Colorado Springs with our Granddaughter

The last day of July we picked up Shannyn in Evans and drove to Colorado Springs. This was her first trip with us without Mom. We stayed just south of the city near Fort Carson in a very nice campground. Our first excursion was to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It’s really a great zoo, built on the side of Cheyenne Mountain. Shannyn fed the giraffes, got to pet a wallaby, fed birdseed to a budgie, got to see mountain lions being fed, saw a brown bear fishing for trout, and all the other wonderful animals. We had a great day. Back at the campground she got to play on the playground equipment and also got to play horseshoes. On another day, JoAnne got to visit with one of her dear friends, Mary Margaret, while Jim and Shannyn bummed around Manitou Springs. The rest of our time was spent at the North Pole, where Shannyn and grandpa rode a lot of rides, the Cave of the Winds, which Shannyn thought was ‘amazing’, and the Seven Falls, where we saw the waterfalls and Shannyn got to dance with some Indian dancers. At the campground itself was the May Museum, a large collection of butterflies, beetles, and assorted other insects from all over the world. Shannyn liked all the pretty butterflies, but got pretty bored with the other insects. Still, it was quite an amazing collection. We returned to Evans after enjoying a week with just Shannyn.