JZ had to fly out to San Francisco for work. He flew out Sunday and I packed up the rest of the Zoo into our trusty Subaru and headed south to Colorado Springs. The idea was to stay with my family while he was out of town, for moral support and all that jazz.

It was fantastic! Aunt M and Uncle T showed me the sights and spoiled us rotten. They took us to the Golden Bee for a half-yard of beer, and drove us up to Victor to see the changing of the leaves. I have never seen so many aspens before, and especially not full of so much color. It was truly beautiful. Little Monkey and I also got to see our cousins a lot. I made more super food for V2 and this time made a diet version for V1, which I’ve decided is too chunky for a Vizsla. Dogs aren’t really allowed off leash in many places in Colorado, so finding ways to run them was challenging. I finally found the best dog park that I’ve ever been to- Bear Creek Dog Park. If you have dogs and are in the Colorado Springs area, take them there! This made life a bit easier because once I knew where to go it became part of my daily routine.

When JZ was finished with his San Francisco business, he flew back out to Colorado and met up with us in Colorado Springs. To give us an idea of what if would be like if we moved to Colorado Springs, Uncle T drove us around to some neighborhoods, focusing on where my cousins live out in the country. We are very interested in someday living on a nice piece of property and so it was very nice to get a good idea of what our options would be if we settled in Colorado Springs.

Colorado Springs was jam packed with activities. Aunt M and Uncle T watched Little Monkey one night and when Jake got off work the two of us biked around Garden of the Gods. JZ went back and hiked there with the dogs on his lunch break the next day. Our family date day at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was our favorite family activity during this road trip so far. The zoo is incredible and Little Monkey had the best day of his life, I think! We did the marathon version of the zoo and saw every animal. Feeding the giraffes and seeing the grizzly bears were our top picks. Interestingly, the zoo held it’s grand opening for the tapir exhibit that day. Tapirs are unique looking creatures from…South America! We were pretty excited. There was tons of family time with all the cousins. Visiting with Aunt M and Uncle T, seeing Little Monkey interact with his cousins, and getting to catch up with mine, has hands down been my favorite experience of this road trip so far.

Although it’s lacking in the water/boating category, we do love Colorado Springs and it stays on our list of possible places to settle down someday.

On the Road Again,

Kato

Friday I was scheduled to fly from Denver to Palm Springs for a bachelorette party. With the missing puppy ordeal I didn’t think I was going to make it. Though I was exhausted, I was very happy that I still got to take my girls weekend; also my first weekend away from the baby! We booked it from Jackson, Wyoming to Fort Collins, Colorado on Thursday. Trying, again, to make Queen Bee more comfortable, we put her carrier between the driver and passenger seat up front (with the strap snapped around a head rest, so she was “buckled” in). We arrived Thursday night in Fort Collins and stayed with JZ’s Aunty. I shuttled it to Denver for my girl’s weekend and had a glorious time until my return Sunday night. JZ and the rest of the Zoo Crew shacked up with Aunty for the weekend and spent some quality family time with JZ’s relatives. While away in Palm Springs I was being blasted with pictures of the cousins together. Although there is an eight-year age difference, their bond is already apparent and pure sweetness. They also got to see JZ’s grandma and uncles everyday. Knowing that Little Monkey is getting to spend such quality time with such important people like his Great Great Grandma makes me feel that all this is still worth it.

I came home from Palm Springs Sunday night and we stayed with Aunty for a couple more nights. We weren’t really sure what our plans were, because while we had a general outline of our schedule, we were thrown off by the missing puppy adventure. We also had never followed through with booking an airbnb in Boulder, which was our original plan. Low on funds and tired of searching, we ended up booking with the Hyatt House in Denver for the remainder of the week. This ended up being a great way to go. We decompressed, caught up on life a little bit, and just generally relaxed. We were out by the airport, so a pretty far ways away from the hub of Denver. While this seemed too isolated at first it felt really nice in the end to be away from the hustle and bustle after our Jackson adventure. Finally wising up, we bought a spray bottle and so when Queen Bee meows, we spray. Sounds mean, but it doesn’t hurt her and she actually calms down and I think it ultimately lowers her stress level (it definitely lowers our stress levels).

Denver did end up being a productive and interesting stop for us though. I took another dance class. Little Monkey and I got our passports taken care of. JZ went shopping downtown for some work items he needed. I cooked up some super food for V2, to help put some of the weight back on that he had lost during his freedom run. Friday night, we went out for dinner and ended up at Maria Empanada. The empanadas were authentic, delicious, and this place is highly recommended to anyone in the Denver area looking for affordable, ethnic food. Finding Maria Empanada was exciting because we are also preparing for a South America adventure here soon (stay tuned!).

Saturday was spent hanging around Boulder, Colorado. We packed a picnic lunch and drove in for the day. A good portion of the day was spent walking and hanging at the Pearl Street Mall. And, because we have two Vizslas, we found a beautiful hike that took us along the flat irons to an overlook of Boulder city. Then, by chance, we happened to end up at the world famous Dark Horse Grill for dinner and joined the locals while they watched Colorado State vs. University of Colorado’s football match. While we were originally disappointed that we couldn’t spend more time in Boulder, finishing up our Denver experience with a day trip there was satisfying and also a great way to close that chapter.

On the Road Again,

Kato