A few weeks ago I got to go spend four whole days with my favorite sister in one of my favorite places... Colorado! I flew into Denver and the next morning we headed to Woodland Park, Colorado and then on to the Hastings cabin where we met about seven other ladies to share some fun and make some memories.
I have blogged about the cabin before, but it was a dream of my Grandpa, Howard Hastings, to have a cabin in the mountains... The dream became a reality in the early 70's when he bought the land and worked very hard with his boys and their wives to build this cabin on their own. It is now owned by my Dad and two of his brothers. They share it with all of the "kids" and so we all still get to go out and enjoy spending time there too. We all are thankful for this and the memories that we all have of summers spent there and all of the amazing things we've gotten to do and experience in the Colorado mountains.
Our girl's weekend starting with unloading the cars and picking out our beds to sleep in while we were at the cabin. Next we listened to Lindsee read to us about several hiking trails and decided which hike we wanted to take as a group the next morning. Then we went hiking around the cabin. The cabin actually backs right up to the Pike National Forest, so we headed down to the pond first and then into the National Forest.
We saw and collected many beautiful wildflowers for a table bouquet. With eight ladies staying in the cabin, we really needed some flowers in there too...
Pictured below are some of Lindsee's best girlfriends ~ left to right ~ Christen, Melissa, Amelia, Lindsee, and Heather D.
When we got back to the cabin that evening after our hike, Melissa got a fire started outside and we roasted some hot dogs, (A few people ate vegan hot dogs and burgers - Melissa and I were not in this few.), ate delicious homemade guacamole, made s'mores, and played some "Eric Jeopardy".
The next morning after we all were up and around we headed out to go on our group planned hike... at the Crags. It was about a 4 mile hike round trip. This trail is also the starting point for a hike to the top of Pike's Peak, but we decided to save the 14er for the next time we all got together....
We did a little rock climbing and exploring along the hiking trail.
This appeared to be a cave from a distance, but when we got over to it and climbed up on it, we discovered it was just a rock ledge and overhang, the perfect place for a snack and drink break, and about 53 pictures.
Getting close to the top...
It was a great day for a hike, cool and sunny, until we got just about to the top and then it started to cloud over, sprinkle on us, and thunder...which equals lightning, which means danger, which means if you are on the top of a mountain, which we were, that you should get down to a lower elevation quick.... but not before we had taken about 106 pictures of the scenery and the group and each other.
At the top, left to right, top row ~ Melissa, Christen, Amelia, Heather, bottom row ~ Stacee and Lindsee.
Hiking back down...
Some of us saw some wildlife at and around the cabin.... a large Black Bear out near the outhouse, and the little female deer pictured below, out in front of the cabin.
What girls weekend is complete without presents? None I say! So there were presents for the soon to be wed, favorite sister of mine... a super cute hat with a veil attached, some camping supplies, and...
cute nighties, and panties of course!
Ready for a girls night out in Woodland Park... pictured below, left to right ~ Delia, Amelia, Christen, Lindsee, Melissa, Heather D, Heather S, and Stacee.
We ate dinner at a really great Mexican restaurant in Woodland Park called Fiesta Mexicana. (Click HERE for restaurant locations and directions.) They have a large menu and a festive atmosphere.
Pictured below, left to right ~ Dani, Melissa, Heather D, Amelia, Lindsee, Delia, Stacee, Christen, and Heather S.
Waiting on our dinner and margaritas...
The next thing I knew things got a little C-R-A-Z-Y... guns and tats came out, tiny boot shaped glasses and straws were used to share our drinks, and restaurant games with our waiter, Felipe, were played.
(P.S. The food was DELICIOUS. I had steak quesadillas and they were the BEST steak quesadillas I have EVER eaten. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone wanting some great Mexican food while in Woodland Park. Also, my tat was a stick-on tat. It washed off about a week later. It was fun while it lasted. However, the smallish, usually hidden, and very surprising gun in my right arm is real. Watch out Wonder Woman.)
(P.S. The food was DELICIOUS. I had steak quesadillas and they were the BEST steak quesadillas I have EVER eaten. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone wanting some great Mexican food while in Woodland Park. Also, my tat was a stick-on tat. It washed off about a week later. It was fun while it lasted. However, the smallish, usually hidden, and very surprising gun in my right arm is real. Watch out Wonder Woman.)
The next and last stop that night was the Historic Ute Inn in Woodland Park. It was Juke night, which meant the Juke Box was free, which meant Heather D, Melissa and myself got to play DJ all night, which meant that all the other girls got to enjoy a sweet mix of the all time greatest hits in the history of ever, which meant everyone danced, laughed and had a very very very fun night!
You never know what will happen and how everyone will get along when two or nine girls, of any age, get together, but I have to say, hands down, this was one amazing group of ladies. We all got along, had a great time together, took care of each other, made new friendships and strengthened old friendships. I am so happy that my sister has these amazing ladies as her BEST Friends. (I may secretly wish that I lived closer to them, or them to me, so that I could share in these relationships too....) Thank you all for coming to Lindsee's girl's weekend and I will see you all again soon in Kansas!
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