Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

We visited the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. It was rated one of the best zoos in the US and I can see why. The zoo isn't a very large zoo but it is situated up in the Cheyenne Mountain and the set up is so intimate. The animals look happy in their surroundings and many of squirrels and chipmunks sort of roam around the zoo. We had a lot of fun hanging out here for a few hours.

We also visited "Seven Falls" but it's late and I don't have the time to post the pictures. I'll post the pictures of "Seven Falls" as well as our tour of Denver tomorrow.

Check out this bear. He was asleep on his back. Boy he looks really comfortable and enjoying his rest. The animals at this zoo seem very comfortable with their surroundings. There was a section in the zoo where Wallabies were free to roam around with the people. I thought that was so cool to see them so comfortable with humans.

Here is Alexis feeding the Giraffe. This particular Giraffe was very shy. He wasn't pushy like the others. He gently stuck his head out for some giraffe crackers. One of the other giraffes was very aggressive and wasn't shy about asking for food so we decided to let others feed him and we chose to feed this shy one instead. Check out his fat tongue.

We had a great time at the zoo. It's a great place to bring your kids as well as for adults. It was almost like a petting zoo for animals of the wild as opposed to sheeps, horses, and goats.

Anyway, goodnight everyone!

The Great Sand Dunes, Colorado Spring's Garden of the Gods and Caves of the Wind

Hi Everyone, today is the 6th day of our vacation in Colorado. We've driven over 1,100 miles so far and this was only covering the South-west part of Colorado.

Today we woke up early and headed to Colorado Springs. The landscapes at the lower Southern part heading East of Colorado is so different from the top half of the South-west area. The South West area such as Breckenridge, Leadville, Aspen and Terrulide are so green and lush and the lower South such as Cortez, Alamosa, Pueblo and even Colorado springs are much drier with lots of rock formations such as the ones located at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.



Here is one of the rock formations at the Garden of the Gods called "the Three Graces". Pictured is my daughter inside the rock.

This is a picture of the "Balanced Rock". . .one of the many rock formations at the Garden of the Gods.

This a picture of us at the "Balanced Rock" at another angle. Isn't it cool how the rock is balanced the way it is. Can you imagine if one day it breaks off and rolls off the ledge? I wouldn't want to be in its path if it were to roll off.

We also visited the Cave of the Winds, again in the Manitou/Colorado Springs area.

This is a picture of the inside of the Cave of the Winds. We took the shorter tour called the "Discovery Tour". There's two tours, the other tour is called the "Lattern Tour" and it's much more extensive than the Discovery Tour. With the "Lattern Tour", you carry a lantern and you walk deeper into the cave where there's no lighting. The cave was so cool. You walk through different passages with a tour guide.

Surrounding the Cave of the Winds in Manitou/Colorado Springs are mountains and canyons. The area surrounding the Cave of the Winds is so beautiful. This picture was taken at the visitor's center. The Cave of the Winds is located at a top of the mountain and surrounded by mountains and cliffs such as shown in the picture.

I would add more pictures but I think this is enough for now. It's very hard to choose which pictures to post because all of them are beautiful.

Yesterday we visited the Great Sand Dunes in a town called Alamosa. Here is the water that flows along the side of the Great Sand Dunes. We walked down the stream barefoot. It was an interesting feeling to walk in it. Because it's summer, there wasn't much water. All around the sand dunes are green lush mountains and green landscapes. The Great Sand Dunes is located in the center of all this lush landscaping.

Here is my daughter sticking her foot in the sand. The Great Sand Dunes is the tallest and largest sand dune in the US. It's located quite a bit of a distance from Denver but I feel it's worth it to visit the park.

Here's my kids rolling down the sand dune. Kids love to roll down for some reason. We had so much fun. It was a hot summer day but it was somewhat windy so it didn't feel too hot.

I thought this picture shows the amazing size of the Great Sand Dunes. Pictured is my daughter walking in the distance. Many people hike it to the top and what you see up there is much more amazing than what is pictured here. As you can see how little my daughter is compared to the size of the sand dunes.

The Great Sand Dunes is approximately 33 miles in circumference. It's like a huge sand box. Amazingly, the Great Sand Dunes is surrounded by green mountains and a flowing stream runs to side of it.

Here is a picture of my daughter sitting down on one of the hills. She looks so alone surrounded by all the hills of sand.

Telluride and Mesa Verde

Good Evening Everyone!!! Wow today was a very, very busy day for us. We got up early for breakfast and walked around downtown Telluride. Telluride is a very "dog" friendly town. It seems everyone had a dog and the stores allow dogs into their shops. There's even doggie parking areas in several places around town. You'll see dogs parked outside stores. Everyone here also ride bikes around town. I think only the tourist drive around, residents walk or ride their bikes.

Thia pictures is the waterfall and mountains surrounding Telluride. I don't know if you can see it but there's a hotel or inn located right at the edge of the cliff right above the waterfall. How cool is that?

Telluride by far is the most beautiful town that we've come across. Although it's smaller than Aspen, in my opinion, it's a lot prettier place. I'm surprised Telluride is not talked about as much as Aspen. I think Aspen is heavily advertised and maybe it has better ski slopes but if you want an alternative place to go. . .Telluride is definitely an awesome alternative.

The view of the mountains surrounding Telluride as we were leaving and driving on highway 145. Highway 145 is another highway that has spectacular landscaping. After Telluride, we headed for a 2 hour drive to Mesa Verde then finally stopped over at Durango.

This picture shows the Spruce House Ruins at Mesa Verde. In order to get to the house, you need to walk down a winding path. Isn't it cool? The clay houses at Mesa Verde are located under a cliff. Mesa Verde is a location in Cortez, Colorado where ancient Indian dwellers lived. It's located at the top of a mountain over 15 miles up. It's amazing how these Indians found a way to build their homes under the cliffs.

This is inside Spruce House. It's very interesting to see how the Indian's lived. There were no artifacts at the site just the clay homes. There's several ruins at Mesa Verde. . .we visited only Spruce House. The other two main ruins required a guided tour and there was a long wait so we decided to skip them. Spruce house is self-guided. The other two attractions involve a tour guide and you're allowed a hands on experience such climbing into the house, crawl through tunnels into the rooms, etc.

This is the view from the Spruce House looking up at the entrance and this is your climb back up to the top. It was a tough walk back up especially in 90 degree temperature. I felt bad for the older folks and little kids. You don't realize that you need to walk back up to the top when you first work your way down to the ruins.

If you visit Colorado and will be in the lower Southern area, Mesa Verde is a must see!

View from the top of Mesa Verde as we were driving down the mountain. Mesa Verde is a bit dry compared to the other areas of Colorado that we visited. It was a stark contrast to all the green landscapes that we've seen so far.

After spending several hours at Mesa Verde, we drove down to Durango which is about 40 miles away. We're spending the night here, tour around in the morning then head down to the Sand Dunes. We did walk around down-town Durango later in the afternoon to look around at the different shops they had. Anyway, I'll post pictures of the Sand Dunes tomorrow. We should have a lot of fun there! Until later. . .

Aspen Summit and Gondola Ride, Highway 133, Scary Moments, and drive to Tulleride

Hello Everyone! I didn't make any cards this evening. Our day was filled up and after we got back from eating dinner, I was too lazy to make any cards.

Well today was an adventurous day. We checked out of our hotel in Snowmass Village in Aspen. We decided to head down to downtown Aspen in the morning to go shopping. We also decided to ride the gondola to the top of the Aspen mountain.

Here is my daugther posing for the camera. We were on the gondola on the way up to the top of the mountain.

Here is the view from the gondola as we were working our way up to the top of Aspen.

Here is my stepson standing at the top of Aspen. Again, as always, it was absolutely beautiful even in the summer. I can imagine how it would look during the winter. This view is at the back of side of the mountain in Aspen.

This is the view overlooking the west side of Aspen.

This picture was taken at the edge of the road on highway 133 from Aspen to Tulleride at the highest point of the paved road. It was a stunning view but a little unnerving considering how high we were and there were no railing to prevent us from driving over the road.

Three fourths of highway 133 is absolutely beautiful, the last fourth is agricultural and not very impressive. The 3/4 that is beautiful is one of the most beautiful route I've been on so far.

Okay this view of the mountain may be beautiful but a very scary thing happened to us on our way from Aspen to Tulleride. This picture was taken in the wilderness in nowhere land. We were about 80 miles away from Tulleride and we were trying to get off highway 50 and get on hwy 62.

Because we had set the GPS to the "shortest route". . .well, it decided to cut through the mountain leading us into what could have been a disastrous situation.

Well, to make a long story short. . .our GPS lead us into the Uncompahgre Plateau. . .deep into the back woods with no paved roads, just gravel and dirt. We kept thinking that highway 62 was going to show up somehow. For the first 20 miles, we were beginning to wonder if the GPS was leading us somewhere we didn't want to be. There was no highway in site, no houses, no nothing. We were in the middle of NOTHING. We didn't want to turn around because we kept thinking highway 62 was going to show up in any minute.

After an hour of driving, we realized we were in a bad, bad place. I didn't want to panic but I was beginning to get a bit scared when our GPS lead us to a dead end road in the middle of no-where deep, deep inside the plateau. We finally decided to change the GPS to just lead us back to a main road besides highway 62. We decided to take the chance and not listen to the GPS and follow a more paved road and within 15 minutes of driving without paying attention to the GPS, it finally lead us on a road that we felt made more sense. . . meaning the road was somewhat paved and looked like it was driven on.

It was already close to 4:30 and we were still an hour away from Tulleride and we were worried that it would begin to rain and the road will turn muddy or we'll get stuck in an area that no one could find us. Luckily, we finally made it out of the plateau. For a moment, I thought we were doomed and eventually someone would have to rescue us. Be careful with the GPS when traveling. I believe the GPS knew what it was doing but it can't tell the difference between paved roads, gravel, or dirt or whether you're in the middle of no-where. Eventually, I believe the GPS would have lead us out of the woods but who knows how long that would have been and what if we ran out of gas. Sheeeeesh, I don't want to even think about it.

This is the view as we were heading towards Tulleride. Tulleride is a beautiful town located deep in the valley and mountain. It's an absolutely lovely town and ski resort. It's a great alternative to Aspen. Tulleride is located in the picture right within the valley below the "whitish" colored mountain in the background.

We rode the gondola at Tulleride up to the village located at the summit. We ate a restaurant called Allred. Yummy but pretty pricey. The average meal runs $30+ to $75 not including the appetizers and soup/salad.

This picture is the view from the gondola. This ride is a lot steeper than that at Aspen and in my opinion, a prettier view. If you don't like heights, I don't recommend the gondola ride at Tulleride. . .it can be pretty scary but there's a complete village at the top so if you don't ride the gondola, you'll miss out on the restaurants and shops at the top of the mountain.

Anyway, tomorrow we'll hang out in Tulleride for part of the day, then head to Mesa Verde to look at the ruins. I'll update my blog tomorrow.

Train Ride in Leadville and Heading down to Aspen on I-70. . .Wow, Beautiful!!

Hi Everyone! I did manage to make a few cards during our down time tonight. After 9:00 we settled into our hotel room and I made 3 quickie cards. I'll post the other one on Stampin Inspirations tomorrow.

The images were already colored and cut out so all I needed to do was lay them out on the card. I used stickers and designer paper to help make things easier.

Here is the second card I made. Again, everything was pre-cut and all I did was add stickers and designer paper to my layout. It really helps when you have the down time to color and cut your images and store them for future use. They sure came in handy for me on this trip.

Today, we did a 3 hour train ride starting in Leadville. The train went through the mountain and my goodness, the view from the train was absolutely spectacular. The pictures cannot even begin to show the beauty of the mountain, trees, and landscapes. Leadville is the highest incorporated city in the US. The city is located over 10,000 feet above sea level. Here are my kids taking picture next to the train that we rode on.

Here I am taking a picture next to the train. I'm usually the photographer so I'm rarely in the photos. Besides, I don't like taking pictures.

View of my daughter in the train on our way through the mountain. I cannot express how beautiful it was.

We were allowed to get off the train to take land photos. Here is my daughter taking picture with the valley and mountain behind her. We were over 1,ooo ft high from the lowest point of land.

Here is my daughter taking a picture in the train overlooking the valley and mountains. I need to figure out which mountain we were looking at. I'll update this post tomorrow with accurate information in the case you ever decide to visit Colorado.

Here is a picture of the same valley and mountains without my daughter in the picture.

This photo was taken on I-70 heading west towards Aspen! It was by far the most beautiful scenery I have seen so far. I thought the drive to Leadville was the most beautiful but the I-70 west route is absolutely breathtaking.

These pictures were taken while we were driving. I-70 West is very curvy and at some points at the edge of a cliff. This is one of the scenes we were able to view during our drive.

As you can see the railing and part of the car in this picture. I was so in awe of the beauty of everything. Coming from Hawaii, I thought the mountains of Hawaii were beautiful. . .that's before I visited Colorado. The mountains in Colorado are just as beautiful, maybe even more.

Here is another picture of the same area at a different angle.

We are still on I-70 when this picture was taken but the scenery dramatically changed into a canyon view as we headed further west towards Glenwood Springs Canyon. Okay. . .the canyon was again, beautiful but in a different way. The mountains in this part of the road were carved and the drive is in the canyon. This picture shows the Colorado River flowing in between the beautifully carved canyons.

More pictures of the mountains and canyons on I-70. This route to Aspen is the best route, I believe. The change in scenery is awesome.

Here are a few more pictures. We took so many pictures. . .I can't post all of them. I sort of randomly chose ones that I thought were beautiful. Because the pictures were taken while we were driving, some of the pictures weren't as clear.










We're staying in Aspen tonight at the Snowpass Village. Aspen is BEAUTIFUL even in the summer. I'll take pictures of Snowpass and the heart of Aspen. We're going to do a bit of shopping and sight seeing tomorrow here in Aspen before we head towards Tulleride. I wish we could do a few outdoor activities such as white water rafting but we just don't have the time to fit it in. Maybe on our next trip to Colorado, we'll do more outdoor activities besides sight seeing. Until tomorrow!

Wow Colorado is Absolutely Beautiful

Hi Everyone! Well we made it to Colorado. The flight to Colorado was uneventful. I spent the 2.5 hr flight making cards! Yes, if you stop by my Stampin Inspirations blog site you'll see my crop bag filled with stamping and scrapping items to keep myself preoccupied on the airplane and during our down-time.

Here's a card I made on the airplane. Space was a bit tight but I managed to make to fairly simple card. I made another card which I posted on Stampin Inspiratons.


Here is a picture of the clouds above Colorado. My daughter took the picture while we were on the airplane. I've never seen clouds this fluffy. Isn't it beautiful.

On the way to Leadville, we stopped at Georgetown for lunch. We ate at this quaint restaurant called "the Happy Cooker" which served excellent meals. Georgetown is a pretty historic town tucked away in the mountain and surrounded by beautiful trees. Georgetown is a historic town and pictured are my kids standing in front of the historic old town.

The following pictures are just a scenic view of the drive between Silverthorne, Dillon, Breckenridge and Leadville. It's one of the most beautiful scenic routes I've been on.

I took so many photos that I couldn't pick which one I wanted to post so I just randomly chose the pictures.

Some of the trees had a burgundy color to the leaves. I can imagine how the trees will look near autumn time.

Gosh, I wish the mountains and the valley's around Temecula, CA, the town I live in was as pretty as the mountains of Colorado. I'm in awe of the beauty of the trees and landscape.

We'll be doing a train ride tomorrow in Leadville. It's an interesting town. . .very old. We're staying here overnight because we wanted to be close by to the train attraction so we wouldn't have to wake up so early in the morning. I don't recommend staying here. It's not a resort area like in Breckenridge. Tomorrow after the train ride, we're heading to Aspen. We'll be staying there overnight! I'll keep y'all updated! Until tomorrow!!