The Mountains are taller than ME: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Sorry about the creepy tag line, I promise this has nothing to do with The Shining (so it's safe to read, Jamie. :) ).

After Sylvia and I had worked ourselves into near comas for 2 days and my apartment was finally not only livable but complete (yay!), we now had permission to play! First stop, COFFEE. We visited my new place of employment, the Starbucks at 31st and Colorado ave. A very busy drive-thru store, it will take some review and getting used to from the sleepy pace of my Clarendon Hills store (except on Soccer Saturdays. ARGH Soccer Saturdays!).

After caffeinating ourselves, I took Sylvia straight to the Garden of the Gods. All of you who visit shall be taken there as well. Do not argue; you have no choice. It is a magnificent place that I am deeply in love with. I love every part of it from the bright red rocks, the incredible views of Pike's Peak (which is NOT a coffee; get it together people), the fun trails that wind around huge rock formations, to the tiny cacti plants that sprout up randomly throughout the park. Sylvia and I drove around the park, stopping every now and again when (I saw something I wanted to climb...because I'm perpetually 6) we saw a place that looked like it would make a good picture...which is nearly EVERYWHERE. We climbed some random rock formations, and I climbed some bigger rock formations while Sylvia stood and shook her head at me because I was being an idiot. It was an awesome time and I even got some sun on my face (which is apparently very easy to do here since we are 7000 feet closer to the sun than most of the country. And don't worry, Livi, I put spf on. :) )!

After the Garden of the Gods, spent a while shopping around downtown Manitou Springs where Sylvia found some beautiful pieces of art for her room. Then, after seeing that the activity we had planned to do next was closed, we just got on highway 24 and drove west into the mountains to see what we could see. After about an hour, our cell phones both lost service and Sylvia began to get very worried when the pavement ran out and we found ourselves on a dirt road in the middle of NoWhere, CO, where the population was only us and a few deer. The deer were quite friendly, however, and stayed by our car looking at us curiously for quite some time. So before the sun started to set, we turned around and made our way back to my apartment, satisfied with our adventures for that day.

The next day, we decided to get up at the crack of dawn to secure two spots on the Pikes Peak Cog Railway: a train that drives people to the top of Pike's Peak. It's the tallest of its kind in the world, and definitely one of the must-do things for first timer's to Colorado Springs. Sylvia, brave heart that she is, took on the train like a champ. She doesn't necessarily enjoy heights, so her agreeing to go with me to the top of a mountain is a pretty big deal. :) Though we didn't see any mountain lions (next time, Syl!), the views were breath-taking...literally. We couldn't make it to the peak because there was still too much snow, and the 60mph winds were blowing it over the tracks, but we climbed to an astounding 12,500 feet where the air was thin enough to make us dizzy and the views incredible enough to make you not notice. I can't wait to go again when the train will make it all the way to the top!

On the train we met 2 hikers who had only purchased a one-way ticket. The train stopped halfway up the mountain and let the hikers off. They were to hike threw the woods to Barr trail which leads to the summit, spend the night, and then hike all the way back down the next day. The conductor said some people buy a one way ticket up, hike the 7.5 miles up to the summit from the halfway point the train leaves you at, then buy another one way ticket and catch the train back down. That sounds like the smartest plan I've ever heard, and once I feel I know enough about the mountain and am acclimated enough to the elevation, I'm definitely going to try that! Any takers?? :)

After our high altitude experience, we got back to my apartment and changed clothes (since it was 70 degrees in Colorado Springs, and we were dressed for the 30 degree weather we'd just left on the mountain), and made one last trip to Target for some end tables I'd seen advertised online. After making Sylvia build one more thing for my apartment, we went to dinner and then home to prepare for her departure. I took her to Denver International airport and said goodbye. I knew it was going to be hard, it was the moment I'd been dreading the most since our arrival3 days earlier, but I was proud of the both of us for keeping it together. I spent a mostly tear free drive back to Colorado Springs....back home....and spent a low key night watching movies and getting ready for work the next day. I expected a break down to come at any moment, but it didn't. I think I'm just so happy about this new place and all my new future adventures that I can't find it in me to be upset about anything right now. I know the possibility for sadness and loneliness still looms in the background, but for now, I think that's where it will stay. My new home is beautiful, and though I miss all my friends and family very much, I can't wait to strike out and explore this new frontier on my own.

More to come, enjoy the pictures!

The view as you drive into my apartment complex.

My new Starbucks!

...and the view from my new Starbucks!

This is the famous 'Balancing Rock' in the Garden of the Gods. While I'm sure it did 'balance' for a while by itself, it now has a healthy helping of cement under it to help it stay put. ...cheaters. :)

Sylvia and I in front of the balancing rock.

Syl with the beautiful mountain vista. :)

Sylvia shot this picture while we were hiking a random trail in Garden of the Gods. There are even people on horseback! So authentically western! :)

Syl and I with the lovely mountains in the background.

Climbing things I probably shouldn't. I know none of you are surprised.

This picture looks a lot higher and worse than it is....really.

Sylvia and I in another beautiful area of the Garden of the Gods.

While in downtown Manitou Springs, we found this amazing pizza place. Kelly, this one's for you! And when you visit, we're totally going here. :)

The view on the random drive west Sylvia and I took. Not bad, huh?

One of the deer Sylvia made friends with! I was happy she got to get up close and personal with nature. :)

They hung around for a while...

...and watched us leave!

This pic was taken from the Cog Railway, on the way up to Pike's Peak.

When the train stopped at 12,500 feet-as far as it could go that day- I dizzily walked to the front to take a picture as high up as I could. See the swirling snow? That's the reason we couldn't get to the summit: too windy and too much snow.

Another lovely view from the train.

The Cog Train.

This pic is kind of fun because I'm standing straight, but the train is at such an uphill angle that it looks like I'm leaning. This is when we stopped at the top of our journey and I wanted a better look out the front windows.