Colorado Springs

This past weekend, I went to visit my friend, who currently lives in Colorado Springs--her husband is Army and they live on Fort Carson. They are moving to Germany in a few months, so we thought we'd better get the visit in now before they moved and a quick weekend would be a lot harder...and more expensive.

Oh. My. Goodness. Did we have fun! First off, this was the farthest west I'd ever been. So I had never seen the mountains before. Second, I hadn't flown since I was in first grade, so this was my first real flight that I remember. Third, I'd never been on an army post, so that was incredibly interesting to learn more about the lifestyle that I've heard so much about! Fourth, we went to an awesome Irish Pub (my first) and I had some amazing Beef Boxty (my first)...see a lot of things in common with this post? I experienced a lot of firsts and I loved them all!

The mountains...Wow. That's about all I can say. They are just gorgeous and I was completely enthralled. Seriously, I think my friend was secretly laughing at me because I was like "This is beautiful!" *snap* picture time, about a million times this weekend. Oh well. I just didn't get enough of looking at the mountains and I want to go back some day for sure. Andy and the girls would love it!


The flights were okay. To and from Denver were great but between Denver and Colorado Springs certainly left something to be desired. The flight itself is only 15 minutes, but it's turbulent and rough. Oh well, I survived.


Fort Carson was amazing and I learned so much. We just drove around post for awhile, while I was shown the various neighborhoods, stores, schools, hospital, barracks, etc. It was all so interesting and I was worried I was asking too many questions, but she didn't mind at all.


Jack Quinn's was awesome. I really don't need to articulate on that, but I will. It's a great Irish Pub in downtown that is a favorite of my friend's family. As soon as you walk in, you just feel the charm. The atmosphere was awesome and the food was amazing! I'd never had authentic Irish food before and I opted for the Beef Boxty, which I was assured was incredible. Oh goodness, was it ever. YUM! If you don't know what it is (which I didn't) it's beef stew meat soaked in Guiness, then cooked in a stew-like gravy, wrapped in a potato pancake and covered with a cream sauce and bleu cheese crumbles, with sauteed veggies on the side. It was so good. (I also had my first experience with Red Robbin and that was really good, too!)


But besides all the firsts, the best past of the weekend was just being there with my friend and her boys! They are all such wonderful people and we had so much fun. Sure, we did fun things like go out just us girls on Friday night and we hit the Olympic Training Center with the boys on Saturday, but we spent plenty of time just hanging out and talking while the boys played at the park or watched a movie in the living room. We just talked for hours and hours, about everything under the sun. It was a nice, relaxed weekend and something I wish we could do again and again and again!

Thanks for a super weekend guys!

At Jack Quinn's Friday night

Equestrian model at the Olympic Training Center

View of Pike's Peak from the OTC

Us girls atop the OTC where the Olympic Flame is

The boys and some other kids and dads at the park

Mountain view with the Fort Carson herd from the stables

Mountain view heading back onto post from the stables

Their housing unit and the view

View from a small park only 2 houses down from their house

The front door had this beauty on it when I arrived home late last night