Garden of the Gods

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." Exodus 20:8

Last Sunday we were able to go to down the mountain to church again. The other staff keep telling me to appreciate this, because we probably won't have another free Sunday until November :P I snuck a picture during worship of the giant screen. See the man on the screen? He's actually on the other campus, playing there, while there's another guy on the stage, playing along. They alternated leading songs. It still blows my mind.

Brooke Warnock, the ranch manager's wife, had the wonderful suggestion of grabbing food on our own and bringing it to the Garden of the Gods for a picnic lunch. The weather was GORGEOUS that day, and it seemed like all of Colorado had come out to play... and walk their poor dogs who've been cooped in by the snow we had.

It's a beautiful park, full of huge red stone formations that sort of appear out of nowhere. It's also very close to Pike's Peak, so as you walk among the rocks, you have a backdrop of the beautiful Rockies.

Here, so they say, are the kissing camels. In my humble opinion, I think it's a camel on the left, kissing a gigantic goat, since the head to the right has horns and no hump. Whatever you think it to be, it's still pretty cool that the rocks have that natural opening :)

I really want to come back and do some hiking!

The people in my car decided to go to Safeway (they don't like Albertson's here) to buy bread, cheese and turkey to make our own sandwiches. A real picnic!

Along with picnic benches, there are also tree stumps carved into chairs to sit on. Clockwise from top left: Hannah (waitrii), Caroline (cabins), Anna (kitchen), me (waitrii) and Tish (trading post).

See the Rockies in the background? Gorgeous!

On the way back, we have to drive through Pike National Forest.

For those of you that don't know, there was a devastating fire in 2002 that burned acres and acres of land around the ranch. It was a miracle that the ranch itself wasn't destroyed. However, the carcasses of the trees still cover the landscape as you see in the foreground in the above picture. It is a sad reminder of what beauty is lost by the actions of foolish people. Click here for more news on the Hayman Fire. Talking to the staff about how the landscape has been affected, they still think that the mountains are beautiful. You can actually see more, while hiking or horseback riding on the trails, because the trees aren't in the way of the view. Above is a picture of the reservoir on the way back to the ranch... which you wouldn't have been able to see from the road if the trees were still growing! I was really sad, driving to the ranch, to see all the dead trees, but everyone is right... there is still beauty all around if you are looking for it, and choose to see it.