Weekend Recap, Vol. 6

Good morning, friends! How was your weekend? Was it a good one?

As you know, last week was a busy one. Between finishing up a NASA grant proposal, completing several assignments, and taking a midterm exam, there wasn’t much time for anything else (including sleep). So I spent Friday night relaxing and Saturday morning sleeping in. In similar fashion, most of Saturday was spent studying and working on a project for my GPS course with Conor. We’re studying the effect of multipath on GPS signals and the resulting error in position. It’s quite interesting if you’ve got a few minutes to read the linked page. For dinner (and a break from studying), Allen, Conor and I went out to a new-to-us restaurant, Sancho’s Authentic Mexican. And let me tell you…it. was. so. good. (It’s been added to the favorites list.)

I tried the cheese enchilada with carne asada tacos. And while they aren’t exactly the same as Taco King’s special tacos, they are so delicious and I would definitely recommend them. Needless to say, I cleaned my plate well.

After dinner, Conor and I continued to work on our GPS project well into the night. What can I say? Us grad students like to go crazy on Saturday nights. When I got home, Allen introduced me to the movie Big Fish. Have you seen it? It’s a great movie, if you haven’t. I was a little skeptical at first, but ended up really enjoying the overall message and all the hidden meanings and symbolism along the way. A tear-jerker at the end, but excellent nonetheless.

Sunday we woke up early to drive to Colorado Springs and up to Pike’s Peak (another 14er to check off the list). Since Denver was on the way, we decided to stop by Voodoo Doughnuts, as requested by Allen. Voodoo Doughnuts is based out of Portland, Oregon if that tells you anything about the company. It’s delicious, one-of-a-kind, and quirky as heck. They make the most unique donuts you’ve ever seen. And you have to see them to believe them.

Take just a moment to behold the wonderous sight that is these donuts. Toppings of Fruit Loops, Cocoa Puffs, crushed Oreos, and even bacon! The options were quite literally endless. There were rows upon rows of these donuts just waiting to be devoured. Luckily, Allen and I showed up for the challenge.

We found the cutest little doorstep along the same block to stop for a quick bite. These truly were the prettiest donuts I ever did see.

The little voodoo man donut was so cute. He was actually jelly-filled! But it was the Captain Crunch donut that stole my heart and took the show.

While walking around, we found this really interesting mural we just had to stop at. Allen thought the woman on the right looked exceptionally hungry. Naturally, he tried to feed her one of our donuts. She didn’t seem amuzed.

After nomming on our donuts in Denver, we hopped  back into the car and continued our trip to Colorado Springs. This was my first time to Colorado Springs, and I’ve got to say…the snow capped mountains there are gorgeous. These pictures don’t do them justice.

We stopped to stretch our legs at a little lake en route to the top of Pike’s Peak. The color of the water was gorgeous. Of course, every lake I’ve visited in Colorado has been the prettiest shade of blue. Is it just me, or is everything in Colorado stunning? Sometimes it’s nice just to sit down and take it all in.

I was just beside myself with glee at seeing the snow as we gained elevation. Like a little girl Kristin in a candy chocolate shop. Hailing from Alaska, I’m sure Allen thinks I’m ridiculous for bouncing around in my seat every time I see snow. But I just can’t help it. It’s just too exciting for me to contain myself. I can’t wait to get snow in Boulder! And when we do, you can bet I’ll be the first one sledding down Chautauqua and the first one making a snow angle in the park. You can count on that. But I digress. These views!

After a couple hours of driving, we finally made it to the top of Pike’s Peak. And the views were beautiful!

I just love the crispness of the air at the top of a mountain. It’s so refreshing and rejuvenating. And the smell of cold…cold has a smell, you know. Do you know what I’m talking about? It reminds me of winter and Christmas and family and laughter. It’s the best smell there is.

This view though, right? You can even see the little red cog railway car on the far right of the frame.

Have I mentioned how much I love this guy? He’s seriously so fun to go exploring with. That goes for exploring mountains, but also for exploring life. He makes everything more fun (and silly)!

Ahhh…the great outdoors. I just love climbing mountains and exploring new places. Don’t you? Seeing the world from a new and different perspective can be so exhilarating.

All along the road to the top there are these amazing rock features. We stopped on the drive down to do a little rock climbing.

These rocks almost remind me of Stonehenge, don’t you think? A little eerie. But very cool.

We got one last spectacular view of Colorado Springs before heading back down the mountain. All the evergreens are picturesque and make me feel like I’m in a Hallmark Christmas movie. Anyone else been watching the cheesy Hallmark movies like me already? I’m a little embarrassed since it’s not even Thanksgiving yet. But I just can’t help it! They are my guilty pleasure, ok? We all have one (or two) of them. And if I’m being completely honest with you, I could watch them all weekend long. I just love ’em!

On our way back to Boulder, we stopped in downtown Denver for dinner. We ended up driving by the Capitol building and it looked so beautiful in the golden light of the setting sun. The changing leaves around the Capitol were some of the prettiest I’ve seen this season. I’d love to spend more time in the area just strolling around and enjoying all the sights.

We stopped at The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. It’s got a really neat old-time eccentric feel. And the best part? We got to sit inside an old tram car while we ate.

Allen ordered chicken fetticini alfredo and I ordered the traditional spaghetti and meatballs. I would definitely recommend either dish and this restaurant overall. I don’t know if it was because I was starving or if it really was that good, but my spaghetti was some of the best I’ve ever tasted. And another great perk of the restaurant was that our entrees came as part of a three-course meal. So we got salad (I’d highly, highly recommend the creamy pesto dressing) and spumoni ice cream for dessert. Tell me, what could be better?!

Sorry for the darker pictures. The mood lighting game in this restaurant was strong.

Overall, this weekend was a great one! And now that’ I’m thinking about it…it’s the most balanced one I’ve had since being here. A little bit of homework. A little bit of Colorado exploring. And a lot of fun with friends, old and new. Can’t wait to see what adventures we go on next weekend. What about you? How did you spend your weekend?

In case you are interested, here is my last weekend recap. As always, feel free to leave comments below! If you’re interested in getting posts sent straight to your inbox, subscribe in the sidebar with your email. Or follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or Bloglovin’.