We flew from Charlotte to Denver on Friday to kick off our out west summer trip. We picked up our truck rental from the airport, using Turo, which is like AirBNB but for vehicles. It was a super smooth process! From there we headed south, about two hours, to reach Colorado Springs.

We had placed a pick up order at Walmart for some essentials, like the shaving gel David had confiscated at the airport, some water, snacks, etc. Being that it was 3:30ish by then, we headed straight to our resort. It seems like 24 hour stints is all I’ve had the opportunity for in Colorado Springs. Last year on our big road trip, mom, the kids, and I all got experience Garden of the Gods, which was really neat! However, after a day of travel we were ready to relax, so this time we headed straight to Cheyenne Mountain Resort.

We picked Cheyenne Mountain Resort after a little googling about the area. We knew after flying it would be great for the kids to wiggle a little and the resort looked like it had a nice outdoor pool. Well imagine our surprise when we showed up at it was in the low 60’s. Coming from North Carolina where we’ve been used to the 80’s, it did not feel like swimming weather.

Lucky for us, we soon discovered their outdoor pool is HEATED, like really heated, not just slightly warmer than freezing. We wasted no time changing into suits and heading to the pool.

While the girls took full advantage of the pool, David and I played a little but also decided a snack and beverage were in order. The server at Elevations, one of their three restaurants, was incredibly kind and accommodating. He happily brought our drinks and onion rings to the deck so we could watch the girls swim, take in the mountain views, and enjoy our personal happy hour.

We finally coaxed the kids out of the pool and into a warm shower. After cleaning up we all walked back to the main lodge for dinner on the back deck at Elevations. The girls had a hamburger and hot dog, David went with a chicken sandwich, and I went with the salmon, which was delicious.

By the time we finished up dinner it was close to 8:30 (10:30 body time), so we walked back to our room and tucked ourselves in for the night. We only had a few hours to spend at Cheyenne Mountain Resort, and never got to get down to the lake, play on the playground, or checkout the nearby Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, but it still provided a festive kickoff to our summer vacation!