Colorado – Part 1
We spent 3 weeks in Colorado. Here’s a little recap of Colorado Springs and Woodland Park where we spent the first week. In my next post, I’ll talk about Denver, Boulder, and Greeley.
We stayed at an Airbnb in Colorado Springs. It was advertised for two people, but I asked if we could bring our own air mattress for the kids and the host seemed agreeable to the idea. It was a great place to stay. After several days of fast food before that, we got to make our own meals using a hot plate and toaster oven.
There were cozy white robes and a towel warmer in the bathroom. Have you heard of a towel warmer for bath towels? I might just have to ask for one of those for Christmas. It was a real treat. We left the Airbnb after 6 days, thought everything was fine, and were shocked when the host reviewed our family with a *one star negative review.
Apparently there were a lot of things she was upset with us for that were never mentioned until we left. We would have had no way of knowing she was upset or given an opportunity to make things right. It was very frustrating. I guess we were due for at least one unsatisfied host to break our streak of good stays for the last 5 months.
While in Colorado Springs, we got to visit a few people we hadn’t seen for many years.
I met up with a childhood friend, Melissa Stynski, at Starbucks. We chatted about our siblings, memories of growing up in Marshall, MN and attending the same Camp Grace in Chandler, MN.
We also spent an afternoon with John and Alysha Housari and their 5 kids.
John came to the Czech Republic with us many years ago and also flew in for a Leap Day event we did in Minneapolis. John is known affectionately as DJ Barnabas.
In the Bible, Barnabas was known as “the son of encouragement”. John and Alysha live up to that name. Their company was very uplifting. They asked us deep questions about our marriage, mental health, family. We really soaked up the hours we had with them.
While homeschooling, we are always looking for field trips and educational experiences on the road. One field trip in Colorado Springs was to an aquaponic lettuce greenhouse. Their mission is to help organizations launch local food systems that reduce poverty with dignity. They believe in long-term solutions that prosper local economies. On Tuesday and Friday mornings, between 20-100 volunteers come to harvest the lettuce. The couple who gave us the tour also run the Youth With a Mission Training School that shares the same property. They were very knowledgable and passionate about their work. We learned a lot about what goes into aquaponic farming.
For Easter weekend, we headed up to Woodland Park, which is located near the base of Pikes Peak. We were super excited to see our friends, Tim and Dana Kramer and their 5 kids. Since their house is small, they asked some of their friends with an open basement apartment if we could stay there for the weekend. They graciously hosted us even though we had never met. On Friday night, we went to a Seder Passover meal.
The Seder Meal is a tradition celebrated by people of the Jewish faith during Passover. The meal consists of rituals, liturgy and food meant to represent parts of the Exodus story where the people of Israel were led from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. Even though I have attended church and read the Bible my whole life, I learned new things from the Seder. Christians have much to gain by hearing from our Jewish friends and neighbors.
On Saturday, we drove 45 minutes and 14,000 feet up to the top of Pikes Peak. The temperature dropped about 30 degrees. At the top of the mountain, I found it hard to breathe. We had been warned about this elevation sickness. It is something you really need to experience to understand. I’m glad we did it, but probably wouldn’t feel the need to drive up more than once. We can say “been there, done that.”
On Easter Sunday, we joined the Kramers and two other families they knew from church for a delicious potluck lunch of smoked brisket, roasted veggies on the grill, mac n cheese, fruit, and this amazing pavlova with candied lemon.
The kids had fun finding Easter eggs hidden in the backyard and jumping on the trampoline.
We ended up getting an extra day in Woodland Park because on the way out of town, we got a flat tire and it took most of Monday to get it towed and repaired. We are grateful for kind friends who flexed with the change of plans. Thank you, Tim and Dana!
