There is a place in Colorado Springs, Colorado USA that will absolutely take your breath away. It is called the “Garden of the Gods” and it is a park made up of natural rock formations. Due to a high iron content, the soil and many of the rocks are a beautiful red color.

The park has a walking paths that wind you around the formations. There are bike paths as well as vehicle roads that wind through the entire park offering fantastic views of Pikes Peak and the surrounding area. The main attraction is the rock formations, one is called “Kissing Camels” because from a distance, it actually looks like two camels kissing! Some of the formations are extremely tall and some have holes in them large enough to walk through.   The park also boasts a nice visitors center and rooftop restaurant. You can hike around the park and then sit back and enjoy a wonderful meal while enjoying the vistas.

My first trip there was in 1998, with my husband.  We took our honeymoon in Manitou Springs, which is a stones throw from Colorado Springs. On our list of sights to see was, of course, the Garden of the Gods. Now, back in 1998, the visitors center did not exist, nor did the rooftop restaurant. We took our lunch and drove to a scenic pullover spot in the park and ate in stunned silence. We both are from Colorado, but not the Colorado Springs area. We are from, what we not so affectionately coined, “the desert of Colorado”. To say the very least, the trip through the Garden was absolutely breath taking. We spent many hours in the Garden and the surrounding area, soaking up as much of that beauty as humanly possible. You see, as I explained earlier, we were on our honeymoon. As newlyweds, we were not concerned with a silly little thing like a camera. Yes folks we did not take any pictures of the Garden that weekend. Please, I can hear the booing from here! With my head hung low, I will continue my story.

We made the trip to Colorado Springs and the Garden at least once a year for a few years before we actually realized it had become a tradition for us. The Garden will always hold a special place in our hearts because of its natural beauty and because it was one of the first places we went as a newlywed couple. There is just something so majestic about those formations and the surrounding grounds that makes you feel the need to whisper, so as not to disturb the “Gods”. One of my fondest memories of those trips is getting the privilege of attending an Easter sunrise church service held there. The sun rising up over those formations is an awe inspiring event. If you are not a particularly religious person, that sunrise could change your mind.

As the years have passed, life has taken over and we have not made the trip in far too long. Now, as we are preparing to move to another state (new exciting articles anyone?), we are going to make that beloved trip one last time, my hubby just doesn’t know it yet! Oh and by the way, we will be taking pictures this time.