Garden of the Gods

Last Sunday, Sara and I took off for Colorado Springs to see the Garden of the Gods. This is a small, city-run park whose land was bequeathed to the city by the children of Charles Elliot Perkins so that the public could enjoy it for free, forever. Despite the pricetag, I honestly thought this little park had some of the best scenery in Colorado. It’s made up of giant spires of red rock, created by horizontal slabs of sandstone and limestone tilted vertically when the Rocky Mountains formed and then sculpted down by rain and wind.


You’re free to walk among some of the largest formations in the park and can also climb them, but must leave no trace unless your rigging blends in with the rock. We got about ¾ done with our walk when it began to rain - too bad my poncho was back in Greeley. I’ll let the beautiful pictures speak for themselves.

Kissing Camels

And the rain came tumbling down...

Right at the base of the Rocky Mountain foothills is the Air Force Academy. Since it has its own Visitor’s Center, we decided to stop by. It’s a pretty impressive facility, which trains you to be an Air Force officer right out of college. Flying and learning right next to the beautiful mountains is probably exhilarating. I got a good laugh at the sign explaining where all “Explosive Laden Vehicles” should be going as well. However, it’s a very rigid and busy life there. There are regular white-glove room inspections, you must march between classes, and the summer break is only three weeks. When you get out of college, you’re indebted to the American Public to serve at least five years in the Air Force (yes, we taxpayers pay about $300,000 for each cadet to get through school). I know Nathan would have loved to go here and I actually started to think it wouldn’t be that bad. Just as I was about to ask what students with spouses do, I was told you had to graduate by the time you’re 23. It’s kind of a depressing thought that already at 26 you’ve missed out on at least one of life’s opportunities!


The campus gem is an aluminum chapel, which incorporates several religions and elements of airplanes with the idea that if cadets can learn, fight, and die in an airplane, they can worship in one too.


On the way home, we stopped in Denver for dinner. We really didn’t know what to get, so walked up and down their version of Madison’s State Street – 16th Avenue Walkway and Larimer Square. We settle on a place called Ted’s Montana Grill, which specialized in beef and bison. After thoroughly enjoying our tenderloin steak and bison pot roast, we discovered that this is Ted Turner’s restaurant. Perhaps the meat came from his personal stock!

After three days in Colorado, I would like to make the announcement that I will be moving here. I just need to figure out the job situation and convince Nathan, but it’s got everything one might need. Renewable energy tech jobs (for me), parks (for Nathan), decently-priced houses, mountains (plenty of tall ones to climb!), cowboys and rodeos, a big city in case we get sick of cowboys and rodeos, and a smoking ban. What more could anyone ever want?