Mile High City and Colorado Springs

Friday we traveled to Colorado for Taylor's MCAT test.  He entertained me on the hour flight with his hands lip-syncing songs on my iPod.

"Now somewhere in the black mining hills of Dakota..."

 When we got there, I rented my first car.  

25 and ready to drive!

And after I got used to driving an automatic which drives like a bad stick shift, we went to Dinosaur Ridge.

All those shale layers!  This nerd was in heaven.

Dinosaurs walked HERE!

Ripples from a prehistoric body of water.

 After we got extrememly hot and sweaty, we cooled off at the nice hotel my Dad got us.

 It was right across the street from the testing center, so we made sure to check it out.

Is Taylor ready for his test?

 Of course he is!

We are counting it as good luck that as we were leaving we found a bunny.

 And then as we got in the car to drive, we found some ducks...more good luck.  So I told Taylor it was God saying he was doing the right thing and He would help him.  But Taylor jokingly wanted another sign and said "give me a moose!"  So after the words left his mouth we saw a Newfoundland dog....I mean it's as big as a moose and its from his mission...God heard him.

Saturday we woke up super early and got all of Taylor's snacks ready for his test day that we bought Friday night.  He was the nerd eating vegetables and hummus instead of Rockstars and Monsters.

It was an 8 hour test so I napped, knitted, watched TV, and otherwise relaxed a lot while he had to work hard.  

I made sure to be right outside when he was done and I got to hear all the kids complain about the test being hard and how they wanted to throw up as they walked out.  Poor guys.

We went to Red Lobster to celebrate.

 After we ate we walked around, and found me a new backpack-purse because apparently I deserved to be spoiled more that day.

We saw Inside Out at a theater close by and then stayed up 'til 1 am just because Taylor wanted to, since he hadn't been able to for so long...Hashtag, it's the little things in life.

Sunday we woke up to a nice breakfast at the hotel and then went to the Denver Zoo.

Taylor got up close and personal with this huge cat.

 I got to introduce myself to a Komodo Dragon who said he'd love to eat meet Tannin some time.  That wasn't a Freudian slip was it?

 After the zoo we went to my Uncle Steven and Aunt Lillian's.

They gave us dinner and showed us around their ranch.

These horses and their wheat grass....

 Taylor also got to show off his pool skills.

I won though because 2 out of the 3 games he sank the black 8 before he was supposed to...

 Then we talked a lot, and Taylor entertained us with his hand-lip-syncing of "River of Dreams" by Billy Joel.

 Monday we woke up early to hit up the Garden of the Gods.  Which really I think should be named God's Dish Rack.  I mean, they are perpendicular plates drying in the sun right?

God's red dishes are very pretty.

Hot, rock-hard muscles.

And we definitely used that selfie sick!

Kissing Camels rock in the background called for the "real thing".

Mmm!  Kisses!

The Gateway,

 This picture is entitled "Geology Nerd to the Max"

"...and this layer here shows evidence of an ancient sandune..."  Of course I'm listening.

 Balanced Rock

If that woman wasn't there....Timberrr!

We decided to drive up Pike's Peak.

 And I was anxious the whole time....why couldn't Taylor be 25 and the driver?  Why?!

That seems like a pretty straight drop off to me. I was trying to drive around curves and only got a couple feet of road as a buffer.

And when you're not scared about driving off the cliff, the view is spectacular.

Them curving roads were treacherous.  This is a great shot depicting on of the MANY curves.

And there's nothing on the top but snow and rocks!  Dirty snow!  And all that can grow are rocks.

Finally made it to the top!  Whew!  Good thing I was wearing sweat-wicking gear!

I'm smiling because I'm happy it's finally done.

Also, I just want to mention the one good thing about this car...gas mileage...Only had to fill up once at the end for the entire trip!  And that was after driving up a mountain!

Monday night we found a hotel that was the same brand of the one we stayed at Disneyland (which made me want to go to Disneyland).

We ate pizza in celebration of being done with the MCAT and not longer having to worry about trying to not get sick off dairy before the test.  

We watched "Taken."  Because Taylor is like Liam Neeson who kicked those bad guys' (the MCAT's) a****.  And then we sat ourselves down in a hot tub.

Tuesday we headed over to Castlewood Canyon State Park.  We started on the Canyon View trail.

 I spy with my little eye....

 This little guy was so eager to get across the sidewalk but kept getting spooked by us.

The grass is always greener, and crickets always sweeter, on the other side.
Insert joke about why the lizard crossed the road...

We also hiked the Inner Canyon and Lake Gulch trails.

What took so long, slow poke?

The trail was fun because most of it wasn't razed and you had to bound over rocks.

I'm ready, are you?

This jump was actually a lot bigger when you're the jumper and not the photographer.  I swear it was 4 feet 9 feet across.

The Cave trail

We could see big birds circling above us while we hiked.  It was a good thing we were able to get more water at the visiting center or otherwise they may have been circling us...

Vultures!

 This could be why.....

Cute!

 The Waterfall

Also, I got more burned on this trip than the ginger boy.  Not fair.