Gardening with the Gods

The first leg of the road trip is in full swing, and I'm writing to you all from a Starbucks in Colorado Springs! So far, so good. We enjoyed three days in Kansas City with my family and friends, which was amazing, and grounding...the perfect way to start the trip. For math purposes, Austin to KC is about 11 hours drive-time. Then we trekked the 9 hours to CO., and arrived here last night. That's 20 hours so far (I think it will be fun to keep track of that). Good music, and good podcasts deserve infinite gratitude when this much time is being spent in the car. We actually even slept in the car last night, which is more comfortable than you might be able to believe, and will be something we do at least several more times this month. Our only evening activities upon arrival were hitting up a grocery store to pack the cooler, and a dispensary (it is Colorado, after all).

This morning we woke up early (like 5:30 a.m. early), but lounged in the car until about 6:30 a.m. (again, more comfy than you'd expect, I'll need to get pics of our set-up and share). Then we went to change and freshen up in a Starbucks bathroom (seems like we might owe Starbucks some lodging fees by the end of this month), before heading to our beautiful hiking destination: Garden of the Gods. This park is super great for ANYONE. All ages, all abilities. It's quite literally, "a walk in the park," though, a stunning one.

When we arrived we were one of about three cars parked, and we decided to pull out our little propane grill and make some breakfast before hitting the trails. I will go to the grave arguing that sourdough toast with egg and avocado is THE best breakfast - throw some hot sauce on that and *chefs kiss*. Anyway, we enjoyed that, and then got to exploring.

The beauty of our earth continuously blows me away, and one of the great things about a park like Garden of the Gods is that it's super well-maintained, and regulated. While this may mean, to some, that it's "less fun," (because you can't just go climbing and exploring off the main paths) I actually think this is amazing because the natural argriculture is able to thrive SO much better without a whole bunch of humans stomping all over it.

Another great thing about this park is how customizable you can make your hike. We did a short 3.3 mile loop, but if that's too long, there are incredible views without doing an actual loop, and if that's too short, there are a million ways to expand it. There are tons of benches throughout the trail with stunning views to stop and take a break, or soak up some wildlife. We stopped a few times to do short meditations, or just take it in. The wildlife was so sweet to witness; we saw tons of yellow finches and blue grosbeaks just chirping around so cutely, a couple bouncing (big) bunnies, and a few mule deer. Deer are always such a beautiful reminder to me to embrace a gentle and more natural way of being. Their still, but alert, calmness is so peaceful. They are personally my most present spirit animals, and I'm ever thankful to spend time in their presence.

After a few hours the park began to fill up a bit more, and we decided to head out, but not before noticing the "kissing camels," which is just a cute section of rock. The formations are all-around spectacular, and SO old. There are signs everywhere telling you how many millions of years old the various rocks are. I love that we can connect with, and tap into so much earthly wisdom by being in nature. It's so good, and I highly recommend getting outside today if you haven't already.

Our next stop is finding a campground near Boulder, so we can pitch the tent in daylight and have a relaxing night under the stars. They have so much to tell us.

~Your growth and peace are within reach~