Sneak Peek!!

Nikki's mom (Diane), grandma (Shirley), and aunt (Charlene) are in town to visit and go geocaching and exploring around Colorado (and parts of Wyoming!). Nikki and I spent last Sunday with them driving around the Rocky Mountains, but we can't post the pictures yet because we let the family borrow Nikki's laptop, and she doesn't have time to edit the photos at work.

In the meantime, I've stayed on with the ladies to go exploring and see parts of Colorado that I haven't seen with Nikki and Steve yet. Diane sent Nikki this picture via text message yesterday:

This is me hanging out in a rock at Garden of the Gods. I'll link more info when I get to post about the trip.

Can't wait to share my adventures with y'all!!

The Cave of the Winds...the part I got to see, anyway.

I'm going to keep my hilarious wit and comments mostly to myself for this post, as punishment to Nikki (and, inadvertently, all of you) for not being allowed in the caves. Nikki kept promising "Oh, maybe next time when we do the lighted tour..." BUT WHO KNOWS WHEN NEXT TIME WILL BE?! I mean, yeah, we're basically spending the next several years out here, so it's not like I have to do ALL the cool stuff RIGHT NOW, but...pfft. Armadillos are not known for their patience.

These next few pictures are of the view from the Caves' parking lot.

Aw, look at the cute couple! So in love! <3

"Please" tell me "why" you put "please" in quotation "marks"? (Also, it is SO TEMPTING to throw rocks here! You'll see in the next picture, but man, a crazy sign only makes it more tempting!)

The view looking DOWN into the canyon! The Caves' visitors center has two levels of balconies with scenic overlooks. Nikki kept looking at me funny the whole time she and I were standing on the bottom-most balcony, looking out below. I finally asked her what was up, and she told me that she REALLY wanted to throw something over the side, but all she had was her super-expensive camera, her shoes, her purse...AND ME. I told her we should catch up with the group, and luckily, she took me with her instead of chucking me over the side!

This last one is directly across the canyon from where we were standing. Those hole are other cave mouths. Nikki and I agreed that it'd be SO COOL to go over there and go exploring! Then she pointed out that if we managed to do that, we'd probably die, as neither of us has ever been caving before. If you look, you can kinda see how the rocks and tree form a creepy devil monkey face!

Hanging out with the #1 Threat to America. Rowr!

This statue's....FOR THE BIRDS. yuk yuk yuk

What IS this awesome jungle gym-like creation? It's only the COOLEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN:

$20 and you can climb and hang over the side of a mountain. You're three stories up...ON THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN! We saw a guy who was harnessed in scaring the hell outta some girl friends by leaning backwards OVER THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN. Nikki wanted to go. I wanted to go. But no one else did. They poo-pooed the price and were all, "Oh, yeah, you're over the mountain, but there's no guarantee you'll fall to your death because you're super strapped-in." NIKKI'S FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES ARE INSANE. So once again, I was denied a cool experience. Anyone reading this who wants to come out to Denver and grow a pair, please let me know, and we'll climb all over this monstrosity!

I'm gonna end this blog entry with two pictures of silly hats:

Kerry

Me (thanks, Kerry, for the helping hands!)

Colorado Springs

I'ma just throw this out here at the top of the post, and sorry to the people of Colorado Springs if you disagree with me. THERE'S NO GOOD REASON TO GO TO COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO. Maybe they were just having an off-day or something, but there was NOTHING going on! A bunch of funny statues, a GREAT view of the mountains, and a really tasty Mexican-fusion restaurant, but that's about it. The streets were dead on a Saturday (!), and too many of the stores were closed forever. I think it was Steve who pointed out that people LIVE in Colorado Springs, but they work and play elsewhere. Since we were only stopping through on our way to/from Manitou Springs and the Cave of the Winds, I guess his point was made for him.

Cave of the Winds is this awesome natural wonder of a cave system. Two little brothers were out in the mountains trying to scare each other silly when they found a cave. They did a little exploring, heard what sounded like ghosts, and freaked out. They told people in town that they found a haunted cave, but adults never believe kids, so they laughed them off. Except one man, who explored the cave, realized it had the potential to become an AWESOME tourist trap, and bought the land to make it an attraction.

Sorry that's not a very detailed description. I only got this story second-hand from Nikki because ONCE AGAIN I wasn't allowed to participate in an awesome attraction! This time, it was Nikki who made the discriminatory call. "I'm going to want to take pictures AND I have to carry this lantern AND I might need to prevent myself from falling down onto sharp rocks. I can't carry you." Pffft. So I got stuck in the hot car AGAIN.

My job in this entry is to show you some silly pictures of me in Colorado Springs.

Behold! The beauty and splendor of the mountains, as seen from quiet Colorado Springs, Colorado!

Ooooooooh! Aaaaahhhhh!

(Special thanks to Dan for holding me up.)

I'm pretty sure this is the Colorado Springs Visitor Center. Or...Pioneer Museum. Or...?

Why, who is this dashing and handsome fellow in whose company I've found myself?

With a name like "Zebulon," you know he got allllll the ladies back in his day. ;)

While I've always been a sucker for men in uniform like Zeb, there's just something about the ruggedness and manliness of a cowboy. Enter Hank, every cowgirl's dream. (And every armadillogirl's dream too!)

Look at his strong hands, his confident, laid-back stance...he's so hot! Literally! It was, like, 85-degrees that day in the sun, and my man Hank is made out of metal! Scorched!

This is a literal, artistic interpretation of how big my love for Hank is.

Just joking! It's this statue:

And now, some art that doesn't make sense:

That's, like, Hampden-level crazy right there. I half expected a giant, metal flamingo and a Christmas tree made of hubcaps to be around the corner! (Sick Baltimore-in-joke!)

Probably the coolest thing in Colorado Springs. I wanted to take a peek inside, but apparently, no one had time to humor a stuffed armadillo. >:P
(Thanks again to Dan for the help.)

Right before we left Colorado Springs to go to the caves, I made a "friend":

I was utterly convinced that she was going to eat me, and when Nikki asked her owners if we could take a picture together, I was thisclose to smacking the camera out of her hands and running away! But luckily, the pooch's owners had some cheese and apple bites off-camera to keep her drooling maw away from me, so we took the picture, and then I bolted back to the safety of the car.