Camping in Colorado Springs

We made it to Cheyenne Mountain State Park with it's wonderful views of Colorado Springs on Tuesday afternoon. Don was at the automotive glass shop first thing Wednesday morning getting the back window replaced. I bet we will find bits of glass for years just like we did with the other truck!

This year we are camping with our grandchildren. We are cruising the highways while Heidi and Glen are on a cruise to Alaska. Heidi had the foresight to find different games and DVDs for the trip. If they didn't argue (do sisters do that??), then they could pick one of the wrapped gifts. Kyla was excited when she opened up a new Veggie Tales DVD.
Mornings and evenings were a good time to do some short hikes with the girls at the campground since it's the best time to see wildlife. Don and the girls chose the Raccoon Trail and found these 3 deer paying no attention to their presence. We found out later that afternoon that there had been a mountain lion spotted on another trail!
On Thursday morning we met up with Helen at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Helen is my friend from grade school days. At our age, that means we have been friends for decades and decades! Howling monkeys and peacocks filled the air with their howls and screams, which could be heard all over the zoo.
One of my favorites was this old porcupine who was just being fed his morning meal. He may eat healthy with all the veggies that he ate, but boy, he sure does need one good teeth cleaning! His teeth were a beautiful deep carrot orange.
The highlight for Hailey and Kyla was feeding the giraffes lettuce. If you go to this zoo with children, remember to bring extra money for the giraffe treats. We noticed an ATM right next to the booth where they were selling the lettuce leaves!
Here we are at Garden of the Gods visitor center. You can't even see Pikes Peak behind us because of all the smoke and haze coming from the fires in Colorado and eastern Arizona.
Kyla did her best job at holding up the Balanced Rock in the Garden of the Gods. She may be small, but is obviously quite strong for her age!
Helen and her husband joined us for dinner that night. Here Helen shows Hailey a magic trick. The girls have been practicing the different tricks and look forward to impressing their cousins and friends.