Summer in the Springs

Happy Friday everyone! I know it has been awhile since I have been on here to update you all on life, but to be honest, not much has happened haha. Since May, we haven't been doing too much. Mostly working or spending weekends at the lakes in Arkansas. With covid still lingering, it has been hard to catch flights anywhere and we are always worried about being too close to others. Finally, Daniel and I decided we couldn't sit still any longer and made plans for a road trip. We didn't really want to fly and plus we wanted to bring Aero, so we rented a car and drove to Colorado where we spent 9 days exploring the outdoors. We had so much fun and CO is absolutely beautiful. It was my first time visiting the state and I cannot wait to go back! I wanted to take the time to share some of our special moments and recommendations if you are thinking about needing a trip somewhere away from everything during these hard times. Since the trip was 9 days, we did A LOT of stuff. So I plan to split up my posts between the 3 big places we stayed: Colorado Springs, Breckenridge and Fort Collins. Colorado Springs was our first stop!

The drive from Arkansas was super long, but we took turns driving and Aero was a very good travel pup. We finally made it to Colorado Springs where we stayed at the Soul Community Planet (SCP) hotel. I loved our stay here! It's super eco-friendly and focused on making a positive difference for the environment. They also have this adorable lobby where Daniel and I would come back after dinner to chill, have some drinks and play board games. Aero also got all the loves by the staff and guests. The first night, we had dinner with some of my friends at this place called Shuga's. It has this amazing retro-feel vibe and their bruschetta is delicious. My friends said that everything they have ever ordered has always been so good and definitely recommended it.

The next day, we woke up ready for an adventure. It was so different walking outside in the morning to a huge mountain scenery. For breakfast, we drove to Red Dog Coffee & Cafe in Manitou Springs to pick up some coffee's, muffins and a puppuccino for Aero. She was so excited! Visiting The Manitou Cliff Dwellings was on our list, so we made our way over there and went through the architecture that dates back to 1000 years. We enjoyed learning about the history and getting to see the incredible views of the mountains. Also on the list was the Garden of the Gods. There was so much to see and so many places to hike! We finally found a spot to park the car and came across some big rocks to climb. Even Aero found some rocks to jump around on haha.

Colorado Springs is a very pet friendly city, so pet friendly that they have a 25-acre off-leash dog park with a flowing creek, called Bear Creek Dog Park. We were curious and had to let Aero check it out. She loved being off the leash while we hiked the different trails in the park and enjoyed splashing in the creek with the other dogs. I wish we had something like this in Arkansas, it was great! For lunch, we went to Pub Dog. It's a pet-friendly eatery serving pub grub and drinks. Aero made new friends while we enjoyed our dog pile nachos and beer. Yum!

That afternoon, we decided to take Aero to the hotel for a nap. Daniel and I went back over to Manitou Springs to check out the small shops. While walking around the town, we noticed locals carrying big jugs of water, some were empty and some were full. We then overheard a conversation about mineral water springs around the city. We looked at one another with excitement! Recently Daniel and I watched a series on Netflix, "Down to Earth", and the second episode focuses on water. They talk about the importance of minerals in water. When our bottles of water we buy say the words "purified water" or "distilled water", that means you are about to drink boiled up tap water. Minerals are diluted out of our water and we need them to make our bodies healthier. When Daniel and I heard the words "mineral water" from the conversation, we couldn't wait to try it. We found a fountain, filled up our bottles and took a drink. We couldn't believe the taste! You could literally taste the minerals in the water & it tasted incredible! It was pure ancient water right out of the mountains and we loved it. If you're ever looking for something to watch, "Down to Earth" is a very interesting show and will leave you remembering the different conversations that are discussed in each episode. Thanks to that show, we were 10x more interested in having a taste of the mineral water in Manitou and understand how important those minerals are to our bodies. It was a great experience!

For dinner that night, we went to the Colorado Springs "best kept secret" called The Rabbit Hole. It's a downtown underground, Alice in Wonderland theme, creative restaurant that we definitely enjoyed. They had beautiful Alice in Wonderland murals on the walls and themed cocktails. My cocktail was called "The White Rabbit" and it was topped with a flaming marshmallow! Daniel and I always like to enjoy unique cocktails from different places.

Colorado Springs was so wonderful! Even with a pandemic in place, we were able to explore so many things in the springs for those 2 days. Have you ever been to Colorado Springs? If so, how was your experience? I would love the feedback!

Stay tuned for my new posting in a couple of days of our stay in Breckenridge. It was my favorite part of Colorado and I can't wait to share all the details.

Thank you so much for reading & enjoy this beautiful weekend. Fall weather is right around the corner!

Love yourself xoxo