Bears and Casinos

Hello!

Once again, life is good. The weather is still really nice, colder in the mornings and warmer throughout the day. Get this…I am even a little bit excited for it to get cold because my uncle ordered me some sweet north face snow boots :) not to mention, my matching jacket! I kind of sort of had another mid-college change of plans, it happens right? I’m not going to go on about it but literally everything was against me for nursing and for multiple reasons, I am changing majors…probably to nutrition and dietetics…shoutout to my best friend Laurs for giving me the idea. So, nothing for sure yet but I’ll keep you updated.

On Friday, Cody and I shopped a little….for fishing stuff, duh haha and then grabbed Arby’s for dinner and ate on the patio outside my apartment. I’m trying to soak up every second of this weather! Saturday, we left for Eleven Mile State Park really early. It was about an hour away, past Woodland park, but an easy drive and really pretty.  We took a chance on this park but after searching for somewhere to go for a long time, we decided to risk it and got really lucky! We hiked, if you will, about 15 minutes to a spot by the lake to chill, fish, get tan, etc. for the day. It definitely had the most beautiful scenery that I have ever encountered.

We didn’t catch any fish…as we figured, but I had fun playing in the freezing water, snapping pictures and playing with a little chipmunk. He followed us around for awhile and when we sat down to eat, he was really interested in the cheese-its and Cody ended up feeding him by hand! 

He ate the first one but it took him about 5 minutes and then he would take goldfish we gave him and store it and come back for more…it was entertaining! Before we left, we went to the South Platte River to fish a little before dark. The sky was literally pink as the sun was setting.

As we were leaving, I told Cody that the thing I missed the most was my dad’s steak, as he cooked it for me at least once a week almost all summer! Steak sounded sooooo good to both of us so you guessed it, we searched for any local steakhouses on Jane, my GPS. The closest one was 38 miles but it was towards Colorado Springs so we figured it was worth it. It was also called ‘Steakhouse’, so it had to be promising, right?

Well, long story short it was an experience. Jane led us up a dirt road on the side of a mountain, which was a total fail. The plus side is that a huge bear crossed the road right in front of us so that was nifty. We turned around and decided that “Bob’s Grill” 4 miles up the road would be our next option and ended up in Cripple Creek, Colorado.

After being scared that everything would be closed for the night, we were so happy when all of the lights were on on the strip of what we thought were restaurants. I mean naturally, you’d think places like “Steakhouse” and “Home Cafe” and “Bob’s Grill” had to be places to eat, right? WRONG. As we parked and began to walk down the strip, we realized they were all casinos. I mean who names a casino “Home Café”, really? So, hungry, dying laughing and tired, we decided to try to walk through the mass of slot machines to the restaurant in the back and actually made it no questions asked. There was a 25 minute wait but at that point, we were just delighted that we were about to get to eat. After being seated, we read ‘cash only’ on the menu which definitely changed things, seeing that neither of us carry cash but soon we were informed that there was an ATM so it only got better from there. Steak, toast, hashbrowns and eggs was only $2.99 with a drink included. We thought it was a joke. Talk about best place ever! Our night was made. Anyways, we made our way back without hitting a deer, which were everywhere right beside the road and they were huge, people in Mississippi would die to kill a buck that big haha. We even went to a Wolf Park on Sunday. You had to pay, which wasn’t up our ally so we just walked around the outside to see the wolves and some foxes.

Monday morning was early. It always is. But, I went shopping after class and got some Air Force gear for games so I’m ready to go now! Tonight, I went to USAFA to visit Cody to celebrate 4 years, after he finished intramurals and he surprised me with some things so that was nice :) it was sweet getting to see him! As we were leaving where I pick him up on base, I almost hit the black tzo fox that is always around and Cody informed me that if I would’ve killed it, there would be many angry cadets! I have never seen a black fox before but that thing just looked evil.

We had a national student exchange meeting on Monday and another girl here is from LSU. Even though technically I am supposed to hate LSU, I found comfort in the fact that the girl said “yall”, haha. Literally, no one says it out here so I get weird looks or comments often but I’m okay with that.

Even though USAFA football will be nothing like State football, hence the lack of cowbells, I am still excited for the season to begin this Saturday. Two roommates and I got season tickets so we’ll be entertained on Saturdays this semester! Today, Melissa and I signed up for a ski and soak trip through the outdoor center here in December...we’ll take a bus up to Monarch and ski/snowboard for the day and then stop by a hot spring on the way back. The program I am in here pays for it so that’s always a plus. 

I am excited about this weekend! Cody's family arrives tomorrow and I am picking Alex Fountain up from the airport on Friday, tailgating with Cody and his squad on Saturday and having some roommate bonding time somewhere in there. We don't have school Monday or Tuesday so that's warmly welcomed as well :)