We are finally coming to the end of our Griswald style vacation.  Just for the record, I don’t necessarily recommend dragging a four day trip out into four weeks of photo posts.  It’s really hard to remember the details of the last day or two once three or four weeks of daily minutiae have worked their way into all the crevices of one’s brain.  Regardless….we’ll give it a shot.

On day four we went to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun, and then started the long trek home.  We drove into, through, and out of a spectacular (and rather frightening) western Kansas thunderstorm with a tornado running 9 miles to our south (thank you western Kansas meteorologist for the frequent updates) for a good 30 minutes.  We never saw the tornado – it was pitch black outside, only heard reports of it and scanned our phones and GPS and the trusty old atlas trying to find the small towns they were referring to.  God carried us through while my prayer life got a workout.  We made it home safely and I’ve never been so happy to not share a room with my children.  🙂

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The first thing I remember about our second day in Colorado is the  unimaginable pain I woke up in.  Like the latter stages of labor.  Times five.  And all in my back.  It was AWFUL.  Once I caught my breath from  the pain, I noticed that sunlight pouring in through the windows and  thought to myself it must be at least 9  am!  I fumbled for my phone and discovered it was 5.  In the  morning.  Oh boy.  This could make for a very long day.

I  shuffled around trying to gather what I needed to take a shower (at  least the shower house would be empty at that hour!) and wandered down  there.  Hot water washed away the damage the mattress did to my back and  the day started looking up.  (Later we got Starbucks and once again all  was right with the world.)

Helen Hunt Falls – a beautiful  (FREE) place we were turned on to this time around

After Helen Hunt Falls, we headed out to the Air Force Academy. Or what I like to refer to as The Naval Base.  (Don’t ask.)

Everyone was pretty tired, so we only made it through the Visitor’s Center and over to the Chapel.  But it was a beautiful campus and we would have loved to see more.  Perhaps next time!

After the Academy, we went back to the cabin for a bit.  Later on we went out “exploring” (that’s when we drive around trying to find something to do).  We headed towards downtown and found a fun park with a wonderful fountain – Penrose Fountain.  The girls had a blast!

Day 3 will be posted next week!

~Sara