Jeanine and I were up well before sunrise for a visit to the Garden of the Gods, not five minutes from the Colorado College campus.  I scouted a great location for an overview shot including Pike’s Peak in the background as the sum rose.  This natural wonder is a photographer’s dream.

The early morning light was magical and this is but a small sample of the photographs I captured.  As I have noted in the past, landscape photographs really need to be viewed at full resolution to appreciate them.

After a few hours of hiking in the park we set out for the quaint town of Manitou Springs followed by a stroll through historic Old Colorado City.  There we came across the tail end of a pumpkin festival and watched as contestants loaded their prized creations. Pictured here is the winner of third place.

By this time, Nicolai was finally awake and we joined him and his friend Nate and Nate’s mother for breakfast at his favorite local spot. I ordered a half-size portion of the Grump (2 eggs served over a mountain of hash browns covered with cheese and gravy).  In retrospect, I should have ordered the quarter-size portion that was offered on the menu.

With three days remaining in his current block, Nico returned to his dorm to work on a term paper while Jeanine and I went back to the Garden of the Gods for further exploration and hiking.

We reconnected again for dinner and were joined by Nico’s roommate, Thomas, his mother and two sisters at an underground restaurant called the Rabbit Hole.  The food was reportedly exceptional. I opted for salad only to offset the damage done by my 2,000 calorie breakfast.