I was out in the garden the other day and saw something that resembled a hummingbird flying near the zinnias. Upon further inspection I saw it was a Hummingbird Moth. I love bugs and flowers and together this was pretty fun to see. Hummingbird Moths can beat their wings up to 70 beats per second and hover over the flower much like a hummingbird. I got my nicer camera and used the zoom to get a few shots. I enjoy seeing all the pollinators that this big swatch of zinnias bring in.
We wanted to go somewhere this summer since last years vacation was cancelled due to the pandemic. I really wanted to go to Hawaii since it's our 20th wedding anniversary but there were still too many unknowns to travel that far in my opinion. We decided to head to Colorado instead since it's within driving distance. I looked at several different cities and we decided on Breckenridge. We wanted to try a city we haven't ever been to and one with several fun things to do. I also was looking for a town full of good restaurants. Breckenridge did not disappoint!
We met Sean's folks there, they stayed out at Dillon Lake in their camper while we reserved an Air B&B in town. We met the first day and hiked up to the Breckenridge Troll. It's an art installment that was so popular they decided to make it a permanent installment up on a trail. It was super cool!
The town was beautiful. I can't get over the flowers everywhere! It was a popular destination, I knew it would be but I'm not sure I was prepared for the sheer number of people. We talked to a few natives and they said this year was nothing like last year which surprised me. Apparently last summer was even busier because of the pandemic people decided to go live in condos and Zoom school their kids in the mountains.
We had some great food and wonderful company. I researched all the restaurants and keep tabs of the ones offering plant based options (which were quite a few). It was well worth the few pounds put on! We got pretty good at using the public transportation. Parking options weren't plentiful so on most days we parked at the free ice skating rink lot and rode the bus all over the place.
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| Celebrated 20 years married! |
Got to see some of the antique train snow removal systems that were used to keep the tracks open in the winter. Then we made our way to Dillon Lake to see Randi and Rich's new camper. Made it just in time for the daily afternoon rain shower. Greta, our little rock hound, had a ball finding rocks for her collection.
We took a ride up the mountain on the free gondola. We were all able to fit into one but it was quite warm. The area at the top of the mountain is were all the winter snow activities happen. From there you can ride chair lifts up to the different mountains to ski down. Summer is their off season but it was still packed, I can only imagine it in the winter.
Randi and Rich had to head out so we used our last full day there to go hiking on trails around our condo. We found one that followed the stream and offered endless rock hounding. We took an empty backpack for the all the wonderful rocks that the kids found. It was a wonderful hike that opened up on the reservoir above town.
We said goodbye to Breckenridge and our cute little condo and headed south to Colorado Springs to meet my parents for the day. We drove through the Garden of the Gods to see the magnificent rock formations but it was also packed full (didn't even see open parking spots) so we just drove through. It was quite beautiful!
In Colorado Springs we met up with my folks to see Magic Town by Michael Garman. It's a place downtown where an artist has created a miniature town that you get to walk through. It was beautifully done and so many things to see. Greta said it was her favorite part of the whole vacation. If you ever find yourself in Colorado Springs with a couple of hours to spare make sure you stop by, it was well worth it.
