Colorado Springs

I have a slight problem with falling in love with every place we ever live during baseball season and imagining us living there for the rest of our lives and raising our babies there. This too has happened with Colorado Springs. It has been about 80 degrees here this week, and ever since then I have absolutely enjoyed every second I've been here. I'm sure my opinion was not the same about the place when I was wearing three layers of clothing and running from my car to avoid all the snow, but a couple 80-degree days tend to give me amnesia about those types of things.

This was taken on one of the main roads here.

There are so many things to love about this place! There's the mountains, and errrr.... the, ummm... Mountains...

Ok, so the mountains are probably the basis of it's appeal. But what else do ya really need?! I haven't really come across as many hippies here in the Springs as I have in Denver and Boulder, but I have seen a few of their less-wacky, less-intense counterparts here- the Free Spirits* (see below). And I gotta say, I LIKE THEM! They make me wanna sell all my material things, rent a little place close to Pikes Peak with the fam, buy some Toms and maybe some hemp necklaces, stock up on organic foods, purchase a Subaru and cover it with bumper stickers, and go snowboarding on the weekends.

But I like my Chevy. And my shoes. And processed food. And to be honest, I actually have no idea how to snowboard, so in reality this idea is shaping up to require more planning than it's worth. So scratch that idea.

In all seriousness, the atmosphere here makes you want to get out and be healthier. There are walking trails EVERYWHERE. Not just sidewalks that lines the streets, but trails that wind through fields and over random hills, etc. It's pretty cool and actually makes daily walks or runs, GULP, fun! Not to mention the trails in the mountains, that's a whole other story. The Olympic Training Center is here, so I have stalked that a couple times and STILL haven't seen Apollo Ohno. Apparently training in Colorado Springs is considered legal blood doping. LEGAL blood doping! Freakin' sweet! I'm not even 100% sure what that even means, but it sounds way cooler that regular training. Definitely count me in for training here! So yeahhhh, I should probably pick something to train FOR, but that's just details.

This is a view of the mountains from my treadmill at my gym. Coolest gym ever by the way.

A friend who trained at the Olympic Center told me about a trail (the Cog Trail) that they used to run for work outs that was supposedly pretty intense. I googled this a few times and asked around town about it, and found out it's better known as the Manitou Incline. Apparently this is a BEAST. It's length is just under a mile, gains roughly 2,000 feet of elevation, and it's slope reaches 50 degrees at one point. So add this to my goal sheet, because I wanna give this sucker my best shot. Not only to see if I can, but to get some awesome pictures out of the deal also. I read a few websites about it, and apparently you get some major crap from the experienced hikers and climbers if you have to have the ambulance come for hinderances such as dehydration or a broken ankle. Probably because it's not exactly legal to hike this trail. It's currently considered trespassing, but they are trying to change that this year. (I don't know who they is). Here's a little idea of what I'm talking about:




I know! I only thought three little letters when I saw it too. O.M.G. And then I took a second look and thought three OTHER little letters. W.T.F.

Here is a pic of me and my precious son at Garden of the Gods the other day. We are gonna make a hiker out of this little guy! Dad was on a road trip, so Grandma Kim came up to keep us company.

SMILE TODAY! Surround yourself with things that make you smile and it makes for a much better day. These are a couple pics that never cease to make me smile-

*If you visit here, these Free Spirits I speak of can be spotted anywhere of course, especially as you get closer to the mountain, but they seem to congregate at places such as Whole Foods, REI, and undoubtedly any homeopathic service provider.