The Tigress Goes Up Pike's Peak & More....the trip to CO!

[tigerjen]

As many of you know and/or heard thru the grapevine, I
was in Colorado Thursday 10/9 thru Sunday 10/12,
the primary reason being for my good friend Colleen's
wedding (which was Saturday). I also had the opportunity
to see some of the sites that makes Colorado famously
picturesque with my friend Jill (another friend from h.s.),
who in my opinion is the world traveler (as she's flown
many times overseas as she went to college in Scotland
and then in London, England).

Colleen and I have been friends since 4th grade, which
makes her one of my oldest friends. We were best
friends all the way thru high school; of course, we went
to different colleges (she to SUNY-Potsdam, I to Ithaca),
and we met diff. friends along the way, but still remained
in touch when we could via phone, letter, & email. Before
this past weekend, the last time I saw her was 3-4 years
ago.....way too long.....but I nearly cried when i saw her
at the rehearsal dinner Friday nite----gave her a big bear
hug when I saw her for the first time in forever! It just
was real good to see her after all this time.

Anyhow....here on this thread I will chronicle my trip out
west.........and along the way will include websites of the
places that I went to so you have the opp. to see where
I've been

I am off to bed at this point but will write more very soon!


tigerjen

 

[tigerjen]

Thursday 10/9.....

After only 2 1/2 hours of sleep, we are up at 2:30am
cuz we had to get to the CT Limo place in Bridgeport as
our limo to LaGuardia (in NY) leaves at 3:30am.

Arriving at the airport in more than plenty of time, we
check our bags inside after printing out copies of our
boarding passes as I had ordered e-tickets via Expedia.com.

8am flight.........landing in Chicago first.......then it was
off to Denver, finally landing there around noontime.

Our car rental was a Chrysler Sebring coupe...2 door...
white (can't stand that color for any car...shows too much
dirt!)......but throughout our trip it would serve us very
well!

We decide to hang out in downtown Denver for the late
afternoon/evening before driving down to Colorado Springs.

The 16th Street Mall.....a very long stretch of road that is
closed off to traffic (w/ exception to the free trams that
run on alternative fuel that go back and forth) has all sorts
of diff. shops and places to eat at. It reminded me of the
Ithaca Commons (up where I went to school) just how
the road was cobbled and closed to cars etc. Since it
was too late for lunch and we were meeting Jill's cousin-in-law
and his wife for dinner around 5pm, we stopped at a cute
place called the Corner Bakery for cold lemonade and split
a fudge brownie before our walking around the area.

(Of course on flights these days, you only get a drink and
a snack----for "breakfast" it was a granola bar; for "lunch"
a mini-bag of pretzels)

We did see some stores that were from back here in CT but
there were other unique boutiques that we went into, such
as this one little store that sold diff. asian goods, clothing,
jewelry, etc. Walking throughout this area, there is a diverse
crowd of people...there was one panhandler that came up
to us asking for some dough!

5pm.......off to P.F. Changs, an electic Chinese restaurant,
to meet up w/ Jill's cousin-in-law, his wife, and their daughter
for dinner. They treated us to dinner........which was delish!
The appetizer we started off with were these "lettuce wraps";
you scoop up some chicken or vegetarian mixture into a
lettuce leaf, and eat it up like a mini wrap sandwich! VERY
different....and our waiter had mixed up this very spicy sauce
for it....and that was good! (as I do enjoy spicy stuff)
For entree I had this yummy orange peel shrimp.....spicy.....
but very good.....and each entree came with either brown or
white rice......(and here you have to request brown rice!)....

After dinner and much talking, the wife and the daughter
went off to see the circus in town.....cousin-in-law was on
call for work but took Jill and I out to the Paramount Cafe
(on the 16th Street mall) for an after-dinner drink......I got
to enjoy this martini-style drink called the Tootie Frootie, which
was yummy! We sat outside on the walk, talking and people-
watching....for about an hour and half.......

Around 10pm'ish we made our way to where we parked our
rental car (in Downtown Denver there are many lots to park
in but you have to pay for it---where we parked it was $2/
hour but if you were staying more than two hours it was $8,
which worked out well), and it took an hour and 15 to get
to Colorado Springs.

We finally landed at our hotel around 11:30pm'ish after a
very long day.......we stayed at the Drury Hotel (its part
of a western/midwestern chain) as Colleen's family blocked
off a bunch of rooms there that went ofr $49.99/nite, which
is a good deal. However, those keycards we got to open
our room door were a pain in the ass! (more on that later)

So after being up for over twelve hours, we settled down
to sleep........

here are a couple of sites to check out:

www.paramountcafe.com

www.pfchangs.com

www.downtowndenver.com

Okay......more to come later! Happy reading!


tigerjen

 

[GiveawayGirl]

Sounds like fun so far Jen. I can't wait to hear about the wedding!

 

[midwestyankee]

Jen,

It sounds like you had a blast. I've had the lettuce wraps at the same PF Chang's and hope you enjoyed them. The 16th street area is quite something isn't it?

I'm looking forward to hearing more about your trip to one of my favorite places.

 

[whiterose1895]

Hi TJ honey!

Love your travel diary so far! I, too, can attest to the joys of PF Changs lettuce wraps (they also make the very best mongolian beef and I'm partial to the hot fish myself) When I'm there, I ask the waitperson to make the sauce really spicy! Then i add more hot chillis after he or she has left the table! Yum!

Looking forward to more on your trip to the beautiful state of CO.

Rose

 

[tigerjen]

Friday 10/10

We slept in as we had gotten to Colorado Springs very
late the night before..........brunch we had up at the
Cracker Barrel restaurant, which was a hop, skip, and
jump away from where we were staying. Mind you,
I had never heard of it, and didn't even know we had a
couple of them right here in CT! I got to enjoy two
scrambled eggs w/ two mini buttermilk biscuits and a side
of extra crisp bacon......very yummy! There were many
other choices too....something for everyone! And yes,
the freshly squeezed oj!

The first place where we went to was the Garden of the
Gods.......red rock formations in diff. shapes and sizes...
really was a neat place to go. You can hike around,
drive around, picnic at designated areas, bike, etc. Really
a beautiful place to go.......the visitor's center was across
the street from the entrance of the park, and there
were exhibits, a couple of gift shops, and a little cafe!
They were even selling goodies such as huckleberry
jam, huckleberry syrup, buffaloberry jam, etc. There was
also a trading post within the park itself which sold
many items such as "dream catchers", Native American
items, etc.

Second place in the afternoon we went to Seven Falls.
Seven Falls "cascades down 181 ft. in seven distinct steps
down a solid cliff of Pikes Peak granite." During the
summer months the falls are lit up by computerized
lighting......which would be really neat to see! There is
also a nature trail to check out. We took some good pix,
and afterwards, got to enjoy a cold drink and snack at
the snack bar, which in my opinion, goes on the honor
system as it is a self-serve, but you have to pay at
the adjoining gift shop. talk about trusting!

Friday nite was the rehearsal dinner at the Flying W
Ranch! It was so dark trying to find the road to where
it goes to, but we made it in one piece and missed most
of cocktail hour because of missing that one road. Anyhow,
I got to see my friend Colleen for the first time in 3-4 years,
and she had put on a little weight, but she looked real
good. I got to meet her hubby-to-be....a real nice guy!

The dinner was in a hall w/ long tables & chairs....choice
of entree was either: grilled trout, steak, or boneless
BBQ chicken......included salad, then w/ the entree of
choice, came w/ a baked potato, homemade baked beans,
and a buttermilk biscuit. I had the BBQ chicken, and it
was damn GOOD! There was a cash bar (mind you, there
were two other groups having their thing also), but there
was free iced tea and lemonade.

After dinner there was a performance by the "Flying W Wranglers"!
Put 5 cowboys on the stage, plus a bass, drums, two guitars, and
a fiddle, and you got one hell of a neat western show! It was a
really cool experience, esp. for a rehearsal dinner! It reminded
me of the "Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue" at Fort Wilderness in Disney
World...just the whole dinner and show thingy.....

Got back to the hotel after a long day.......needed rest as we
were planning to head up to Pikes Peak Saturday and also the
afternoon wedding!

Will write more later!


tigerjen

 

[tigerjen]

Oops I forgot!

here are some sites of the places we went to
on Friday:

www.gardenofgods.com

www.sevenfalls.com

www.flyingw.com (where we had rehearsal dinner)


I'm sure that the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain has
a website floating around somewhere....

Enjoy!

 

[tigerjen]

Saturday 10/11

The day of Colleen's wedding.........had arrived!

Morning time.......we get the Sebring gassed up, and
pick up some quick breakfast at the convience store
there.......cranberry juice and pop tarts for me!

Up to Pikes Peak we go.........it takes an hour or so to
go up, and an hour to go back down. If you ever
get to drive up to the summit, BE CAREFUL as you will
need to switch to lower gears as you get higher up.
There are signs marking the miles too.

It was $35 per car but we were lucky and only got to
pay $20! GREAT deal!

Couldn't have asked for a better day.....clear blue skies,
w/ few or no clouds at all, and sunny. At different points
on the way up, picture taking was the thing to do.

But reaching the summit at 14, 110 ft altitude was
incredible.....what a sight to see from up there! Well
worth the drive.....but on all the days that I had brought
my fleece jacket along on outings, I had left it back
at the hotel! So I was standing freezing in a tshirt!
BRAVE me!

One note: The words of "America the Beautiful" are
on a plaque mounted on a rock at the summit.....this was
one of the inspirations for the song. It's always been one
of my favorite songs, but now I truly understand the words
for what they are.

Here is a site: www.pikespeakcolorado.com

We made it back to the hotel by 2:30pm, and I had to be
at the Pinecrest Chapel/Event Center up in Palmer Lake
around 3pm or shortly after (since I was one of Colleen's
oldest friends, I got a small but vital duty----giving the
payment envelopes out to the ceremony musicians,
bartender, and DJ....was able to get those from her dad),
so the clothes, shoes, makeup were flying around the
room, and got ready in a short 20 minutes! Thank god we
didn't have to iron anything!

We finally got up to Palmer Lake (north of Colo. Springs)
around 3:15pm........got to check out the chapel and
it was pure rustic......wooden pews, wooden building,
flowers adorning the pews.....really beautiful! Ceremony
started a little after 4pm........bridesmaids wore burgundy
dresses (a very nice fall color), carrying small hand-tied
bouquets of roses in diff. fall colors (tied w/ a gold sheer
ribbon). The groomsmen had tuxes w/ burgundy and black
vests. In terms of music for the ceremony, the SAI (Sigma
Alpha Iota--women's music fraternity...Colleen and some of her
friends belong to it) Alumni singers performed selections during
it. One of the bridesmaids (who I also know) sung "Ave Maria".
The processional selection was the "Pachabel Canon"......
Colleen the bride wore a beautiful dress with short sleeves,
sweetheart neckline......some sparkle on the bodice.....very simple
but classy and elegant. The veil was attached to a headband (the
veil came off for the reception afterwards).

The ceremony only lasted nearly an hour......and then it was time
for PARTY!!! The wedding party and the parents had to stay behind
for more pix, and the rest of us moseyed on over to where the
reception was, only a hop, skip, & a jump from where we were.
Open bar of course.....and not much in terms of food during
cocktail hour except for fruit (but I was too busy talking to eat).
Shortly later on, intros of the wedding party, and then it was
time to eat! A simple buffet dinner was offered: chicken w/
a rice stuffing, roast beef w/ potatoes, pork loin w/ bread stuffing,
mixed veggies, salad, & rolls.

After eating, the dancing begun! The DJ was awesome, and
knowing Colleen, she has real good taste in music... and we
had some real cool songs going on! Oh yes, there is a little
tradition of guests clinking the glasses so the newlyweds could
kiss----but Colleen and Scott didn't want that...however, if
they were to kiss in "public" at the reception, a guest or guests
would have to get up a sing some lyrics w/ the word "love" in
it---that was the catch! it was so funny!

In between the dancing, the wedding cake was cut and
served. The wedding cake was so beautiful----three layers,
each bottom layer was lined w/ red sheer ribbon, and the cake
was topped w/ roses (colors of fall). Real pretty! I did forget to
mention that the bride's bouquet was the same as her attendants
but it was tied w/ that same color ribbon as was on the cake.

No bouquet toss or garter toss was done.......but that's okay.

Anyhow......the reception lasted until a little after 10pm......and all
too soon it was time to go. The lucky newlyweds were headed to
Mexico for 3-4 days for their honeymoon!

Since some of you know, I was a bridesmaid for Jill's wedding
back in August, I have to compare these two receptions. Colleen's
was still very nice but it was a bit more laidback and not as super-
formal as Jill's was (though both were still daytime weddings). But
I think the difference was that I was a guest this time around, which
was fine anyway (less stress!), and I got to enjoy certain things more.

We got back to the hotel (after finding our way out of the boonies
in the dark) around 10:30-11pm, and we proceeded to start packing
up as we were leaving Sunday.

I don't know if there is a website for where the wedding was held,
but here is info:

Pinecrest Event Center & Chapel
Palmer Lake, CO

More to come later!


tigerjen

 

[cricketbug]

Hi TigerJen!

Glad you enjoyed your trip to Colorado. I'm a CO native... have been to many of the places you saw

 

[tigerjen]

Hi TigerJen!

Glad you enjoyed your trip to Colorado. I'm a CO
native... have been to many of the places you saw

thank you, cricketbug!

and thank you to those who have either read and/or
posted up here so far!

I will be posting up Sunday's entry either tomorrow or
Friday, as to give more people chances to read what I've
posted up here so far!


tigerjen

 

[midwestyankee]

thank you, cricketbug!

and thank you to those who have either read and/or
posted up here so far!

I will be posting up Sunday's entry either tomorrow or
Friday, as to give more people chances to read what I've
posted up here so far!


tigerjen

Jen,

So glad you had a good time. You saw some of the finest country in the state.

 

[alwaysawake]

Jen

Glad you enjoyed your trip there...sounds like some major fun! I haven't been back there for about 10 years or so. Keep posting those experiences...huggers!

 

[tigerjen]

Jen,

So glad you had a good time. You saw some of the finest
country in the state.

thank you! i take that you've been out there at one
point in time?

 

[tigerjen]

Jen

Glad you enjoyed your trip there...sounds like some major
fun! I haven't been back there for about 10 years or so.
Keep posting those experiences...huggers!

Huggies to you too, AA...thank you! You're closer to
CO than I am.......get out there soon if you can!

 

[tigerjen]

Sounds like fun so far Jen. I can't wait to hear about the wedding!

thank you GG! *hugs*

 

[tigerjen]

Jen,

It sounds like you had a blast. I've had the lettuce wraps
at the same PF Chang's and hope you enjoyed them.
The 16th street area is quite something isn't it?

I'm looking forward to hearing more about your trip
to one of my favorite places.

I did enjoy those yummy lettuce wraps....they're so totally
different from anything i've had before......yummy!

The 16th Street Mall is really neat....definitely the place to
be when its great weather.......!

 

[tigerjen]

Hi TJ honey!

Love your travel diary so far! I, too, can attest to the joys
of PF Changs lettuce wraps (they also make the very best
mongolian beef and I'm partial to the hot fish myself)
When I'm there, I ask the waitperson to make the
sauce really spicy! Then i add more hot chillis after he
or she has left the table! Yum!

Looking forward to more on your trip to the beautiful
state of CO.

Rose

thank you Rose!
I do wish they had a PF Chang's in CT.....I'll have to look
up on their website to see where the closest one is to CT
(I think its in Westchester County NY but I'll have to check)
cuz the food is damn good! You're like me enjoying
the spicy food....heehee!

 

[tigerjen]

FYI

I will be posting the entry on what happened Sunday
either tonite or tomorrow (tomorrow more likely) as I need
to get to bed......another overnite shift awaits me tonite.


tigerjen

Thank you for your patience! Happy reading!

 

[tigerjen]

Re: FYI

I will be posting the entry on what happened Sunday
either tonite or tomorrow (tomorrow more likely) as I need
to get to bed......another overnite shift awaits me tonite.


tigerjen

Thank you for your patience! Happy reading!

Okay I've been busy as a bee.....will post up what happened
Sunday either late tonite or tomorrow.

 

[GiveawayGirl]

Re: Re: FYI

Okay I've been busy as a bee.....will post up what happened
Sunday either late tonite or tomorrow.

Jen, the wedding sounded great. I can't wait to hear the rest.

 

[tonitits]

Re: Oops I forgot!

here are some sites of the places we went to
on Friday:

www.gardenofgods.com

www.sevenfalls.com

www.flyingw.com (where we had rehearsal dinner)


I'm sure that the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain has
a website floating around somewhere....

Enjoy!

We have Cracker Barrel here and it is so great!!!! I love going and eating and we can spend hours in the gift shop part. I love it, they have all the homemade items and the country type things. And they also have some "old time toys,candy and drinks",like an old country store. Also ours, has alot of homemade single and double width rockers. So cool! I love to look at their shirts and it always smells so good with the candles, etc...

here is a website for them.

www.crackerbarrel.com

 

[tonitits]

Jen, glad that you enjoyed yourself. It sounds like so much fun. Actually, in my opinion, both weddings sound great but I think I would have enjoyed this one the most! I like the more laid back, not necessarily less formal affair. But this one just sounds like ya'll had a blast. I went to Pike's Peak with a church group, we were on a mission trip and stopped by there on the way home, like you, we had jackets, but it was hot, summertime, and we left them on the bus. When we got about half way there it was snowing and like you when we got to the top,we were freezing!!!! But it is beautiful there. I have a friend that I used to work with him and his family moved to CO, he has this beautiful house that backs up to the National Forest. He lives in Woodland Park, that is where the fires were last year. It got within 5 miles of his house and they had to evacuate for a few days. He sent me pics of his house and one of the girls at work asked if it was a vacation home! It looks like the lodges you see at a ski resort. I have not been to CO since I was a teenager, but I would love to go back. It is so beautiful. One of my aunts used to live in Denver and then they moved to Albuquerque. She loved the mountains so much that after they divorced she ended up moving to Tn. to the mountains there. But when my aunt was dying with cancer, she felt isolated from the family and moved back here and hides out like a hermit!!! go figure!! Again, I am glad that you had such a good time. I look forward to reading more about it.

 

[tigerjen]

Re: Re: Re: FYI

Jen, the wedding sounded great. I can't wait to hear the rest.

I know...I know.....I got to clean my room this afternoon
so hopefully late this afternoon/evening I will be posting
the rest up!

 

[tigerjen]

Re: Re: Oops I forgot!

We have Cracker Barrel here and it is so great!!!! I love going and eating and we can spend hours in the gift shop part. I love it, they have all the homemade items and the country type things. And they also have some "old time toys,candy and drinks",like an old country store. Also ours, has alot of homemade single and double width rockers. So cool! I love to look at their shirts and it always smells so good with the candles, etc...

here is a website for them.

www.crackerbarrel.com

thanks for the website link, Toni!

I wish we had more time to spend in the gift shop part, just
browsing around.....but since there are a couple here in
CT (not near me though), my parents said that they might
take me out to one of them for dinner sometime....and we
can look then! I like countrified items such as diff.
homemade jams and salsas.......that stuff I use

 

[tigerjen]

Jen, glad that you enjoyed yourself. It sounds like so much fun. Actually, in my opinion, both weddings sound great but I think I would have enjoyed this one the most! I like the more laid back, not necessarily less formal affair. But this one just sounds like ya'll had a blast. I went to Pike's Peak with a church group, we were on a mission trip and stopped by there on the way home, like you, we had jackets, but it was hot, summertime, and we left them on the bus. When we got about half way there it was snowing and like you when we got to the top,we were freezing!!!! But it is beautiful there. I have a friend that I used to work with him and his family moved to CO, he has this beautiful house that backs up to the National Forest. He lives in Woodland Park, that is where the fires were last year. It got within 5 miles of his house and they had to evacuate for a few days. He sent me pics of his house and one of the girls at work asked if it was a vacation home! It looks like the lodges you see at a ski resort. I have not been to CO since I was a teenager, but I would love to go back. It is so beautiful. One of my aunts used to live in Denver and then they moved to Albuquerque. She loved the mountains so much that after they divorced she ended up moving to Tn. to the mountains there. But when my aunt was dying with cancer, she felt isolated from the family and moved back here and hides out like a hermit!!! go figure!! Again, I am glad that you had such a good time. I look forward to reading more about it.

So you also had the pleasure of going up Pikes Peak?
Kewl! I think you would have enjoyed the wedding
reception......it was a bit more laid back but still very nice
And a lot of fun besides!