Our friends the Kracoffs and Adi had highly recommended Colorado Springs, and so we drove the hour and twenty minutes or so south. Our first stop was at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, recommended by cousins Michael and Lindsay, which we had first heard about it when we saw a news broadcast a week earlier about how intense hail had killed animals and injured zoogoers. The zoo had reopened two days earlier after four days of being closed and a lot of lost revenue, and most exhibits were completely back up and running. Arielle was instantly gleeful because she got to feed a few giraffes, something Abe didn’t enjoy quite as much.
We proceeded along to watch elephants doing exercises (and yoga), and then see two bears, each responding impressively to the trainer’s commands. While it wasn’t as exciting as seeing them in the wild, it was really cool seeing them up close. Along our walk, we also encountered a moose, a gorilla who definitely gave an annoying kid sitting in front of him the finger, some monkeys and wallabies, and plenty more. Arielle was very impressed with this zoo because all the training that the animals receive is to benefit them and help them utilize their muscles, not to “perform,” and if they don’t want to do something, the trainers don’t force them to, including their blood draws, which are all voluntarily though incentivized by treats. She would definitely recommend this zoo, and Abe didn’t hate it either. The only odd choice we encountered was the restaurant in the zoo serving meat, which seemed a bit disrespectful to the residents.
We drove about fifteen minutes to finally reach an A & W Restaurant, which Abe had been hunting for unsuccessfully in search of the Root Beer Freeze since the trip began. Arielle got an Orange Freeze, which was decent. Abe was pleased, but also okay not to have another one for a while.
We drove just a few minutes to Garden of the Gods, a park filled with incredible rock formations caused by erosion over time. We were pleasantly surprised with how accessible the paved trail was which permitted us to see almost all of the highlights. Arielle was ecstatic when she spotted a ram (and later a second ram) on the top of one of the formations. Abe had thought it was fake at first, but it definitely wasn’t. The only thing we had to drive to was Balanced Rock, a precariously-perched boulder that sits right above the main road. This was a truly great experience that didn’t take long but was well worth it.
We got in the car to drive back to Denver and headed for a familiar restaurant we had passed earlier in the weekend: P.F. Chang’s. Our decision to choose a chain was well worth it, as our dinner was delicious. We started with an order of mushroom lettuce wraps (tasty, but not as good as the ones we make). Arielle got the Mandarin Crunch Salad, which was a bit too spicy but was tempered with some additional lettuce and noodles. Abe ordered the Orange Peel Beef, which is no longer on the menu, but he loved it even though there were mandarin orange slices rather than the peel. Abe couldn’t resist ordering the banana spring rolls for dessert, which were typically amazing, along with the coconut-pineapple ice cream that Arielle loved. All in all, a great meal. We took the free 16th Street Mall Ride bus home and packed a bit so that we wouldn’t have as much to do aside from packing the car in the morning. We closed out the evening with a visit before it closed.
Approximate number of miles covered: 155
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