My log is meant for derailments! I love 'em! I’m going to make a list for you… hang on!
I’m making a list of our favorite hikes in town and a couple that are a little further out of town too. Garden of the Gods is pretty touristy, but if you’ve never been there, I recommend at least driving through it and taking a few pictures in and around the rock formations. The trails on the outskirts of the park are less busy than the formations in the middle of the park.
Awesome Hikes
Garden of the Gods
Red Rock Canyon
Bear Creek Trail (666)
Section 16 trail
Ute Valley Park
Helen Hunt Falls (super short trail)
Seven Bridges
Columbine Trail
Mount Cutler Trail
The Manitou Incline
A Bit Outside of Colorado Springs (if you have time):
Green Mountain Falls (Catamount Trail)
Woodland Park (Lovell Gulch Loop)
Pancake Rock trail
Raspberry Mountain and Horse-thief trail
As far as other things to do, OCC (old Colorado City) has the cutest shops and independently owned restaurants and breweries. Manitou Springs is right next to Colorado springs and it’s a trip! It’s a very artsy town.
I added the manitou incline to the list of hikes, but it’s kind of a pain in the butt. You have to park in town and then take a shuttle up to the trailhead. Plus they don’t allow dogs, so we stopped going. But it is the most insane stair “workout” ever, and if you’ve never been, it’d be worth the hassle. I recommend going in the morning before it gets too hot because there’s not a lot of shade on the way up.
This is the view from the top of Mt. Cutler. I have so many hiking pictures that it was hard to narrow down the best views, but that’s a relatively fast hike with a huge payoff at the top.
Keep us posted when you’re in town!!
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Chill out, muffin.
I made a batch of oatmeal protein muffins yesterday and poured some frozen mixed berries into the batter. Apparently, enormous strawberries and a pocket of air can anthropomorphize your snacks.
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This is a fantastic list! Thank you for the information, we will absolutely try to knock out a few hikes. The views look amazing! The incline is on the list for sure, the shuttle does sound like a pain, but the friends I am visiting there wanted to do it as well.
My hubby and I aren’t fans of alcohol, but love brewery food, what is your favorite brewery for dinner?
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Ooh I’m not sure I have a favorite yet but we love the ambiance of OCC Brewing. We’re wanting to eat out there sometime.
If you’re into Greek food, there’s an authentic restaurant that’s pee-your-pants good. I believe the people who opened it are from Greece.
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Now I have to go, Greek food is easily one of my top 3 favorite types of food. I had no idea food could be decribed this way. What is the place?
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It’s called Jake and Telly’s Greek Taverna. Bring your appetite!
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Looked at some pictures, even nore excited for CO Springs now!
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Hi Dani, I’m glad I found where you have been hanging out. I like the way you train, love life and your attitude. Love hearing your voice on the T Nation tutorials. ( lmsm2015 on IG and also garagegymgranny )
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Ah I’m so glad you’re here! Thanks for the sweet words and for dropping in. Hope to hear more from you.
I’m excited for you too!! 
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When I lived in the Springs, circa 5 years ago, I did the Incline once a week. I’d park and then run to the incline, do a quick lap, and then run back to the car.**
**Note: I am not the same person I was back then. That would probably kill me today. LOL.
But for reals @unicornsandrainbows, it’s a KILLER! “The Stairmaster on steriods.”
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Sounds like a kick in the butt indeed! Might need that to “make room” for greek and bar food.
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WHAT?! Ummmm that’s amazing!!! You’re a total rockstar. 
Again, WHAT?! How did I not know this?! That’s so cool!
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Yes! Good strategy.
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You used to be a total rockstar.
Fixed it for ya. Lol
Yeah, I wish we had connected then!
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Had a thought while reading your earlier posts re: bud light and “woke companies”.
I’m always surprised where conversations about transgenderism crop up – which for the last year or so seems to be everywhere.
What percentage of people are transgender? It has to be a fraction of a percent, right?
How exactly has this extremely niche phenomenon become a topic that permeates every aspect of modern social life, and why are people at every point on the political spectrum completely obsessed with talking about this? It’s really odd to me that I can’t listen to a podcast or read a forum thread without people talking about transgenderism. It seems almost pathological.
As someone who seems to care about this topic a lot despite not being directly impacted by it in any obvious way (i.e. by being transgender yourself), can I ask you why you find it to be something worth thinking, talking, and changing your purchasing habits about?
Again, I honestly don’t have a dog in this fight so I hope I’m not coming off as combative. Just trying to understand.
Appreciate your log, FYI.
A fascination with sex is a near-universal signal of the end of a dynasty.
I’m not a fan of adults (whom I don’t know) pushing their bullshit views onto MY child(ren) or anyone else’s children.
I took the same level of issue when I saw 2 grown ass adults outside a middle school handing out bibles to kids on their way home. There was a 2ft strip of land which was still considered “public property”, meaning the police could not move them.
IDGAF if someone wants to turn their dick inside out. REALLY. Like if that sounds like a good idea to you - I BELIEVE YOU. But keep that shit to yourself, just like your fucking religion.
Sorry, I am combative, but particularly so about this one. There is no middle ground in this fight. I’m also obviously not Dani 
Do you mean “sex” as in sex/ gender or do you mean “sex” as in the activity? Either way, could you provide examples of this? Sounds interesting.
Of course not. But, kids get exposed to all sorts of ideas all the time – both good and bad. That’s just a part of being a person that lives in a society, and its probably a positive thing in the long run. I think free speech is good in general, and being exposed to difficult ideas or ideologies that challenge your own makes people smarter and more resilient.
Your bible and religion examples are interesting. I remember growing up in a rural part of the country, and being exposed to all sorts of cooky religious ideas. Like, there were always young-earth creationists at the county and state fairs yelling about how dinosaurs never existed or whatever goofball shit they believed. That didn’t mean my secular parents boycotted the fair or were afraid to let me be exposed to those beliefs – they just explained to me that those people were wrong. Easy peasy. There didn’t seem to be a sweeping cultural desire to dedicate 50% of all podcast episodes, 30% of news segments, and 70% of all social media posts to the topic. haha
Because you boycott “woke” companies, do you also boycott religious companies for the same reason? I also saw that you are planning on moving to Florida. Are you worried about moving to a state that seems interested in pushing certain beliefs on children while censoring other ideas? Im referring specifically to the banning of books and of honest discussions of historical racism in America.
Yeah, I meant gender - whoops. Two are still the same thing IMO.
Well, it’s a bit taboo and the Google algorithm has made it nearly impossible to find a better explanation at this point (because leftists), but the best article I can find to explain this better than I could is here.
Needless to say, it is not an unbiased article, but Camille Paglia (whose opinion I agree with here) is a full blown lesbian so take it for what it’s worth. Rome was gay as fuck and they collapsed; so was Greece… why? Correlation or causation, take your pick. TL;DR: Transgenderism is a symptom of a society so deep into decadence that gender becomes fluid.
Well, I agree, but to an extent. Kids will be exposed to bad ideas all the time, but when there is a deliberate stated agenda put out there which is taboo to talk about and high cause to ruin your livelihood for disagreeing with - I think we need to take a serious look at who is pushing this ideology and why.
The difference here is that your parents were there. This is happening in schools, which have ALWAYS wanted to control what your child learns and how (as they should, but it should also be made PUBLIC what they want to teach).
What harm is there in teaching kids that dinosaurs never existed? Literally none, and is easily rectifiable.
Teaching my daughter that she should be a boy because she likes to build things? Then backing your teachings up with school policy not to out kids, and govt policy saying that she can seek treatment without consulting her parents? So my daughter can be on 200mg Test weekly, administered by a doctor, and do this until I find out about it - because some crackpot agenda-fueled activist/teacher decided to push her bullshit onto an innocent kid?
I think the damage differential is clear.
No, I have no problem with religion, I am simply not religious. Although, I can say I don’t really watch Tom Cruise movies and I also have significant beef with Scientology… those two are not unrelated.
Well, they aren’t banning the discussion of historical racism, they’re banning black history textbooks that have Queer Theory™ laced throughout them. Why a black history textbook needs queer theory laced text is beyond me. IDC if things like black history are an elective, I guess I’d rather it be called “american history”… The two are not different.
FWIW My wife and daughter are Jewish. They don’t exactly need further discussion of racism and slavery to understand the implications of them, but I will make damn sure my daughter understands how it happens, why it happens, and how to stand against it. I don’t need a school to teach her that, nor do I think learning should be relegated within the confines of a schools’ walls. Any parent that doesn’t see it that way is asking for an underachieving child who doesn’t like learning IMO.