Garden of the Gods

 Yesterday we decided to go up the mountain to see some fall foliage. On our way out of the neighborhood we saw these awesome Halloween decorations:

It was really windy and they looked like dementors flying in the sky. It was seriously so cool, although the kids didn't really appreciate it.

 I think we were a couple weeks too early to see all the changing leaves, but we saw a few vibrant trees.

 We started up the canyon and then saw signs saying that the road was closed due to flood damage. :-(

 We headed back down and saw some cool views of Colorado Springs:

 We decided to head to Garden of the Gods. On our way, we had to head through this quaint little town of Manitou Springs. Later in the day we found out about the coffin races they do there for Halloween and the legend of Emma Crawford, this lady was buried on the hill and her coffin got washed away by a bad rainstorm, and the coffin came down the hill and into the city. Read more here. I think it's pretty cool.

 The crazy thing about the Garden of the Gods is how diverse the landscape is. There's red rock and then evergreen trees then changing leaves in bushes and trees. It's super pretty:

 There's a cool view of Pikes Peak. The only mountain with snow on it right now

 Then look down and you see cacti. Crazy place!

 Silly faces:

 Here's even more diverse landscape, burn scars on the mountains from last year:

I guess it was an unconscious last family outing before Tyler starts work today. I'm extremely happy he'll be working but, of course, it's been fun spending so much time together. I'm also happy we did this exploring yesterday when the weather was beautiful because now I can't see the mountains due to the clouds and sprinkling snow.