Home is where the Heart is

Over Memorial Day my daughter, my grandson and I took a trip to Colorado Springs to visit my son. It was a fun filled three days as you can see from the above photo taken of Colin. We had stopped on the way to enjoy a picnic lunch in Raton, NM. It was pretty windy so lunch was a bit brief, but it gave Colin a chance to use up some energy before getting back in the car. He is a great little traveler!

After leaving New Mexico we began spotting glimpses of the magnificent Rocky Mountains, which were our companions for the rest of the trip. Of course as we approached Colorado Springs we had a close up view of Pikes Peak.

Saturday was our big tourist day. We started out at Peterson Air Force base to take in the Air and Missile Museum. There are twelve retired planes and various missiles outside allowing a close up view plus a building with historical paraphernalia. Our guide asked Colin if he wanted to go inside one of the planes and of course, he said yes. It was a Lockheed EC-121T “Warning Star”, the biggest plane on the lot! Not only did he go inside he sat in the navigator chair and the cockpit and worked the controls. This particular plane was used for radar missions and could hold a crew of 22.

After lunch we moved on to the Cave of the Winds. This is a huge limestone cave discovered in the late 1800s by two young brothers, George and John Picket; who were out for a day’s exploration with their church group. The cave is full of stalactites and stalagmites. Colin, a little less than 4ft. tall, loved passing on the instructions to duck to his over 6ft. uncle. We all came out the exit in one piece.

Next we drove through the Garden of the Gods, which are huge limestone formations. I was a little disappointed, probably due to the fact that we have beautiful sandstone bluffs close to where we live in New Mexico.

Sunday Uncle Jeff had purchased tickets to the minor league Sky Sox game right down in front. Colin was thrilled and came away with a team jersey, a baseball cap, an orange finger and a program signed by the team mascot- Sox the Fox. Oh and by the way, the Sky Sox won 3 runs to 2.

The rest of the entertainment came from my son’s house. His basement is a home theater, complete with lounge chairs and all the goodies. So when we weren’t otherwise occupied we watched movies. His other passion is the barbecue grill and we found out he is a very good cook!

Although the trip was fun and we saw many new things, I was very happy to return home. I think Dorothy was right, “There is no place like home!”