Colorado Springs: Cave of the Winds & Red Rock Canyon

Last Wednesday, October 1st, was our first day in Colorado. I had been skiing in Snowmass and Aspen before, but never visited the Denver area or Rocky Mountain National Park. It was Craig's first time visiting the state. We were both excited to travel to completely new areas to us.

We landed in Denver on Tuesday afternoon and made the 1 hour drive to Colorado Springs. We checked into our home away from home for the next three nights, The Academy Hotel.

On day one, we started at Cave of the Winds, near Manitou Springs.

Before entering the cave, we met a Wisconsinite tourist who lives right near us and then my friend's brother-in-law randomly ended up being on our tour! We felt like we kept running into Wisconsinites the whole trip actually!

The cave was really extensive and unique. Extra bonus for this bat-fearing girl--there were none! We took the Discovery tour and it was $20 per person. Craig and I both felt like it was worth it, as we were in the cave for about 45 minutes.

The stalactite in the middle picture below is 100,000 years old. Crazy, huh?

Heading back to Colorado Springs, we saw that Red Rock Canyon Park was off the side of the road so we stopped there to hike. I had read that it was a mini-Garden of the Gods and that description ended up being correct. We both recommend hiking there and loved the trails and sites.

Thank god I bought hiking boots before the trip to protect my weak ankles from the trails there (picture on the left).

I had read recommendations for checking out the quarry part of the park and it was a really neat area to see. 

 

I think we only hiked a couple of miles, but by 2 p.m., we were hungry and ready for some lunch. We typically ate our huge breakfast at the hotel and then didn't eat again until 2, with very little for dinner.

I thought Jason's Deli would be fun to check out because I had been to them in Texas and they have a big menu selection. I loved that they had tons of vegetarian options! I got a veggie wrap with spinach, mushrooms, Asiago, guacamole, and pico de gallo. 

Later that night, we did a little grocery shopping and settled back in at the hotel. We felt like we accomplished quite a bit on our first day in Colorado!

If you've been to Colorado, what was your favorite city or aspect of traveling there?