Sunday, August 31, 2014
Midday in the Garden of the Gods

Our day began at a breakfast spot called “Over Easy.”  I had been reading about it and, since the hotel we stayed in last night did not have complementary breakfast, we decided to try it.  When we arrived, we were told that there was a 65-minute wait.  That was fine because from the highway, we saw a Costco sign, and, to kill the time, we moved across the parking lot and bought another GPS.  Our travels got so much easier!

Back to the breakfast spot—many people know that we eat steel-cut oats for breakfast almost every morning.  Over Easy did not have oatmeal.  They had so many other healthy offerings—granola and yogurt, kale smoothies, etc.  They also had cooked quinoa—with honey, coconut milk, walnuts, and berries.  I wasn’t sure about this, but I tried it and it was delicious!  I knew ahead of time that I could eat almost anything if it had walnuts in it, but I would have enjoyed this even without the walnuts.  I’ve made quinoa as a rice or potato substitute for dinner, but never thought to try it this way.

After breakfast, we headed straight back to the Garden of the Gods. 

One thing we’ve learned about the Colorado weather is that one minute the sun is beating down on us with a pleasant breeze and the most beautiful azure skies and puffy clouds, and the next minute, the clouds are dark gray and big rain drops start falling, and then, suddenly, it’s back to sunny.  Today’s visit again started with big raindrops, which dissipated in a few minutes.  What a gift this day was!  We set off on a little hike that led us around most of the formations—massive red boulders jutting straight up in the air  

and narrow pinnacles that created castle-like structures.

One gigantic boulder had a formation at its crest that resembles two camels nose-to-nose; this is known as the “kissing camels” and is one of the best known formations in the Garden.

What a great day it was to be amidst all these wonders.

Manitou Springs is a trendy little town with lots of shops, art studios, cafes, and plenty of tourists, especially on this holiday weekend. Getting through town is tedious with all the traffic; however, we finally found the sign that read “Cog Railway,” and we weaved our way up that mountain, only to learn that the last train had left for the day.  The reservation office was closed already, but we are hoping to be able to get on one of the trains heading up to the top of Pike’s Peak tomorrow.