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I am sitting in the beautiful city of Colorado Springs at the moment. Out the window of the home I am staying at, I see the mountains dotted with rocky outcroppings, dark green evergreens, quaking aspen trees and shrouded in a light fog from the storm that moved through last night. They serve as a gorgeous and majestic backdrop to the bustling of the city below and whisper the promise of peaceful hikes, camping and displays of nature that you can only get in this type of climate.
I love it.
Perhaps it is a result of spending my childhood in the mountains of Colorado, but the mountains always seem more like home to me. I have fond memories of camping with my family under a canopy of evergreen trees and listening to the rustle of the wind through the boughs and the soft crunch of the needles under our feet as we walked. The rich smell of the moist earth combined with the woodsy perfume takes me instantly to a happy, peaceful place in my mind.
Just outside of town is The Garden of the Gods, which I have not been to yet, but just the view I have had from a distance promises it will be a lovely place to explore in the future. Just west of here is Cave of the Winds. The name alone makes me want to go there and explore its cool depths and find out about the winds.
The crowning glory of the mountains around here is the famous Pikes Peak. Coming in at over 14,000 feet, you can’t deny its grandeur. I vaguely remember heading up to the top as a kid – the car winding back and forth and back and forth up the road to the summit. From the top, it seems like you can see forever.
Part of the reason for being here is that it looks like the place I will be relocating to next, along with The Geezer. So far, it feels like a good place to settle down for a while and will bring me closer to my beloved mountains (and also provide me with more civilization, for I am a city girl at heart.) The more time I spend here, the more this feels like a good place to start a new adventure. I am inspired to take out my camera (which I did not bring, of course) and go hiking and camping and exploring. I am picturing frequent trips to the giant dog park with Shadow and sipping hot tea when the snow begins to fall in winter.
So what about you? Have you found a place where you feel like you are home? What about it do you love?
46 Comments on “Scenic locales”
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Sheridan, I feel pretty much at home anywhere, but if I could choose (and if I had the money for it) I would love to have a flat in London. I so love this city and visit as often as I can (as a matter of fact, I’m going once more in five weeks’ time). It’s full of life, has great shops – and there is something to do for almost every evening! All the new musicals come to the West End, there’s ballet and opera and Wembley or the O2 arena where big venues take place. I would not miss Belgium a lot, only go there every ten year, because if I would miss something it would be our loved Horse Bayard, the legendary horse with four young knights on top. We have a big pageant every ten year, in which the famous horse (weighs a ton) dances through the streets of the town (it’s carried by twelve sturdy men, no wheels under it). Once born in Dendermonde, you’re bitten by this and you’ll calcuate your lifetime in times you see Bayard…
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 5:25 am.
Oh, I have wanted to visit Belgium, but had not heard of the Bayard, that sounds like a lovely festival!
I have not spent much time in London, but have had fun when I have. I would have to get used to driving on the other side of the road, but that is the main drawback other than the expense.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 10:29 am.
I really would love to live somewhere where Acheron is safe to roam at night if he should so desire. Ideally it would be a small town or a quiet street here in Toowoomba. That way I could be close to a good hospital and doctor for when I do fall pregnant. New Guy and I could be quite happy in a small town in the US I think and if we won the lotto, the three of us would quite happily travel the world and have several houses around the world too. Preferably places with amazing scenic views.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 6:11 am.
Oh and I would almost kill to live in New Orleans. I would have an almost gothic looking house with a black wrought iron fence and some trees with Spanish Moss dripping off of the branches.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 8:44 am.
New Orleans is beautiful, and those old homes are just filled with the air of history and mystery.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 10:30 am.
What you describe sounds so beautiful!
I live in a very boring province in Canada. I would say it is the most boring. The Ontario scenery isn’t anything to write home about, unless you want to drive hours north. Despite this, I wouldn’t live anywhere else. I am very much a home body. The town I live in now didn’t always feel like home. In fact, I rebelled in letting it feel like home. I did not want to be hear at first, but now I love it, and it feels like home more then any other place I have lived.
A few years ago Hubby and I visited Chicago, and I absolutely loved it. If I were adventurous, I could see myself happily living in Chicago. Sadly, though, I am not the adventurous sort.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 6:45 am.
I love Chicago. Greg city.
It is funny how sometimes the place you wanted to escape from ends up feeling the most like home, isn’t it?
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 10:31 am.
“great” city.. Stupid autocorrect
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 10:31 am.
I’ve been to Colorado Springs twice and loved it both time. Garden of the Gods is lovely. You can be there for days and not run out of things to see from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to the Air Force Academy to the Olympic Training Facility to the Figure Skating Museum/Hall of Fame. We took the Cog to the top of Pike’s Peak where it was snowing on Memorial Day. I would like to visit Fresno CA where I was born. I lived there until I was six months old. I love the mountains or the ocean. I just want to avoid large, crowded cities.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 6:55 am.
Oh, I Ike the vote of confidence for the Springs, there! I haven’t explored too much yet, but am making quite the list of things to see and do. I had no idea about the cog railroad! That sounds like fun!
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 10:33 am.
You might want to rethink visiting Fresno if you want to avoid large, crowded cities. It is one of the larger cities in the Central Valley of California.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 1:55 pm.
Colorado is one of the five states I have not visited yet. Your description is lovely. I hope you and Geezer will be happy there.
We live in a very small town in the middle of the cornfields of Ohio. Everyone knows everyone else and you can be guaranteed that the one time you go to the grocery store looking like cookie monster you will run into half the town. During summer months the town shuts down one night a week and a live band plays in the park. We all bring lawn chairs and spend the evening unplugged together. The cobblestone streets give it an old world charm.
We are happy here and glad we raised the girls in such a place but our hearts stay home in Wisconsin.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 7:43 am.
Wow! You’ve been to 45 of our United States? That is impressive!!
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 9:48 am.
When you make it here, I’ll gladly give you a tour.
i love the idea of the cobblestone streets and the weekend concerts. It makes it sound like something from one of the goddesses’ books.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 10:36 am.
It sounds so beautiful out there. One day I will visit the left side of the US. Colorado has always been on my list. I am originally a mountain girl, but I have changed over the past year or so. I have fallen out of love with the country, and totally in love with the small beautiful city of Savannah. So much so that I have been there three times in the past six months. I am hoping that by the end of this year, or shortly thereafter, we will be living there. There is just something that happens to me when I cross the bridge and enter that beautiful city. The tension in my shoulders seems to ease, and breaths come just a little easier. I can walk at five a.m. or ten p.m. and not think twice about it. The click clack of horses feet on cobblestone brings a smile to my face. The spanish moss lazily hanging from branches of the live oaks makes the city’s squares even more appealing. The wrought iron found everywhere speaks of the city’s history. I could go on and on, but I won’t. Oh, and a great beach is just a few miles away! I wish I was heading out the door for there now! Sadly, I’m back to reality now and heading to work!
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 8:15 am.
Kelly, your description of Savannah is so lovely. I hope one day I can make it there.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 9:44 am.
I’m with Amy! Wow, now I want to go there! Might have to plan a southern state tour, it has been a long time since I have been through many of those states.. And I missed savannah last time, I hope you make it there soon!
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 10:39 am.
Yay! Yay! May your Colorado Springs plans come to fruition tout de suite. Then, not only can you hike the amazing, inspiring places you’ve and Barbara O’Neal in her great Madame Mirabou book lovingly described, but you can also hangout at the USOC Training Center ogling the fitness of the boxing team and hang out near the Air Force base ogling hot pilot
Can you tell I’m excited for you?
As for my place, I’m not going to subject you all to another Ode to Chicago. I’d like to find my place in a quiet small town. If only they were truly as much fun as our Goddess authors write ‘em.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 8:26 am.
Lol yeah, i wish the small towns were like they are in the books, but I haven’t found that one yet.
I am looking forward to it and hope we pan get going soon. I think we both have found a place that will work. Very anxious to make the move!
I think a small town near a city would wok. Perhaps outside Chicago? I love that city.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 10:41 am.
Sheridan, I’m so happy for you! I hope you get to move to a beautiful, populated place.
I’ve been to Pikes Peak as a child and I remember the admonitions not to run around for fear of passing out. I ran around. I didn’t pass out. I remember the view, even after all these years. It was a real tourist attraction and we were tourists so we fit right in.
I feel most at home in Los Angeles. I’m an LA girl, and even though I haven’t lived there in years, I guess I always will be. But I also feel at home by the shores of a wooded lake. It calms me, delights me, inspires me.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 8:45 am.
Thanks, Claudia! I haven’t been to the top of pikes peak since I was 5 or 6, so it will be a new experience for me since childhood memories are sometimes skewed.
I do love LA, that might be my closest “home” city as I have so many friends there, but I am not missing the traffic and expense at the moment
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 10:44 am.
Well, you know my place is this one. I’m a native of Colorado Springs, and love it madly. So happy you are loving it so much! When you move here, we will take cameras out and go hiking.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 9:29 am.
I am looking forward to it! I have had fun exploring this week, I am finding all the things indeed and some I didn’t know I needed!
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 10:45 am.
I love the mountains, and just feel more spiritual when I’m there. Maybe because they are so enormous and great and they make me think of God, everywhere I look.
I also love the beach.
I feel at home in smaller towns for the most part, and I’m only about 20 mins from a big city, but its enough distance to feel separated.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 9:51 am.
20 minutes is good, small towns too far away from cities are too remote for me.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 10:52 am.
I love where I am. However two places I felt called to me are Key Largo FLorida and Newport News VA.
Key Largo because when you get off the highway the people are so nice and warm and they make you feel like you are truely welcome.
Newport News it’s just a feeling, like it’s been there waiting for me.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 10:58 am.
Oh, I love that feeling! It can almost feel like a warm hug. Now I want to visit Newport news.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 11:18 am.
I can fell pretty much at home anywhere after a few days. However, going to the area here I grew up is what makes me feel that internal “home” feeling. Even the homes and places I live in now don’t do it quite the same way.
Altho when I am in a really peaceful garden, I get some of that feeling, even if the garden is totally new to me.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 11:24 am.
Gardens are magical places like that, aren’t they?
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 12:07 pm.
I come from a long line of Irish ancestors (also a strong German side) and was able to visit Ireland a few years ago. I call it home! Even though that was the first time I ever stepped foot in that country, I felt like I was coming home after a long vacation. Driving in the car, I knew what was situated right around the bend even though I never drove that road before. I knew things that only natives would know. I was astounded by all of this and I cannot wait to go back home! Ireland is lush, green, and mystical. I love rain and everything green which Ireland has!
Ireland is my home with its green landscape and cozy feelings.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 11:26 am.
Oh, what a beautiful description! That gave me the shivers!
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 12:07 pm.
Home is where my pillow is. I’ve moved so often that I feel ‘at home’ wherever I unpacked the last box. Of course, I’ve now been in my current house for six years, which amazes me. But I could see myself moving somewhere else, especially somewhere with oh, say, a fall and a spring?
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 11:49 am.
Seasons are good. I loves seeing the passing of the year in seasons again. It makes you appreciate them all the more, I think.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 12:08 pm.
Dad lived in Denver for seven years when I was growing up. I’ll never forget how awe-inspired I was upon seeing the Rockies for the first time. I was further amazed when we crossed the Continental Divide. The Rockies were glorious every time we saw them.
Now I live in a small town and love it. It’s close to the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, Philadelphia, and DC by train, plane or car, but maintains its small town persona. I can walk to the train from my apartment, so I never feel isolated, but in town, a lot of activity. Within a couple blocks from my place there’s food tastings, street fairs, music festivals, bike rides and more. I commuted to Manhattan for years, so now it’s nice to settle down.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 12:07 pm.
Oh, that sounds like a great location! I love that all those places are so easily accessible! What fun. You get to experience all the ci has to offer, then come home to some relative quiet.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 12:10 pm.
I just arrived in my new home in Scotland yesterday. Day 2 and I already have a sore throat lol
I’ve moved around a lot, but the place I’ve felt most at home was Brooklyn, NY.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 1:56 pm.
Yeah for arriving in Scotland finally. Boo for the sore throat. Congrats on this next chapter.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 2:12 pm.
Thanks. The locals keep laughing at me that its summer
Posted on June 10, 2012 at 6:14 am.
Congratulations on finally getting there! I can’t wait to hear more about your Scottish adventures!
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 5:22 pm.
Thanks. Me too
Posted on June 10, 2012 at 6:15 am.
Texas always feels like home, but I am also pulled to the mountains. My family has always spent time there, in Colorado and New Mexico.
Hope you and Geezer find a place you both like.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 2:28 pm.
Thanks, Julia. Texas will always hold a place in my heart since almost half my life has been spent there.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 5:23 pm.
I’m lucky enough to live in the SF Bay Area, where we have the ocean right close by and the mountains just 3 hours away so it’s the best of all worlds. I live in the hills and every morning, I turn the corner to head to work and SF Bay and the entire city of San Francisco is spread out before me with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. It’s breathtaking and even after 12 years of seeing that view, I never get tired of it.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 7:55 pm.
I love the Rockies.. especially having lived in Jackson Hole. I really miss it.
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 8:12 pm.
Wow, Sheridan, great scenery!
I loved living in Germany. I lived in a small village in Bavaria just over the border from Salzburg, Austria. I loved the mountains, the old-fashioned lifestyle and the quiet.
I loved living in England. Again I lived in a very small village in Suffolk. Very quaint, very relaxed and very old-fashioned and a train ride away from so much history. I spent lots of time in London, but I’m not sure I would want to live there full-time.
I spent a lot of time in New Orleans when I was in grad school and I think I would have enjoyed living in the French quarter. Time seems to stand still there, or it did when I spent so much time there, pre-Katrina. I haven’t been back in many years.
I am used to making different places my home as I grew up all over the world (Air Force brat.)
Posted on June 9, 2012 at 10:28 pm.
Colorado Springs is beautiful, loved the Garden of the Gods. I’ve lived in where’s it flat and it’s beautiful to see for miles, but I like my mountains. Staying in Oregon right now and loving it. I’d love to just wander around though, visited 20 states so far, and just love traveling seeing how each place & it’s people are so unique & different.
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 1:02 am.