The End of One Adventure and the Beginning of Another

Day 39- All we did today was repack the car and relax. Coffee and movies...

Day 40- Headed to Chicago today, after having breakfast and saying goodbye to my aunt and uncle. We arrived at my friend's, LizB, place at Moody later that afternoon. We walked around Chicago, went to the lake and got smoothies at Cassava Cafe.

Day 41- My last day with Susan. We left early from the apartment we stayed in and met LizB for coffee and breakfast before she headed to work. Then Susan and I went to Millennium Park, we saw Cloud Gate, also known as the Bean, we sat there and talked to Trina on the phone for a while.

We headed to the airport early so I could drop Susan off. We said bye and I headed to meet Beth, Beth and Ashley.
When I got there, I transferred my things to Beth's car, left my car, and we all headed west, off on another adventure! We stopped in Macon, MO for lunch at a little place called Ashley's Apple Basket, such good food and amazing pie.

We made it to Kansas City, to BG's uncle's place, where we stayed for the night.

Day 42- We left around 7 AM this morning and got coffee at Scooter's and free donuts at Krispy Kreme. We drove all day and made it to Colorado Springs, CO. After checking into our hotel, we headed to Seven Falls. We hiked to the falls and climbed the stairs to see them better. Then onto Manitou Springs for dinner, we ate at the Phantom Canyon Brewing Company, walked around town and laughed at the people playing Pokemon Go!

Day 43- Today we went to Cave of the Winds, the Cliff Dwellings.

"Dreams of mountains as in their sleep they brood on things eternal." 

Eddie made an appearance at the Cliff Dwellings.

Since we had 6 hours before we had to be at Pike's Peak, we went to Garden of the Gods. We only saw the Siamese Twins because it was so crowded there.

We headed to Manitou Springs again and walked around by the springs, we even tried one of the springs, mineral water. We found a little cafe where we tried a drink called mate, so yummy! Then onto Pike's Peak, we climbed about 400 steps of the Maintou Incline.

Then we sat at the train depot while waiting for the train to take us up the mountain. We rode the train up to the peak, it was under 50 degrees up there, we walked around, and took a few pictures. The elevation is 14, 110 feet at the top and I definitely noticed that it was harder to breathe up there.

Back at the hotel we ordered pizza and went to bed.

Day 44- We all got up early this morning and went to Garden of the Gods again to see the sunrise. On the way we stopped at McDonalds for coffee and breakfast. The park was amazing and no one else was there, so perfect!

Back at the hotel, we got ready for the day and had some more breakfast food. We decided that we would eat our meals today like Hobbits. Breakfast before the Garden, second breakfast back at the hotel, then onto Chick-Fil-A for elevensies. We may have eaten too much at elevensies because none of us were hungry for lunch or afternoon tea. On the way to Denver, we stopped at the Air Force Academy.

We took the scenic route to Indian Hills, near Denver, where we were staying with some friends of mine. We had dinner and headed back to the house. It was so good to see Brianna and Katrina again!

Day 45- This morning was our day in Idaho Springs, we went white water rafting. On the second big rapid we all went overboard, except for our guide, he was able to pull us all back into the boat very quickly. Other than some bruises, we were all alright and had a great time.

We went to BeauJo's for pizza for lunch and headed back to Indian Hills. After cleaning up a bit we went to Casa Bonita for dinner, after eating, we watched the diving and explored the place. We went into Denver and walked around the 16th Street Mall for a while, met BG's friend and he showed us around a little bit.

Day 46- We went to the capital building and took the tour just so we could go up to the dome to see the view of the city.

Met BG's friend at some food trucks for lunch and then we went to REI. BG and BK went to a coffee shop and as Ashley and I headed to the coffee shop, we stopped at the river and talked for a bit.

The four of us wandered around 16th Street Mall again, had some dinner and went back to the house. We wanted to spend some time with my friends since we were staying with them, so we watched the Bachelorette with them.

Day 47- We left Brianna's today and went north to Boulder where we stopped at the Celestial Seasoning factory and took the tour. So much tea!

Then onto Estes Park, we had lunch and drove through Rocky Mountain National Park, we saw lots of elk, deer and marmots and a moose and her baby from a long ways away.

Day 48- Woke up early today to go hiking in the park. Went to Bear Lake, Emerald Lake, and Sprague Lake, we kept our eyes open for animals but didn't see anything more than elk.

After our day of hiking, we headed to Cheyenne, WY to stay for the night. Ashley and I walked downtown Cheyenne and we found the plaza. There was live music and food trucks, so we split a pizza and got coffee.

Day 49- We left Cheyenne this morning, taking I-80 all the way across the country through Nebraska and Iowa. It was a long day of driving and we stayed in Davenport, IA tonight.

Day 50- We had breakfast and headed to Chicago. We picked up my car and Ashley and I drove back home together. It was good to get home, see my family and my cat.

The end of this adventure but soon I will be continuing on with my adventure of nursing school. Only one year left and then who knows what. ;)