Recap of Colorado Springs Weekend

The trip was all I could have hoped for. As usual, a vacation has done wonders to refresh, revitalize and reinvigorate me. Just a couple of days away from home has always had some sort of positive impact on my demeanor, at least for a little while. The amount of time that this traveling high last varies, but it usually has at least a few days impact. The other result is that instead of satisfying my travel bug, it leaves it wanting ever more adventures. In a book I recently read, Stumbling upon Happiness, the fact that we remember trips so fondly is largely because of the brain’s ability to focus on the good, forgetting the bad. This is typically the case for me, or at least I think it is. I know that some of my trips have had moments of boredom, unhappiness, loneliness and wishing I were home, yet these memories are never the ones that pop into my head when reminiscing about past travels. The brain is amazing in this sense, it protects us by no remembering the bad, just the good.

Colorado Springs was marked by the amazing weekend at the training center, as well as the Thursday adventures in Mountain Life. It is no secret that I have a big desire to live in Colorado at some point in my life, preferabbly sooner rather than later. The scenery that surrounded C.S. just made this desire stronger, though the City of Colorado Springs left me less than impressed. That said, the Garden of the Gods as well as the trip on the Cog Railway up Pikes Peak were spectacular. The Garden of the Gods was one of the most beautiful natural rock formations that I have ever witnessed. The red rocks on the blue sky backdrop made for a incredible view that totally captured everything that Colorado is to me. It is one of my favorite destinations in the U.S. largely because the everday and normal differs so much from my everyday and normal. The mountains seem to be everywhere, constantly watching over the cities that lie on the Great Plains side of these majestic peaks. There is just nothing that compares to the ability to wake up and look out at the Mountains, in all of their glory. I hope that I never take this for granted if I do live near Mountains.

The trip was a huge success in every way. Elizabeth had some great workouts, the mountain air cleared my mind, the conversations with colleagues was inspiring and educational and the people I encountered were friendly and welcoming.

Plus…the food was good, and as you know, the food makes any destination complete.