The beach is our "go to spot." That is where the Fennigs feel comfortable and at peace, but this year for family vacation we flipped normalcy upside down. We chose places we had never been to and narrowed it down to a state, Colorado. A mountainous view that Indiana or Florida do not hold. A grand adventure was ahead with spontaneity and flying by the seat of our pants. And oh boy was it worth it!
The morning after the
Kennedy Wedding, I left with my family to catch a flight, head to Denver, and hit the ground running!
First stop, BOULDER, COLORADO...
We were in awe of the view from the second we hit the road. After the view, fooooood! We stopped at one of the most amazing pizza places that makes Colorado famous for their pizzas,
Beau Jo's. I highly recommend the stop if you haven't been there already.
Next stop, ESTES PARK...
The view was breath taking as we made our way through the mountains. We stopped at nearly every pull off to just absorb God's master piece. If I didn't already know what a phenomenal artist He was, it was all made clear in these miles of mountainous views.
We met some friends along the way that wanted to play.
We stayed in the Rocky Mountains and took time to explore its splendor from miles up in the sky. We decided as a collective whole that some of our greatest memories of the trip were our completely spontaneous moments. We climbed an hour up into the rocks that were remnents of the flood of the
Big Thompson River in 1976 followed by a ride up to Trail Ridge Road through the winding roads of the park.
Made another friend along the way...
Hiking trip through the Rocky Mountains...
Third stop, VAIL...
And I wanted to move into this house immediately... shocking, I know...
Final stop, COLORADO SPRINGS...
Horse back riding through the Garden of the Gods.
Eating at the Elephant bar (from the suggestion of a great friend), I had some of the best food of my life and had a wonderful end to a very memorable vacation.
On our final morning of vacation we took the trip on the COG to the top of Pikes Peak. It was freeeeeeeezing!
Our sweet Pikes Peak hats.
What a vacation it was! I even got to squeeze in a dinner date with a wonderful friend who currently resides in Colorado Springs. It was a wonderful week spent traveling around the state taking in the beauty and the experiences I had the pleasure to share with my family. These are the moments where I want to throw in the Master Card commercial. The flights ($$$), the Hotels ($$$), the activities ($$$), but all of that creates a priceless experience that I will remember and cherish (and probably be the annoying mom someday that tells the story of the time I went horse back riding through the Garden of the Gods one to many times to my kid'os).
Thank you for a wonderful vacation. These photos contain more than a thousand words each and I have many many many more that I couldn't squeeze into a blog post, but let me tell you, God is BIG, God is an amazing ARTIST, and God has given me the BEST family any one could ask for.
-km
