Day 3: Santa Rosa -> Colorado Springs 1000+ miles

Today we drove to Colorado Springs, Colorado. We stopped for a quick lunch in Raton, New Mexico. Once in Colorado Springs, we headed for Garden of the Gods, a city park. Our GPS unit actually had better directions than the city signs, but we didn't trust it initially, so it took us a while to find our destination. But when we did... WOW!

Garden of the Gods features some amazing stone formations that are striking against the lush greenery of the area. Most of the formations are a deep red, the plants are a lush green, and the sky was a bright blue. It was beautiful.

Then we had dinner at a nice local restaurant - The Mason Jar. Tomorrow we will spend most of the day in Colorado Springs -- Pike's Peak, Air Force Academy, and whatever else we find. Then tomorrow night we will visit an observatory in Denver.