living the high life

for our second day in colorado, we decided to revisit another tourist spot from our last trip to the area - pike's peak.  i was a little leery of it this time around though, because since that last visit i've gotten older and discovered that my body doesn't really love being up in super high altitudes.  i'd already been experiencing a little chest tightening and shortness of breath since we'd arrived, and knowing that pike's peak is more than 14,000 feet up - well, let's just say that i was having a little anxiety.

we drove through the little city of manitou springs on the way there, and giggled a little at the sign advertising santa's workshop at the north pole.

while we hadn't anticipated being able to ride the train that we'd taken up to the top last time, we were  still disappointed to find that it wasn't in operation at all.  the station was all boarded up and it looked like no one had been there in quite some time.

that's okay, though.  we made our way up the road and found ourselves in line to pay the toll that would allow us to drive up to the top of the mountain.

we were treated to some pretty views on the way up, and watched the temperature drop more and more as we climbed higher and higher.  there were even little patches of snow here and there.

when we arrived at the top of the mountain, i was really surprised to find that the altitude wasn't bothering me at all.  in fact, it was easier for me to breathe up there than it was down at the resort.  so weird.  and here, too, things had changed quite a bit.  they're building a new summit visitor center and a research facility and laboratory up here, so there was a flurry of construction activity going on.

there was a pretty long line of folks (most of which were wearing masks, yay!) who were waiting to either go into the gift shop or take advantage of the photo ops.  not wanting to wait, we walked over to the other side of the fenced-off area to take in the views and snap a family photo.

as we made our way back to the truck, we encountered this sweet dog who just watched teddy go nuts, barking and growling at him as we passed.  that dog would eat you, teddy.  calm down.

oddly enough, it was the hub who found himself feeling a little lightheaded as we started making our way back down the mountain.  still, he managed to pull it together enough to enjoy the sights and pretty views as we drove along.

we stopped at this gift shop about halfway down to pick up some souvenirs, like a magnet to add to our collection at home.

off to the side, i found this:

 inside the gift shop, we found the magnet we wanted along with a coffee mug for the hub's (also growing) collection.  and i decided that we needed to bring these home to the old lady's special friend because why not:

back in the car, i picked up the crochet project i'd been working on and almost totally missed the
"leaving pike national forest" sign that i'd wanted to capture to share here.  blarg.

oh well.  you can still see it, right?  sorta.

whatever.  it was still a fun outing, and then we headed back to the resort to relax and take a nap.  ah, vacation.  gotta love it.

revisiting the garden

our first full day in colorado started with a wake-up call from the dogs, alerting us to the very scary presence of a bunny on the grass just outside our room.

we were pretty amused at how much they both loved jumping back and forth from one bed to the other.

traveling with dogs is pretty interesting.  most places are really quite accommodating and don't bat an eye at seeing customers with their canine companions.  for the most part, any place that has an outdoor patio is cool with seating you with your dog, even offering to bring them bowls of water as they take human drink orders.  and being outside is better anyway, especially during this time of covid.  plus, it allows for easy access to grassy areas for potty breaks.

we'd gotten a pretty late start because we'd slept in so late.  and so for our afternoon outing, we went on a drive to the garden of the gods.  the hub and i have been here once before - on a segway tour.

unlike that first time, it was really crowded that day.  because there were so many people out and about - with only a few masks in sight - we opted not to get out and walk around.  instead, we followed the road and drove through the entire park, oohing and aahing over the views and the rocks.

cocoa really loves to feel the wind in her face.

teddy, on the other hand, was quite unimpressed and snoozed through most of the ride.

also, this is always going to make me laugh.  because i'm 12.

hitting the road

we took off last weekend for what is in all likelihood the only vacation we'll get to do in 2020.  it kinda kills me that a year ago, we were in hawaii - but that's definitely out this year because getting on a plane just doesn't sound like something i want to do in the near future.  but looking at the bright side, i do love a good road trip - and another bonus?  this way we get to take the dogs with us!

truth be told, i'm not sure that they like road tripping all that much based on previous experiences with our weekly day trips.  cocoa handles it pretty well, curling up happily in anyone's lap to sleep through the ride.  but teddy always has trouble getting himself settled, restlessly sitting up or wandering from the back seat to the front and back again several times before finally finding a spot to lay down and take a snooze.  knowing that we were going to be on the road for a lot of hours, we did our best to make it comfortable in the back seat not only for the bean but for the puppies too.

traffic early that saturday morning was pretty much nonexistent, and we found ourselves driving through vegas less than three hours later.

teddy was particularly happy to get a potty break when we stopped for gas, jumping into the empty driver's seat as soon as the hub got out.

i don't remember what time it was when we crossed the border into arizona, and i never did get a picture of the "welcome to nevada" sign - if there was one.

the views along the way were a little more interesting than the emptiness of the drive from home to vegas.

and then before we knew it, we were making our way into utah.

the bean and teddy were snoozing in the backseat together.

and pretty soon i was passed out too, leaving the hub to sip his energy drink and sing along to whatever he had on the radio.  i was actually pretty surprised i'd lasted that long, because usually when you put me in a moving car for any length of time i'm out in no time.  i take my best naps in the car.

when i woke up i found that we were driving along down some pretty picturesque roads.  i guess there's really only so many pictures of rocks and roads one can (or should) take, but it really was very pretty.

one of the reasons i'd always wanted to learn to knit or crochet was because it's a portable hobby.  i knew i'd be able to pack it up and take it on long drives or plane rides and whatnot.  and i'd decided to try my first blanket using some super soft "velvet" yarn and an easy pattern i'd found online.  i was making some pretty good progress and then cocoa decided to come over and sit in my lap, using the ball of yarn as a pillow and very effectively putting a stop to my crocheting.

she's lucky she's so cute.

and as it was starting to get darker (and taking away an hour as we crossed time zones), we were finally in colorado.

our destination was colorado springs, which took a few more hours to reach.  we pulled in at the cheyenne mountain resort somewhere around 11:30, and while the hub went inside to check us in the bean and i took the dogs out for a much-needed potty break.  our room ended up being on the first floor, which was a good thing given our canine companions, and after checking things out everyone got settled in and fell asleep almost as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

day one, check!

the most important meal of the day. and more s'mores

i'm slowly getting over my weird hesitation to cook in my new kitchen.  one morning, i decided to bust out the package of golden malted pancake mix i'd ordered from amazon - it's the same mix that they use at disneyland for their famous mickey waffles.  i measured it out and added egg, some milk and some melted butter and poured some batter onto my preheated pan.

the new range has a griddle built right into the cooktop, but i hadn't had time to season it properly as the installers had recommended.  that'll have to wait for another day.

while the pancakes were cooking, i turned on the air fryer to make some bacon to go with them.  i'd read that it was the easiest and fastest way to cook it, and i was excited to give it a try.

i kind of underestimated the power of the air fryer and ended up with mostly overcooked bacon, but managed to salvage a few pieces that the bean wouldn't deem too burnt for her taste.  she was pretty happy with the plate i served up for her.

the next morning, i decided to make some spam and eggs.  we've all been talking about how much we miss hawaii and have no idea when we'll get to go back, so if we can't be there at least we can eat like we are

i was super excited when i finally found my hand mixer in one of the many kitchen boxes we'd packed up and stored in the garage for the last few months.  it's so much easier than hand whisking the mixture for dalgona coffee:

and then one night, the bean and i decided it was a good time to try out a different idea for s'mores.  instead of making them the usual way like we'd done the week before, we broke up the chocolate bar and placed the pieces on the bottom of an oven safe baking dish.  then we stuffed as many of those giant marshmallows in it as we could fit, and popped it right into the air fryer, set at 390.  we kept a close eye on it, and when the marshmallows were just the right shade of golden we turned it off and pulled it out.  it'd taken all of about 3 minutes.

kinda looks like a bowl of hawaiian rolls, doesn't it?

we dug into it with pieces of graham cracker, and it was DELISH.  highly recommended.

still haven't found any bread flour or yeast.  bummer.  but when i do...it's ON.