Super Vacation

We spent a tremendously relaxing three days in Peyton hosted by George and Helen. We would later come to find it may have been too relaxing. But that's getting ahead of ourselves. We lounged upstairs in the living room, and occasionally downstairs in the basement – sometimes on the porch, and sometimes in the dining room. Jordan and Jeremy pretended they were cowboys at one point and I climbed a tree.

On day two of the lounge-fest we borrowed Helen's Subaru and drove to Manitou Springs for a day trip. Passed through Colorado Springs on the way and deposited the car in the middle of downtown. Manitou is a tourist-friendly place with plenty of shops and a walkable downtown, all within, I believe, sight of Pike's Peak. Or at least it's close. We strolled around and visited all manner of souvenir boutiques. First we went to the Navajo store to browse dreamcatchers, and statuettes, and carved figurines, and woven blankets, and clocks and some John Wayne merchandise. We went to a music shop and a glass blowing place and a store specializing in dragons and the like. They also had voluptous fairy figurines and ridiculous swords and throwing stars. There was a bike shop too where I was very pleased to pick up a pair of used Speedplays for $15. We talked to the mechanic and some of the other employees about the trip and then set off looking for somewhere to eat. We stopped at the barbeque joint, dismayed to find that their mushroom burger was only topped with mushrooms, not made of mushrooms. Settled at the Nile Cafe for Gyros and Veggie Plates. Let us not forget the Poppy Seed, the hippie shop where we were shown some very fine glass mushrooms as well as a whole slew of Bob Marley tee shirts. And of course there was the bead store where you could customize your own jewelry.

Then we drove to Garden of the Gods, a stand of very impressive rocks tucked into the Colorado countryside. I'll let the photos do the talking and share a small anecdote. The Garden has been made friendly for all visitors and a concrete walkway loops around the different formations. Suffice it to say after the last month we yearned for more adventure. After somewhat rudely scoffing at some amateur rock climbers we ventured up a trail and to small boulders. Toward the end of the path was a sign imploring you to go no further and which also threatened a five hundred dollar fine if you did. We pressed on nonetheless and scrambled up some rocks to an excellent, if somewhat frightening, view. I should mention that the current “we” does not include Leslie, who depending on your perspective, exercised better judgment. We decided that was far enough and came back down the rock face and entered “legal” territory just before we met a very nice female ranger who told us we weren't supposed to be up there.

We drove back to Peyton and gorged ourselves as usual and started watching the movies we had rented. Wendy and Lucy, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Event Horizon, and TransAmerica. Speaking of the boob tube, Adam's grandparents have Versus and we joyfully watched the Tour every morning. Jeremy wrapped his bars with his new tape and everyone did some regular maintenance. We mapped out about eight days of riding before going to bed and naturally sleeping in the next morning. We ate too much ice cream, and too much pasta, and drank too many Hansen's, and too much cereal, etc. But we enjoyed every minute of it and are eternally grateful to George and Helen for having us. Thank you very much.

Career change?

We saw this sign in Missouri too. Five dollars more in Colorado.

Mineral springs. It tastes sort of like Perrier, but maybe more like Alka Seltzer.

Main drag, Manitou Springs.

Can you believe how big that plaque is?

Hanging loose.

From on high.