Colorful Colorado

A stunning view of Pikes Peak from Garden of the Gods.

Nathan has been in Colorado since April and I've been dying to pay him a visit. When we found out that he was, in fact, getting a long holiday weekend, I bought a last minute plane ticket into Denver. It was a quick trip but absolutely worth it! I landed Friday evening and flew back to Little Rock Tuesday morning, leaving us with three full days of adventure. The highlights of our time together included the Coors Light Brewery, downtown Denver, Royal Gorge, Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, and the Air Force Academy- in that order!

Saturday morning we made our way over to Golden to pay the Coors Light Brewery a visit. There was a pretty long wait and we're not Coors Light fans but, hey, it's free and you get three free beers (about 2.5 cans worth). The tour is self-guided and fairly short if you skip through the talking portions on your headset. We've done small brewery tours before but this place was HUGE! The copper mash tuns were two stories tall!

Check out the size of our free beer! 

After the brewery tour we walked around Denver, the state's capitol. There was also a free music festival at the 16th Street Mall (a mile long shopping strip) for the holiday weekend, but we didn't spend much time there because the amount of people walking around was insane. It was shoulder-to-shoulder and I got hit by lady's bicycle pedal soooo... bye. We walked around Capitol Hill and had dinner downtown instead of wading through the crowd.

Royal Gorge included the most adventurous 45 seconds of our entire trip! How? Because we zip-lined across it, of course! Built in 1929, the Royal Gorge Bridge is the highest suspension bridge in America. It's 1,260 ft in length and 956 ft above the Arkansas River. The zip line cost a pretty penny and we waited in the line for two hours, but it was worth it! (Yes, my mother did nearly have a heart attack after seeing pictures.)

I know it looks tiny in the picture, folks, but that's a full-size suspension bridge with people on it! 

A shot of the bridge from the zip line ft. Nathan's knee.

After Royal Gorge we went back to Colorado Springs and visited Garden of the Gods. Not only is it gorgeous and not too strenuous, but it's FREE! It has walkways that take you to beautiful natural rock formations. 

On Memorial Day we took the cog train up to the tip of Pikes Peak. You can hike, bike, or drive to the top, but keep in mind there's a 30-40 degree temperature change and 30% less oxygen when you're 14,115 ft up! Despite being nice and warm in Manitou Springs, it was 31 degrees and snowing on Pikes Peak. The round trip takes about 3 hours with a 30 minute break at the summit. The views from the train and at the summit were breathtaking. 

Views from the cog train!

Before heading back to Denver we made a quick stop at the Air Force Academy. I've always wanted to see the Chapel! 

I purchased our GoPro just before my trip (and by "just before" I mean, like, an hour before I left for the airport) so we were pretty much fiddling with it and learning how to use it the whole weekend. With that being said, behold! Shaky clips from our trip! I hope you guys enjoy this little video of random footage that I put together. 

Thanks for keeping up with us! 

Next stop: Texas

Dallas

The view from the GeO-Deck of Reunion Tower at sunset!

Dallas was on our bucket list for awhile considering it is only a five hour drive from Little Rock. With such little time left in Arkansas, we took quick weekend trip to the "Lone Star State" back in January. One full day in Dallas wasn't even close to enough time to explore this busy city. We visited sites nonstop and still missed out on some pretty big landmarks!

We purchased the Dallas CityPass ahead of time which gave us access to four attractions for a fraction of the regular admissions prices. With that, we were able to visit the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, The Sixth Floor Museum, Perot Museum of Nature and Science, and Reunion Tower. We also walked around the city and visited a few of its free attractions.

We got to Dallas on a Saturday afternoon and first up was the Dallas Arboretum. The gardens were still beautiful even in the winter. I can only imagine how stunning they must be during the spring!

When we arrived downtown we went to Dealey Plaza. Dealey Plaza is the location of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. A white "X" in the middle of Elm Street marks the location of where the fatal shot struck JFK on November 22, 1963. Behind it stands the Texas School Book Depository (now the Sixth Floor Museum) where the rifleman was located. It is so surreal to stand in the spot where such a tragic moment in history occurred.

The "X" marking where JFK was assassinated. The rifleman was located in the second window from the top on the right. 

We also went to The Sixth Floor Museum- the location of JFK's assassin. The museum covers the events leading up to the assassination and the aftermath. You aren't allowed to take photos of the exhibit but I was able to grab one from their website of the corner window- aka the "sniper's perch."

An accurate reconstruction of the crime scene. Photo belongs to The Sixth Floor Museum.

Sunday morning we went to the Perot Museum. It was fun, but there were so many people and children that you could hardly walk or focus. I would definitely recommend going here on a weekday or when they're not as busy!

Last on our Dallas to-do list was Reunion Tower. We timed our visit up to the GeO-Deck perfectly! We caught it right at sunset and the view was stunning.