Manitou Springs, Colorado

August 10, 2010







Manitou Springs, Colorado

We did not get much of a rest after attending One Night Stand as Kathy & I had to rush home and pack and make our final preparations for vacation to Colorado that began early the next morning with a flight to Atlanta where we met up with Kathy’s father Jim before boarding a plane to Denver. With the time change factor we were in Denver shortly after noon and on our way south to the little Mountain town of Manitou Springs, where Kathy’s brother Chris and his family live.

Kathy, Kari, James, Chris, Sophie & Jim



Manitou Springs is a funky little hamlet that is just west of the larger city of Colorado Springs with the entire area known simply as The Springs. Nestled at the foot of Pikes Peak, Manitou is at once a historic town and a thriving artistic community with a nice array of nice restaurants and shops to keep tourists content.

James



Sophie

Chris and his wife Kari and children Sophie and James live on Ruxton Avenue, just below the trailhead for the Barr Trail and the Cog Train depot that lead to the peak of Pikes Peak. It is a great location and conveniently for us, the cottage just next door to their home is a rental so we were able to stay right next door.







Our schedule included three nights in Manitou, giving us a nice window of time to both hang out with family and take in some touristy activities as well. We also made time to head over and check out the house that we own nearby. We purchased the house in 2005 and rent it out to help cover the mortgage. We got to meet the current tenants and check it all out and all seemed well.







We spent the first day hanging out, going with Sophie to watch her take equestrian lessons. Living in Key West, being able to go to a full-on stable and get a small taste of the real West. We have two horses in Key West, both used by the police department and rarely if ever to they ever get above a slow trot, so it was cool to see horses actually running in open spaces.

Kari, Kathy, Sophie





We made it to the downtown area a number of times, to eat at our favorite restaurants, The Loop and The Keg, to drink microbrews in our favorite bar/ mountain gear shop Kinfolks and to enjoy ice cream at the local creamery. We even got to witness first hand a real gully washer downpour during which the streets were flooded and clogged with dirt and debris carried down the mountain.



Jim, James & Chris

But most of all we got to just hang out and spend quality time with family, a perfect start to a week-long adventure in the beautiful state of Colorado.