Sometimes, you just want to lose cell phone reception for a while.
Last weekend I headed up into the mountains on one of our favorite drives in the Colorado Springs area – you can make the round trip in an afternoon which makes it a great spontaneous getaway.
It has pluses for both Cory and I – he has hills where he can take his guns out and shoot, I have beautiful views of Pike’s Peak and lovely dirt roads to shoot with my camera.
There are also loads of campsites – we haven’t actually used them for camping, but we have had a picnic or two. (no facilities or anything, these campsites are basically a permissible parking space from the looks of things)
Side note – I tried editing these in color – and it’s interesting that I really do enjoy a lot of color in my art and life (take this pinterest board or this one as an example) but for some reason, photography always hits me most in black and white. Not sure why – but I mean c’mon, just take a look at an Ansel Adams piece or two, and you will be smitten too. I’m sure it also helped that my first camera was an old Minolta, for a high school photography class where we developed our own film (you guessed it, black and white).
As far as the road conditions go, I have made the drive in my little Jetta before, but especially in the wintertime I’d recommend something with four wheel drive – they don’t maintain the roads so it can get icy.
If you’re driving up from Colorado Springs, the road begins in Garden of the Gods park, just before you get to Balanced Rock. If you’re driving down from Woodland Park, look for the road right behind the McDonald’s. Personally, I prefer driving down (WP to the Springs) but it’s pretty either way. You definitely want to stop along the way for views like this:
With our busy schedules (full time jobs, full time school, family, volunteer work: many of you know the drill), escaping for long periods is a rare luxury. But getting out of touch with reality for even a few hours is so worth the good things it does for your soul. To quote one of my favorite movies lately (UP!):
“Adventure is out there!”
Your turn: what are some of your favorite escapes in your area?
(All images taken by me, Annabelle Needles, copyright 2011/2012 – please don’t use without permission)
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