Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Hey everyone! I hope your weekends are going well! Currently I’m headed back to Chicago after a great evening in Denver with my friend, Maddie.
On Thursday, my last full day in Colorado Springs, my mom and I decided to go to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Yes, it’s actually up on the side of a mountain! It’s definitely a hilly zoo, but a lot of fun!
My favorite exhibit by far was the first one we saw: the giraffes! There were probably about 20 giraffes in this enclosure with a walkway going through it. You could buy lettuce to feed them, so they came right up to you!
It was very cool! I was a little sad though that the elephant exhibit was under construction, they’re one of my favorite animals.
By the way, check out the view from the highest point we were at the zoo, I’m pretty sure you can see Kansas from here:
Another one of my favorites was the River Otters! There were three in the exhibit and were playing around the whole time! They were completely adorable and definitely showing off!
Haha and of course I had to take a picture of the Moose, another favorite animal of mine:
The last place we stopped was the Ape House. There were a bunch of smaller monkeys, but I was drawn to the Orangutans and the Gorrillas. I stood there wishing that I could just quit law school and go work at an ape sanctuary. They completely fascinate me – they are so smart and so much like people.
My mom and I both really enjoyed our time at the zoo, although we did have some issues finding our way around because there weren’t many signs, and some of the exhibits up the side of the mountain were so full of foliage it was impossible to see whoever was living in there!
For dinner, my mom and I decided to try out a place that I had spotted during my last time here: Coquette’s Bistro and Bakery. It’s an entirely gluten free restaurant in Manitou Springs. We got there and parked a ways from the restaurant, so we got to walk a bit through the area. I went here with Maddie in January and fell in love!
We had chosen the restaurant because we knew it served crepes and my mom LOVES crepes! I was also pretty excited since I hadn’t had one in ages!
We both ended up ordering the Tula, which was a Mediterranean inspired crepe:
chicken, roasted red peper, kalamata olives, zucchini, spinach, feta and tzatziki
We LOVED it. I was amazing. Actually amazing, we couldn’t stop raving about it! All the flavors together were just perfect. We both killed our crepes and left full and happy! Of course, not to happy to get a little fro yo for my last night!
It was a great last day in Colorado Springs, I was sad to be leaving!
What’s your favorite animal to see at the zoo?
Are you a crepe fan? Sweet or savory?
Garden of the Gods
Happy Friday everyone!!! Today is my last day in Colorado Springs! After lunchtime, I’ll be heading north to Denver to spend the evening with my friend, Maddie! Then Saturday morning I’m on a plane back to Chicago!
I love being here in Colorado Springs, especially now that the weather has been great! The last two times I’ve been here were January and March, and it was definitely chilly! I wish I had a day or two more to get in some hiking! I did, however, manage to get in a short hike on Wednesday.
Our house is very close to one of the reasons Colorado Springs is so famous: The Garden of the Gods!
I hoped in the car and headed down there for a quick afternoon hike! I ended up on a trail that took me around 1.75 miles of the park, and up about 171 ft in elevation. Not too much, but it was nice and I was glad I didn’t have any problems with the altitude. It was a great time to just enjoy the scenery.
I started out in the area with some of the most famous large red rocks. This area has sidewalks and is easily accessible to any visitors who aren’t looking for a real hike. There were plenty of people out!
While I was there, I saw several people climbing the side of these huge rocks! It looked so cool, definitely something I would want to try someday! (After plenty of practice on walls…).
After that section of the park, I headed off on the trail! The higher I got, the more gorgeous the scenery! I only ran into one pair of hikers, so it was a nice, solitary hike. There were, however, plenty of “gifts” left from horses! When I was younger, we went on the trail ride through the park, which uses these hiking trails!
In this picture, the last one I took during my descent, You can see the clouds coming in over Pikes Peak! I love this mountain, and this place!
I also filmed a quick video at one point along the hike. I meant for it to be longer, but after a few attempts I discovered I’m not good at speaking. I am meant to write, not film vlogs…
Unfortunatey my internet here does not work well, so I can’t get it to load… Trust me, you aren’t missing much.
I’m sad to be leaving, I love it here so much! I also love how active I can be here: great places to walk, bike and hike! No wonder Colorado is the healthiest state!
Where is your favorite place for outdoor activities?
Do you like taking hikes (or walks) alone?
Thursday Thoughts
Hey everyone! I hope your week is going well! I’m in Colorado Springs now enjoying a couple days with my mom. We arrived Tuesday night and I’ll be heading to Denver on Friday, then back to Colorado Saturday! Only a couple days so I’m trying to enjoy my time here!
Haha don’t be too jealous, on Tuesday I begin a full-time unpaid internship… Great opportunity, don’t get me wrong, but so hard to wrap my head around working another summer unpaid and with no time for a part time job if I also want to train for the marathon… Ahhhhhh. Oh well, trying not to stress! Hence the need for this time in Colorado!
Seeing as it’s Thursday, it’s time for more Thursday Thoughts!
1. This recipe basically involves mixing whisked egg whites with applesauce and a few other things. I didn’t know you could just eat plain egg whites? Is that okay? Haha I hope so because I want to try this!
2. I’ve discovered that President Obama is stalking me. Yes, he is forming his very busy schedule around mine. Why, you ask? Well, he gave the commencement speech at a high school in Joplin, MO a couple days ago while I was in KC (Joplin is south of KC) and then he gave the commencement speech at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs on my first day there! See? Totally stalking me. Right? I must be important…
3. These look sooooo good! I love corn bread and I think these cornbread cakes would be delicious!
4. I love reading Emily’s blog, Daily Garnish. Mostly, I love watching her adorable son, Cullen, grow up! One thing I found very amusing is that he is about 7 months old and has a full head of hair. I, however, was not so lucky as a child. Here I am on my first birthday:
Please note that 1) I am practically bald and 2) I clearly loved cake from an early age…
5. I saw this and now am dying for chocolate chip cookies with (gluten free) pretzels mixed in. How delicious does that sound? And yes, I realize there is a lot of food on this Thursday Thoughts edition…
6. My twin, Amy Lee, has called me many times over the past couple weeks. I have yet to return her phone call (okay, I tried once). I can never answer (or don’t hear it) when she calls and then I forget to call back when I have time. Fault #346: I am awful at calling people. Amy Lee, please accept this as my formal apology. I loooove you!
p.s. When I say “twin” it’s a sorority thing. Lol, for clarification.
7. My mom and I are planning on going to the zoo today. The Zoo. In the mountains. Feel free to be jealous. I LOVE the zoo!!!!
8. I’ve not been feeling well lately with traveling and some GI issues brought on by a new prescription, so today I am going to try and only think “happy thoughts” because those always make me (mentally) feel better!
Are you a good phone person?
Head of hair or baldie as a kid?
WIAW–Road Trip!
Happy Wednesday everyone! I thought for today’s What I Ate Wednesday I would mix things up by showing you all my eats from yesterday, the day my mom and I drove from Kansas City to Colorado Springs (9 hour drive!).
If you are new to WIAW, check out Jen’s blog, Peas and Crayons. Jen hosts WIAW each week and it’s a great way to find new blogs and great recipes!
I knew that with sitting the car all day I would want to get in a run first thing to get out some energy! I headed straight to the gym after getting up and ran 4 miles, stretched, and then headed home to shower and finish packing.
I ate some breakfast before we left: plain Greek yogurt with stevia and vanilla mixed in, blueberries and strawberries, and a piece of Udi’s gluten free bread with almond butter.
I also stopped and got a final Café au Lait from the Roasterie! Oh how I miss that place..
Our first stop on the road was a quick rest stop to use the restroom. I, however, had no idea what was in store for me.
I saw a sign leading to the observation deck. Of course! The observation deck! In Eastern Kansas… Obviously I had to check it out.
And then I laughed (as expected) when I did. I mean, come on, look at that view:
Since fast food on the road is pretty rough for me, I just packed a bunch of snack food to eat on the trip. A few hours later my stomach was grumbling for lunch, so I had a veggie tray, and I replaced the dressing that came with it (it had wheat and soy) with some Annie’s Lite Honey Mustard. Pretty good!
I also had a few new chips that I found – brown rice snaps, and half a packet of buffalo jerky that I found at the Natural Grocers. The chips weren’t as great as I was hoping, but not bad.
I also sipped on this Chia Seed Kombucha throughout the trip:
A couple hours later I had an apple and the rest of the buffalo jerky:
Then, during the rest of the afternoon, I snacked on some of these freeze dried pieces of fruit, a few more of the rice snaps, and some grapes!
Beware of the giant hand! Right as I snapped the picture my mom was grabbing the bag to move so she get her phone out from the consul it was sitting on…
We finally made it to Colorado Springs around 6:00pm (7pm KC time) so we were hungry! After unloading, we headed to one of my absolute favorite places to eat for dinner: The Golden Bee! I forgot to take a picture, but I had what I normally get: half a reuben on gluten free bread, and a side salad.
After dinner, fro yo was an obvious choice. We’d had a long day. The best part? The place we went had birthday cake flavor! You may be thinking… um, Katie, a lot of places have that flavor. Well yes, they do. However this one was GLUTEN FREE. That’s right, no gluten. Most flavors based on any kind of cookie or cake are not gluten free, so this was a huge find for me! So of course that’s what I got!
We headed home, watched a little American’s Got Talent, and then fell into bed. I was tired!
Do you bring your own food, or eat at fast food places on road trips?
Ever seen equally amusing observation decks?
Last Day in Kansas City…
Hey everyone!!! Today my mom and I are on the road from Kansas City to Colorado Springs. What do we see on this 9 hour drive? That’s right, the STATE OF KANSAS!!!! Haha, our entire drive is from one side of Kansas to the other, and then a couple hours in Colorado, which actually looks just like Kansas until you hit the mountains. Please, everyone, calm your jealousy of my scenery.
Since I’m flying from Denver back to Chicago, yesterday was my last day in Kansas City! Not gonna lie, I’m pretty sad about it! Yes, I enjoy having tons of free time, but I also love having the family around and I really do love this city!
I started off my day by… JAZZERCISE! Could you have guessed? I hope so. I actually didn’t’ go with my mom, I went to the 8:30 class instead (she goes to 9:30) because there’s one teacher I love but I haven’t gone to any of her classes yet. The class was AWESOME! They did a ton of songs that I knew and almost all the routines were new to me. Plus the instructor, Sally, was absolutely hilarious, as I was hoping.
This is my sad face when I got home from Jazzercise and realized I really am leaving!
After Jazzercise, I ran home quickly to grab some more water and a granola bar and then headed out to run some errands. I stopped at a used book store looking for some cheap finds, but didn’t see any of the books I wanted. Then I headed down to the Country Club Plaza (the first outdoor shopping center in the US!) and started off at Forever 21 and then H&M looking for some good clothes for my internship this summer.
Do you think these bracelets would be appropriate?
In between Forever 21 and H&M I ran into Barnes and Noble to use the restroom and see if they had Fever, which is the sequel to Wither, the book I reviewed yesterday.
Not gonna lie… I was pretty embarrassed walking into the teen fiction area…
And sadly, my embarrassment wasn’t even worth it. I found the book but it’s only out in hardback, which was $17.99. Um, no thank you. I definitely won’t spend that much on a book I know I’ll finish in a day!
After all my errands I was pretty hungry, so I headed to Pizza 51 to get their gluten free pizza. It’s literally my favorite thing ever to get in KC now (yes, EVEN MORE THAN FRO YO, shhhh). So I had to have it before I left!
After some more errands, my mom and I went to get manicures! My mom only ever gets clear or french (trust me, the french manicure is pushing it) but I have become obsessed with nail polish colors, so I got Barbie Pink! Or, at least I’m calling it that…
When I got home, I helped my mom make dinner (veggies and chicken) and while we were working the doorbell rang! It was my friend, Bailey’s, mom! She was dropping off a gift Bailey got me as a good-luck gift on my internship starting next Tuesday! She got me a Road ID:
It has the phone numbers for my mom, dad and brother, my name and birthdate and then one of my favorite mantras for rough runs: “Don’t You Dare Give Up.” I will definitely be sporting this during my marathon training!
It was soooo sweet of her to think of me! Thank you, Bailey!!!! And some of you may know Bailey, if you’ve checked out her blog, the Fit Philanthropist! She’s pretty much awesome. I spent the rest of my evening watching the Bachelorette and getting ready to hit the road to Colorado in the morning!
Do you ever feel embarrassed walking into certain sections of a store?
What’s the craziest piece of jewelry you own?
Anyone else have awesome friends?
