A wet Fourth of July celebration

July 6, 2009 By

It hardly ever rains all day in Colorado Springs. It’s not uncommon for afternoon thunderstorms to blow in over the mountain, but they are usually come and gone within a few hours.  But, this 4th of July, it rained just about all day and put a damper on a lot of celebrations. I think all the scheduled fireworks shows went as planned, but they were more than a little wet. I guess the good thing is that the fire danger was extremely low.

Palmer Lake didn’t seem to be nearly as crowded as usual, likely due to the rain. The show was about 18 minutes long, shorter than usual, but a lot of communities shortened their show as a result of economic conditions. It was still a great time, though!

Full moon competing with the fireworks for the attention on 4th of July in Palmer Lake, CO

Once the rain stopped and clouds parted somewhat, the moon was competing with the fireworks for all the attention. It was nearly full, and was quite bright – I can’t remember ever watching fireworks when it was that light outside!

Gridlock leaving Palmer Lake after 2009 Fireworks Show
Though attendance was down, that didn’t mean there wasn’t the usual gridlock trying to leave Palmer Lake.

A Twitter friend, Ben Simon, has a lot of really great (and way better then ours) images from Palmer Lake.  Jeremy also took some video with his iPhone, including the grand finale:

Where to watch fireworks in Colorado Springs

June 29, 2009 By

Bummed that the Memorial Park fireworks show was cancelled this year (due to budget cuts)? Don’t let it ruin your holiday, there are still plenty of places to watch a good fireworks show!  I think that all of the shows in the immediate Colorado Springs area

  • Fort Carson is opening its gates to the city for its “Rocking in the Rockies” Independence Day celebration, from 4 to 10 PM on Friday, July 3rd.  It’s at Iron Horse Park, and if you don’t have a military registration sticker on your vehicle, you need to enter at gates 1, 4, or 20.  The Colorado Springs Philharmonic will be performing live, and of course they’ll have fun stuff like inflatables and food vendors.  Find out all the details here!
  • After every Friday home game, the Sky Sox shoot off fireworks, and this year their game on July 3rd was so popular they’ve already sold out, so they added another fireworks show on Thursday, July 2nd.  Find more info on getting tickets here.  I’m guessing the parking lots of all of those stores close to Security Service field will be packed with fireworks-watchers.
  • The Air Force Academy has one of the bigger shows in the area. It’s open to the general public, and the festivities start at  5 PM, and the main event – of course the fireworks show – starts at 9:30 PM.  Read more here.
  • Palmer Lake claims to have the “best small town fireworks show in America” and I’m inclined to believe them – we went last year and it was one of the best fireworks shows we’ve seen!  The population of Palmer Lake probably triples or quadruples on 4th of July as people come from all over to see the show.  Get there mid to late afternoon to park close to the lake and not have to walk.  You can bring a grill and tailgate, or eat at one of the places on Main Street.  There’s a whole day of events lined up for the TriLakes area (note that they haven’t updated it for 2009 but it should be similar).
  • The Broadmoor shoots their fireworks show from the south end of Cheyenne Lake.  More info.
  • Manitou Springs has a fireworks display – watch from anywhere in the downtown area.  It starts at 9:30 PM, and during the day they’re having a Buffalo Bar-B-Q Festival and the street performers will be performing.  Here’s the calender for the 4th of July.
  • I think that Green Mountain Falls has a fireworks show, but can’t find anything about it – it would be a pretty place to watch, though!
  • Another great mountain town is Woodland Park – they’re having an “Old Fashioned 4th of July Celebration” and fireworks will go off behind the high school.  There’s a full day of activites, so be sure to check the full schedule.
  • Here’s another show in north Colorado Springs: Flying Horse (Highway 83/Northgate area) traditionally has a “members-only” show, but this year they’re opening it up to the public.  They’ll begin at 9 PM.  I’m not exactly sure where they’ll be shooting them off from; this is the only information I could find about it.
  • Castle Rock has concerts all evening, and an apple pie contest, of course in addition to the fireworks show in the evening.  Read more about it.
  • And finally, if you’re up in Denver, or want to drive up there, the Post has a list of all the fireworks shows in the area.

Got an opinion about which is the best one? I think Jeremy and I would vote for Palmer Lake! One year we tried sitting in the New Life parking lot to see if we could watch several shows at once, and, well, we saw several shows but they weren’t very good from that far away. If there’s a better place to just park and watch, leave a comment and let everyone know!

Things to do in Colorado Springs: US Olympic Training Center

June 10, 2009 By

bronze-sculpture-at-the-united-states-olympic-training-center

Though there’s certainly a lot of drama involving the city of Colorado Springs and the United States Olympic Committee these days, for now, at least, we’re still the home of the USOC headquarters and have the opportunity to view Olympic hopefuls training in our own city!

The US Olympic Training Center is open for public tours.  You can see the Olympic Hall of Fame, take a walking tour of the compex, and see various athletes in action.

gymnasts-playing-table-tennis-at-us-olympic-training-center

Of course, a lot of Olympic athletes have personal coaches or are professional athletes, but you can still see some of them training here, including the men’s gymnastics team and wrestlers.  It was somewhat ironic to see the gymnasts playing table tennis instead of hanging from the high bar!

hall-of-fame-at-us-olympic-training-center

It’s definitely not an all-day activity, but if you’re interested in Olympic sports at all, it would be worth an hour or two!  Free guided tours are offered daily (check for schedule and winter/summer hours).  The tour was about 45 minutes long, and I’d recommend allowing about 30-45 minutes to tour the main visitor building, including the hall of fame.

Things to do in Colorado Springs: Hiking at Glen Eyrie

June 1, 2009 By

glen-eyie-castle-in-colorado-springs

Glen Eyrie is a private Christian conference and retreat center located just north of Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.  It’s run by the Navigators, and the property is not only beautiful, it’s also historic!  It’s home to the castle the General William Jackson Palmer (the founder of Colorado Springs) built for his wife, “Queen”, in the 1880s.  The historic castle has been converted into a bed and breakfast and conference center – you can reserve a room, have a tea time, or take a tour of the estate.

Though it’s private property, Glen Eyrie is also open to the public on a limited basis for hiking from Mondays through Thursdays (on non-holidays).  They allow up to 24 non-guests at a time on the property to explore the 20 miles of trails.  We went last week and hiked the Queens Canyon trail up to Dorothy Falls.  Here’s a video of some of the natural beauty:

The Glen Eyrie trail map marks this trail as “difficult”.  We took our three kids (ages 4 and under) on the hike and made it to the falls just fine; I would say “difficult” is a stretch unless you want to hike to the punchbowls at the top of the falls.  Keep in mind they when they say “crisscross the creek” they mean “crisscross the creek”.

In all, we crossed the creek 13 times one-way.  They were all pretty easy crossings, but Jeremy will have you know that he made two trips across and back at each crossing because the kids couldn’t cross on their own.  It took us about 2 hours to get to the falls and back – you could go much faster without kids!

As with all hikes in the mountains, it’s a good idea to go in the morning or early afternoon to avoid afternoon thunderstorms.  Note that Glen Eyrie is making a change to their hiking policy – as of June 1st, you’ll have to register online before arriving at the gate.  For more information on hiking and tours, visit their website.

Beautiful weather for the Thunderbirds!

May 27, 2009 By

Thunderbirds fly over Pikes Peak
The weather has never forced the Air Force Academy graduation ceremony indoors, and thankfully today did not make history in that way, either!  The skies cleared to reveal Pikes Peak’s fresh coat of snow and the Thunderbirds performed their spectacular show.  More images from the airshow on our Flickr photostream.

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