Pikes Peak & Cave of the Winds

Horn Creek offered Wednesday as an optional "off-camp" day.  The staff stayed at camp to serve meals and run activities for families who wanted to stay, but most families went sightseeing or white water rafting.  We left after breakfast for Manitou Springs and started with driving up Pikes Peak!  Dave and I hadn't driven Pikes Peak since 2005 when my cousin Anna & Uncle Jon visited us when we were living in Colorado Springs.  

We inched along for nearly an hour to get to the terminal at the entrance of the Pikes Peak Highway.  It was a busy, gorgeous day!  Once we paid, though, we were able to easily drive up to the top.   The camp staff had packed lunches for all the families, so we ate and enjoyed the drive.  I think it was the quietest hour of our entire trip, ha!  The drive was absolutely stunning!  

View from my window - gorgeous!! 

We texted my dad and asked if he'd like to operate this excavator at the top where they are building a new visitor's center and viewing platform.  

Pikes Peak!  14, 115'!  

After Pikes Peak, we drove to Cave of the Winds.  We had also visited this with Anna and Jon, 

but our kids had never been in a cave!  Right away, Josiah said, "That's a stalactite!"  They all loved the tour!  Even though it was 45 minutes long, it seemed to pass so quickly.  A fun fact was that my mom remembers visiting this cave on a road trip from Minnesota when she was a girl!

After Cave of the Winds, we drove back to camp for a date night!  Though it was brief, we enjoyed showing our kids a bit of where we used to live!