We have all heard this phrase, "Don't make promises that you cannot keep". I have made this simple statement to myself while on my journey to a new me. My promise to myself most recently was that while I am on vacation that I would not abandon my journey to a new me.
From the very start of Our vacation I began to make good food choices. We found tbhe nearest WalMart and purchased 24 bottles of water, Gatorade G2 sports drink (the low calorie 8 ounce serving is only 30 calories) apples, peaches, bananas, strawberries and white seedless grapes, and to help kill the munchies that I knew would come, I selected Pringles Light Fat Free Crisps (70 calories per 15 crisps)
and Baked Cheetos (only 130 calories per one ounce serving, approximately 35 pieces). I am usually satisfied with half the serving and it tastes like I am "cheating" when I really am being very good.
If you are unfamiliar with Colorado and the Rocky Mountains then you probably are not aware of the altitude and the lack of air up here. We live in the Atlanta Georgia area and the elevation is around 1000 feet. In Colorado the lowest elevation that we have visited is around 6800-7000 feet. When seeing all the sights we have been hitting 12,000 to 14,000 feet and this can make for a few health issues. Dehydration being the number one and nausea, light headedness, and headache follow closely behind. I have not experienced the ill effects as much as my husband. Because he already has issues with his inner ear and has experienced dehydration in the past he is more sensitive to the environment and altitude conditions. This has caused us to take it a little slower than we normally would.
Our first day out we saw Seven Falls which is an amazing series of waterfalls (7 total) and the Garden of the gods, both in Colorado Springs. The next day we headed south to see the Royal Gorge and bridge. It was a beautiful sight to behold and we had a little bit of a scare as well.
The first thing that we did when we arrived was take the cable car across the massive gorge. We waited as the cable car made it's way back to our side of the gorge and we boarded along with 32 other passengers. It is an open air ride and it is "standing room only" (if you get claustrophobic I do not recommend this ride). We were making our journey across the gorge and had gotten about 80% to the other side when something went terribly wrong!
Without any warning the cable car became unsettled and it took a strong jolt and began rocking drastically on the cable. At least twenty of the people fell forward landing on the few of us that were crushed against the far side. The cable car conductor tried to gain his composure and found the microphone and asked if everyone was okay. Are you kidding me? Are we okay? This crazy cable car that we are on is rocking worse than a small boat in the middle of the Atlantic ocean in a tsunami and you want to know if we are okay? Look around dude, over 3/4 of your passengers are sprawled all across each other on the floor of the cable car, and you want to know if everyone is okay?
We did not know until the entire experience was over that this was the first time that this had ever happened at the park on this ride. After several horrible minutes the crazy rocking stopped and we were able to help the fallen ones to their feet. We then traveled the short distance to the other side of the gorge and we exited. We decided not to tempt fate twice and we took the long hike back to the original side of the gorge that we started on. And I am very happy to say that I was able to do it! I surprised myself! It was an awesome feeling to be fit enough to make the hike and trip across that massive gorge via the bridge that so many drive across. On my journey to a new me I know that if I had not made a promise to myself and kept it that I would not have been able to do what I did. Stay tuned for more experiences from our summer vacation and my journey to a new me!
From the very start of Our vacation I began to make good food choices. We found tbhe nearest WalMart and purchased 24 bottles of water, Gatorade G2 sports drink (the low calorie 8 ounce serving is only 30 calories) apples, peaches, bananas, strawberries and white seedless grapes, and to help kill the munchies that I knew would come, I selected Pringles Light Fat Free Crisps (70 calories per 15 crisps)
and Baked Cheetos (only 130 calories per one ounce serving, approximately 35 pieces). I am usually satisfied with half the serving and it tastes like I am "cheating" when I really am being very good. If you are unfamiliar with Colorado and the Rocky Mountains then you probably are not aware of the altitude and the lack of air up here. We live in the Atlanta Georgia area and the elevation is around 1000 feet. In Colorado the lowest elevation that we have visited is around 6800-7000 feet. When seeing all the sights we have been hitting 12,000 to 14,000 feet and this can make for a few health issues. Dehydration being the number one and nausea, light headedness, and headache follow closely behind. I have not experienced the ill effects as much as my husband. Because he already has issues with his inner ear and has experienced dehydration in the past he is more sensitive to the environment and altitude conditions. This has caused us to take it a little slower than we normally would.
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| Kevin & Kathy at the Garden of the gods Visitor Center Colorado Springs, CO |
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| Kathy on the 14 story platform overlooking the Seven Falls |
Our first day out we saw Seven Falls which is an amazing series of waterfalls (7 total) and the Garden of the gods, both in Colorado Springs. The next day we headed south to see the Royal Gorge and bridge. It was a beautiful sight to behold and we had a little bit of a scare as well.
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| Cable Car at the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park Canon City, CO |
Without any warning the cable car became unsettled and it took a strong jolt and began rocking drastically on the cable. At least twenty of the people fell forward landing on the few of us that were crushed against the far side. The cable car conductor tried to gain his composure and found the microphone and asked if everyone was okay. Are you kidding me? Are we okay? This crazy cable car that we are on is rocking worse than a small boat in the middle of the Atlantic ocean in a tsunami and you want to know if we are okay? Look around dude, over 3/4 of your passengers are sprawled all across each other on the floor of the cable car, and you want to know if everyone is okay?
We did not know until the entire experience was over that this was the first time that this had ever happened at the park on this ride. After several horrible minutes the crazy rocking stopped and we were able to help the fallen ones to their feet. We then traveled the short distance to the other side of the gorge and we exited. We decided not to tempt fate twice and we took the long hike back to the original side of the gorge that we started on. And I am very happy to say that I was able to do it! I surprised myself! It was an awesome feeling to be fit enough to make the hike and trip across that massive gorge via the bridge that so many drive across. On my journey to a new me I know that if I had not made a promise to myself and kept it that I would not have been able to do what I did. Stay tuned for more experiences from our summer vacation and my journey to a new me!
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| This is the Royal Gorge Bridge and we walked across this to the safety of the other side after our scary experience on the cable car |
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| The Royal Gorge with the Arkansas River seen far below |
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