Manitou Springs, Colorado

Today feels like summer. As I write this I am sitting in a cute little park in the heart of Manitou Springs, Colorado.  There are children playing and laughing, dogs all around, and people enjoying themselves. Colorful trees mark fall as their leaves fall into the nearby river and drift away. I see so much beauty. I see God!

Dorina and I came here today because we had a lot of extra time. We finished our shows this morning around 11a.m. We will be staying with one of Dorina’s friends tonight but she is working so we needed something to fill our time (basically 8 hrs!). It has been nice and peaceful. After walking around for a while and getting some Chai Maté (South American tea), we decided to get books and just chill by the river. I am at peace and so content! Thank you God for this glorious day.

One of my favorite moments was when we were walking from store to store we passed a lady who was holding the cutest puppy! I started walking past her but then turned around and said “I’m sorry, but can I pet your puppy?” It was so precious and soft. That was definitely the highlight of my day.  I also found a cute ring that was made on an Indian Reserve. It’s a blue heart with some metal wiring holding it together. It was actually a hilarious time because I kept debating. As I was doing this Dorina was like “You’re going to get it anyway, just do it.” Sure enough she was right!

I’m now sitting in Starbucks finishing this blog (a few hours later), my battery was dying at the park! After we left the park we were going to go hiking at a place called Seven Falls. Now waterfalls are also one of my favorite things. We drove there and once we got there we were met by a closed gate saying the park was closed for renovations until November 26. Renovations?? In a public, natural setting! I wanted to see the falls! It was a bummer, but we ended up going to another part of the park and “hiked” around a little bit. Most of it was really just a walk, but the setting was really serene and it was nice getting to walk around for a while.

This weekend we will be staying in Colorado Springs and then Denver before we head back to Missouri on Monday. I have no idea what we will be doing, partially because we are staying with some of Dorina’s friends but also because of weird schedules. It’s interesting to find way to fill out time when we don’t have a set place to go, but we have made due and have had some fun along the way!