Colorado Springs 7/17-7/18

I finally had a day off from work, so we decided to try to make another trip while we all could. After I got home we changed the oil, with the help of the apartment manager and about 4 of the construction workers in our parking lot, all of who we so nice to spend so much time looking for the right size wrench to get the plug out. We left right in time to make it to Denver rush hour, and the 90-100 mile trip took over 3 hours!! Upon arriving in Colorado Springs at around 7:30, we got some dinner at Denver founded Quizno's and started looking for a campsite before it got too dark out. Finding a campsite took us FOREVER, and we ended up having to pay a bunch of drunks who rented out an entire camp ground to let us take a site. The first place we tried to visit with a bunch of Native American cave dwellings did not open for another 30 mins after we arrived, but our next stop, Garden of the Gods was a pretty cool place as you will see

The first town we went to that we planned on camping at (the Lone Duck campgrounds was probably the most commercial campgrounds I've ever seen, with like 100 RVs, a pool, and hundreds of mullets.) Jen was trying to fit in with the crowd

Pikes Peak which has become a big tourist attraction, with a road and a train all the way up.

Pikes Peak

As we are driving into Garden of the Gods, this is the view from the car

Right after parking, we see probably the only wildlife in the park

The wild west

Jack is actually in that crack, no joke, just shadows

Somehow I got that helicopter effect

Pikes Peak from a different angle

some natural "trails" between the formations

The title rock I guess

Come on Jen, Mac at least pretends to read the information signs

A big freakin wall

some sweet couples, and the lone cameraman extending a 10,000 mile arm

The group

Shoulda stopped for this one probably

Some awesome faces

a bunch of formations

After planning on visiting Seven Falls, "the Grandest Mile of scenery" and finding out it cost $8.25 per person, the lady in the booth told us to visit Helen Hunt falls which was too far away, was free and still really pretty. This is Helen Hunt falls...don't see the falls? there wasn't really any falls and it wasn't really very pretty. It was a long drive up a mountain, then a good hike up some more for a 45 degree rock with about 1/4 inch of water running down it.

along Helen Hunt falls, there was signs saying that this was Colorado Springs' water supply, well we walked up here for this??!! we had to leave something