Hiking Rampart Reservoir

Well hey there everyone! I’ve been in Colorado Springs for a few days now (arrived on Saturday) and I’ve got a few fun things to share!

Sunday morning I got up, went to the gym and ran 2 miles then did a few weights before heading home for a shower and some much needed stretching…

Haha. The wooden dog was left here by the previous owners and we named it Chief (Kansas City Chiefs) and adopted it as our own. Which basically means we take funny pictures with him and send it to my immediate family in our group text.

Then we headed to breakfast at the Garden of the Gods Club. It’s my favorite place to get breakfast because of the amazing view from their terrace. And while we were waiting for our food a deer came up from the park, walked around, and then drank some water before running off. So cool!

Sunday evening my friend, Maddie, drove down from Denver to hang out with me! After the restaurant we tried to go to was closed for a private event, we decided to try out a Greek restaurant across the street called Jake and Telly’s Taverna.

We each got a glass of Greek wine, their “village salad” and then shared a fruit and cheese plate. We were very impressed with our waitress’s ability to pronounce all the Greek words, clearly this restaurant knew what they were doing! And of course the evening ended in some much needed froyo and girl chat (and ghost stories…).

The next morning we were up bright and early to head out on a hike. We wanted to stop at a Starbucks (after a much-needed Walmart trip for some awesome socks) for breakfast but my iPhone directed me to a Starbucks inside a Safeway grocery store. We got our oatmeal there and sat to eat before heading out. Of course this required a photo shoot since it was the fanciest Starbucks we’d ever been in (sarcasm… haha).

The trail we were hiking was around Rampart Reservoir, which is actually right on the edge of where the fires were last summer that destroyed much of the forest and many homes. The trail was absolutely beautiful and we had a great time. We only did a section of it (about 4-5 miles) since the whole way around is 14 miles.

On our way back down I asked Maddie to stop so we could grab a few pictures of the view. I think the backside of Pikes Peak (which I hiked last year) is so much prettier!

We stopped to fuel up and my very first thought was: “If I had to work at a gas station, I’d want to work at this one!” Am I right?

We also stopped at a roadside store with a ton of wooden sculptures, pots and rocks. I bought some Elk Jerkey (so good) and Maddie got a great gift for her mom’s birthday!

We headed back to Colorado Springs and then Maddie went back to Denver. But I’ll get to see her again at the end of the week!

Are you a fan of hiking?

Do you like Greek food?

Do your friends from elementary and high school live near you or far away?