of the car to weigh it down, no way not with the chance of the car slipping backwards???? Ah, ha, an idea! Take the luggage out of the trunk. Yes! So we lugged everything out "under our house"......and tadaaaa, after a bit of maneuvering it worked! The car is parked!!!!!!! Wipe away the tears, kids! Breathe, D!

On the other hand, our house is perfect!!!! It's a raised home shaped like an octagon. If you know us we like unique places to stay. This is similar to the spaceship we rent up north but much larger but it has that feel! The views from our home are beautiful! We're tucked in the base of Pikes Peak....if that gives you an idea of where we are. (Near the entrance to the Pikes Peak Highway and about 10 min from Manitou) Inside the home is every Child's dream loft with ladder which leads to a double bed for sleeping then to a catwalk to another secret loft! Huge picture windows look out into the mountains with 2 decks for relaxing. Everything about the home we loved....minus the driveway!

Unpack, then leave! On to our dinner date with the B family in Colorado Springs. How great to see the entire family and to be treated like royalty! Smoked chicken, corn on the cob, peach cobbler.......and more! It definitely was a royal welcome!

And we can't not mention my cousin G1's love of extreme sports and such! The 3J's were entertained and J1 even rode a dirt bike on her own! Go J1! My J boys were loving it as well!! My boys which are usually fairly quiet and shy, made friends easily with G1! And G1 gave the boys a talk about gun safety (even with those Nerf guns they have at home this will come in handy).

By the time we got back to our home it was quite late, we had been up since 4 am and we are ready to crash. Not that kind of crash, crash into bed! But first we have to not crash as we have to attempt that crazy driveway again!!!! Once again, tears are flowing and we take a running start and we almost make it, a few scary back-ups and forward again as we almost hit
the retaining wall, we are parked!!!! Wipe away the tears.....and CRASH!


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