D
ay 8 started at a leisurely 9am.
ay 8 started at a leisurely 9am. We sat together in the kitchen and enjoyed a breakfast of Swedish Pancakes with bacon and powdered sugar. My Aunt makes these from an ancient Swedish recipe that she swore never to share that she obtained from a swedish family in her younger years of traveling the world. It's really a big todo and must have of every family gathering. But my Aunt is the only one with the recipe and she'll never share it. They are kinda like crepes, but taste more like pancakes. And she only makes two at a time so it's a test in patience as well. My Aunt controlls the whole show, so we all set around the kitchen table staying out of her way. We've learned not to be in her firing range while she's cooking. You may have a hot spatula swatted at you. lol Anyway, after we have all enjoyed our full of these delicious treats and the usual large glass of milk afterwards, we are ready to get moving before we turn into slugs. So our plan was to get some sight seeing in that we had missed out on over days 4,5,&6. One place David, Katy, and I had never gotten the chance to go see was Seven Falls. 
So that was my Uncle's first stop. It was a little more then we wanted to spend, but we finally decided to splerge for this once in a lifetime outing. We had to wait in line at the gate because the park's parking lots where full. So they let a car in as a car left. When we finally got in we found that we got a great oppurtunity to work off some of our breakfast. It was a little bit of an incline so we took our time and visited the prevy first. That's where we saw these Colorado Columbine flowers. 
They almost looked fake. And then t
So that was my Uncle's first stop. It was a little more then we wanted to spend, but we finally decided to splerge for this once in a lifetime outing. We had to wait in line at the gate because the park's parking lots where full. So they let a car in as a car left. When we finally got in we found that we got a great oppurtunity to work off some of our breakfast. It was a little bit of an incline so we took our time and visited the prevy first. That's where we saw these Colorado Columbine flowers. They almost looked fake. And then t
Then a little further up the drive we found the chipmunks. lol Aren't they the cutest little critters. He entertained us for a little bit before scampering off into the bush. 
Then I got some really great pictures of the canyon we where in and the drive up to the falls. Along the drive there are small signs that point out some of the mountain formations as you walk up. Like devil's needle, half dome, wrestling bears, and shoemaker's boot to name a few. Then we took a stop to look at the creek that flows through the canyon and I got a shot of our teenager. By this time she was starting to get tired of so many pictures, and was making a funny face right before this one was taken. 
I did have to tell her that if she kept making faces I would post one of them. So this is what I got instead, I'll accept that! lol Teenagers can be so funny. When we finally got to the top of the drive we could see the base of the falls and this gift shop near the cave elevator. We where not the brave souls to take the 185 steps up to the Eagle's nest to observe the falls from across the canyon. And we didn't dare go up the other staircase that went to the top of the falls that is pictured in this shot I took. We learned that the seven falls in this cascade light up at night, but we wheren't planning on staying around until then. 
Katy was able to find some suvinours for herself and some of her friends back home and David found an interesting chess set with stone chess pieces and a stone inlay board top set into a wood case. This 10x10 chess set was a steal for $25 and made a great entertainment piece for our travels. Small and portable. The pieces fit nicely inside the padded case even. So all that late evening we had a chess tournament. 
Anyway, while at the falls we got to enjoy a hand dipped ice cream, but the fish wheren't out so we didn't get to feed the coy. Bummer. We took the elevator to the Eagle's Nest observatory and David and Katy decided to brave the stairs for the return trip. They ended up racing and Katy won. The rules where they had to step on each step and hold both sides of the rails while decending. 
We then after the hike back to the van headed over to the home of a local artist. He has recently left the home and his scultures to his surviveing wife and daughter. The city has forced the family to remove some of the sculptures and has placed them around town somewhere. But we where able to see some of them that remained on the property. They are quite odd and interesting at the same time. Each one moves in some way, and is very unique. This is one of my favorites. Then we drove around the area and headed up and over to the Garden of the Gods. We drove around the park, but where getting pretty tired so we didn't really get out and walk about. We think my uncle was 
getting hungry so we just took the quick driving tour. That was one of his jobs recently was to drive tourist around for the company he was working for. He does alot of odd and part time jobs for various companies in town. He works when he wants and rides his bike and putters around in his yard or house on occasion. They really do have a lovely home and beautiful yard and garden. My favorite is his johnny jump up bed of flowers. Anyway, I digress. Then after driving through/around Garden of the Gods we went to SouperSalad for dinner where everyone ate their veggies. lol Then to the ol' Ranch for somemore star gazing.
Then I got some really great pictures of the canyon we where in and the drive up to the falls. Along the drive there are small signs that point out some of the mountain formations as you walk up. Like devil's needle, half dome, wrestling bears, and shoemaker's boot to name a few. Then we took a stop to look at the creek that flows through the canyon and I got a shot of our teenager. By this time she was starting to get tired of so many pictures, and was making a funny face right before this one was taken. 
I did have to tell her that if she kept making faces I would post one of them. So this is what I got instead, I'll accept that! lol Teenagers can be so funny. When we finally got to the top of the drive we could see the base of the falls and this gift shop near the cave elevator. We where not the brave souls to take the 185 steps up to the Eagle's nest to observe the falls from across the canyon. And we didn't dare go up the other staircase that went to the top of the falls that is pictured in this shot I took. We learned that the seven falls in this cascade light up at night, but we wheren't planning on staying around until then. 
Katy was able to find some suvinours for herself and some of her friends back home and David found an interesting chess set with stone chess pieces and a stone inlay board top set into a wood case. This 10x10 chess set was a steal for $25 and made a great entertainment piece for our travels. Small and portable. The pieces fit nicely inside the padded case even. So all that late evening we had a chess tournament. 
Anyway, while at the falls we got to enjoy a hand dipped ice cream, but the fish wheren't out so we didn't get to feed the coy. Bummer. We took the elevator to the Eagle's Nest observatory and David and Katy decided to brave the stairs for the return trip. They ended up racing and Katy won. The rules where they had to step on each step and hold both sides of the rails while decending. 
We then after the hike back to the van headed over to the home of a local artist. He has recently left the home and his scultures to his surviveing wife and daughter. The city has forced the family to remove some of the sculptures and has placed them around town somewhere. But we where able to see some of them that remained on the property. They are quite odd and interesting at the same time. Each one moves in some way, and is very unique. This is one of my favorites. Then we drove around the area and headed up and over to the Garden of the Gods. We drove around the park, but where getting pretty tired so we didn't really get out and walk about. We think my uncle was 
getting hungry so we just took the quick driving tour. That was one of his jobs recently was to drive tourist around for the company he was working for. He does alot of odd and part time jobs for various companies in town. He works when he wants and rides his bike and putters around in his yard or house on occasion. They really do have a lovely home and beautiful yard and garden. My favorite is his johnny jump up bed of flowers. Anyway, I digress. Then after driving through/around Garden of the Gods we went to SouperSalad for dinner where everyone ate their veggies. lol Then to the ol' Ranch for somemore star gazing. 63 miles driven, lots of bug splats, 7 expensive admittance tickets, 7 happy veggie eaters, two walking workouts for each person, tons of great photos of our day's adventures, and seven very tired sight seers that will get a great nights sleep. Night 8 10:30pm
1 comment:
Did you know that I used to work at Seven Falls and I lived very near that guy with the sculptures? My High school was just up the road from there. Funny huh?
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