Some of the other ladies went to Cripple Creek to explore. My intention was to get reservations for the train ride to Pikes Peak, and the do some exploring of other areas on my own. As I mentioned earlier, I did get reservations on the last train at 5:20pm. Cool! On to site seeing...
First stop: Garden of the Gods. I drove to the central parking lot only to drive around and around and around it until another vehicle left so I could take its space. I found out later the lot was so full because a young couple decided to have their wedding there! As beautiful as the park was, it was sooo hot that I could only walk around to see a few of the rock formations.
I was surprised to learn that Garden of the Gods
was donated by the children of Charles Perkins to
fulfill his wish in keeping it forever free to the public.
There were quite a few rock climbers! Not I... nope.
More photos can be seen HERE.
Next stop: Seven Falls. I missed the turn off to go to Seven Falls and ended up driving over two miles up through South Cheyene Canyon. Think... narrow winding roads with blind curves and canyon walls as sky high. Talk about nerve racking! After finally finding a place to turn around, I was lucky enough to get an assigned parking space that was only 5 spaces from the falls.
Upon the advice of Vickie, I took the elevator up through the mountain to get to the first level look out. Both she and and I are afraid of heights. I can't believe she climbed the fire-escape looking stairs to the first level! I thought I'd be OK at the first level, but I got about 3 feet from the railing and started to have anxiety from the height. There was NO WAY I was climbing those stairs to the second level look out.
Top of the Seven Waterfalls
Bottom of the Seven Waterfalls
Since I was expecting to go to Pikes Peak shortly thereafter, I headed back to the hotel to hang out until that time. While Vicky, Mare and I were having lunch when the local news announced a fire had broken out in Waldo Canyon. People literally stopped in the lobby of the hotel to watch the news of the fire. Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak was evacuated and closed. I was so disappointed that I wasn't able to go to Pikes Peak.
The three of us went back to the suite and stitched while we waited for the others to get back. Yes, we finally stitched. I worked on Sampler aux Bouquets. Here's what it looks like now:
The three of us went back to the suite and stitched while we waited for the others to get back. Yes, we finally stitched. I worked on Sampler aux Bouquets. Here's what it looks like now:
This is the project I was working on when I announced I had to frog. I had to rip out almost three rows that I had messed up. As such, the First Frogger prize came home with me.
Four of the other retreat goers were out in the area where the fire broke out. Sandy was able to get back to the hotel before the mad rush of traffic. Poor Vickie, Penny, and Karin got caught up in the re-routing of traffic and ended up getting back to the hotel two hours later.
After everyone was back at the hotel, we decided to order pizza and played with the stash donations from various designers. They were so generous! I was in charge of contacting designers this year and had to carry all that stuff on the plane with me. It's a good thing Southwest Airlines allows two free bags because I needed them.
Sunday
Five forty-five A.M. comes pretty early when one goes to bed after 1am! I didn't plan on getting up that early, however a migraine that wrapped around the right side of my head decided it was time for me to wake up. I showered with a slight bit of light coming in from the outer room... I just couldn't turn on the light in the shower/toilet area. My head hurt too much. I took some meds and headed to the lobby for a bit to eat.. and didn't want to wake Karin or Vickie.
Finally, it was time for me to head back to the Denver airport so I headed to the car where I found ash from the fire on it. As I started out on the interstate, there were spots that had ash that looked like snow on the side of the road.
From Denver I flew into Kansas City, MO and then to Milwaukee, WI. After another two hour drive, I pulled into my garage around 9:30pm. I think Celeste was a bit miffed that I interrupted her sleep, lol. I sure was tired come Monday morning when I had to be at work... Zzzzzzz.
I had a great time at the retreat, and it was nice to meet up with old friends and meet new ones!
