Colorado Trip -- Post #1!

We had the most wonderful trip to Colorado!! It is so beautiful there...every direction we turned, there was a gorgeous scene to witness. The pictures don't do it justice...but still, so much to share!

Wednesday, 8-17-16
After work on Wednesday, we packed up the car and got on the road! We made our way about 6 hours to Clayton, New Mexico where we had reservations at the Best Western Kokopelli Hotel...we arrived around midnight, got checked in, and went to sleep!

Thursday, 8-18-16
Thursday morning, we woke up and had a nice, hot breakfast at the hotel...then we got back on the road for about three more hours.

A look at the New Mexico landscape...we weren't in flat Texas any longer!

Once we passed the border into Colorado, we pulled over at a scenic point
and took a few photos...it was already so gorgeous! So green and hilly and beautiful!

Once we arrived in Colorado Springs, we drove about 6 more miles to
Manitou Springs...Manitou Avenue was our stop, and we spent our trip in
this area. Manitou Springs is a very cute little town!

It was very cool to see that one of the very first things we saw upon arrival
was this banner welcoming all of the runners! They have two events every year, on
the same weekend. On Saturday, they do the Ascent race, which is just a race up the mountain. Then on Sunday, they do the full marathon, which is running up and down the mountain.

Manitou Springs reminded us a lot of our favorite town, Fredericksburg...a quaint
little town with a main street full of shops and restaurants. Only this was even much
better because of the outstanding backdrop of mountains!

Our first stop was to our apartment -- Chris found this gem on Air B&B, and we
were so excited to see it! Check in wasn't until 2:00, and we were a bit early...so we pulled
in and parked, and then set off to do a little exploring. This is the view from the street...upstairs, there are four apartments, one of which is the B&B we stayed in. The other three had full time residents. The owner of these apartments also owns the Mona Lisa Fondu restaurant downstairs...we pulled up the little alley to the left of the restaurant, went up a very
steep hill, and parked in the tiny lot.

This is the view of the B&B entrance...it was so cozy and cute! Up a few stairs,
to a cute deck with table, chairs, and umbrella...

My guy and a few of the locals, getting acquainted :)

Our first stop was lunch! And of course, we were excited to find a brewery :)
Manitou Brewing Co. was quite delicious! We thoroughly enjoyed it...Chris had some
good beer, and the food was so yummy. I had some truffle fries and some beer
soup, and Chris had some tacos and mac and cheese. Mmmm!

The decor of the brewery was very cute!

We enjoyed our lunch together and then we were able to check in. We met Jeff the owner, and got acquainted with our new home away from home...and then we drove downtown to get Chris' race packet and meet up with our travel companions -- Kiki and Blaise!!