with Amanda today!
1) Guess what! I wasn’t sore yesterday! After the hardest hike of my life, I was fully expecting to wake up not being able to move my body, but I felt fresh and fine. I was confused. The hike felt so hard and painful, but I guess it was mostly the altitude? Or maybe I recovered so quickly because I ate very well after the hike? Whatever it was, I’m just happy I was not completely debilitated.
2) We saw more beautiful rocks yesterday! Our family friends drove us to Colorado Springs, where we first visited the “Garden of the Gods”.
please smile, dude
3) After walking around the pedestrian-friendly path for a while, we ate an incredible lunch at The Sahara Cafe— a Middle Eastern restaurant with the most amazing falafel ever.
owned this chicken gyro
4) I was stuffed for the next 6 hours after that meal, because what you don’t see are the sweet potato fries, babaganoush, and baklava that I also ate with the falafel and gyro.
5) All that pita bread must have energized some of us, because our next stop was Cave of the Winds, where four of us decided to do the “Terror-Dactyl” ride. Basically, you fall into a canyon, just strapped in by a few seatbelts and hung by a cord. Juuuuust rocks under us.
Supervisor: The ground comes at ya pretty fast, so it’s over quickly whatever happens!
Oh….
I apologize for my blood-curdling scream
I prayed beforehand. The worst part was actually the beginning when they tilted us forward so that we were parallel with the ground and all our weight was resting on their somewhat questionable seatbelts. There’s a GoPro video of Ben’s and my face during the whole thing, which I’ll be sure to share when I get it!
6) It was totally amazing and worth it (the fear and the $50…).
the daredevils’ “before” shot
head first into this beauty
walking the plank
after the drop, taking in the scenery and thanking God we’re alive
Even my mom and aunt did a ride! They took the less extreme, but still thrilling zipline.
my mom and aunt on the zipline!
7) After that excitement, we slowed it down with a fun cave tour! All those stalactites, stalagmites, and slightly claustrophobia-inducing rock tunnels.
It was so neat! Our tour guide was awesome, and the history was fascinating. If you’re ever in Colorado Springs, I 100% recommend Cave of the Winds. Let me know if you try the Terror-Dactyl 😉
8) “Eat, hike, repeat” is our theme of the week, so after our afternoon activities, we ate a late dinner at Thai Diamond Cafe. I was still kinda full from lunch, so I shared bites of everyone’s food and ate a salad that I had originally packed for lunch. I left the restaurant very full again 🙂
9) I’m going to meet Emily from Beauty in Christ today!!! I am so super excited. I can relate to every single one of her blog posts. It’s so wonderful to have a blogger friend who is about my age, who has gone through similar experiences with an eating disorder, and who loves Christ with a passion.
10) Speaking of blogger friends, Blend is tomorrow!!! So many exclamation points and so many things to be grateful for. I am blessed to just be alive, but God’s generosity is overflowing every darn day.
So tell me:
Would you do Terror-Dactyl? Have you done anything like it?
Have you ever gone on a cave tour?
What did you eat yesterday?
Daily Moves and Grooves 
Nope😐
Never! Ever (Unless I was drugged up)😂🙈 or held at gun point! Haha
And those caves look amazing!!!!! Definitely more my pace😉👵🏼lol
What an incredible trip so far and so much more coming up! Keep having an awesome time lady!
And that Greek food looks the bomb diggity bomb😍 (where did that phrase come from 😳)
Haha! Totally understand. This was pushing my comfort zone for sure!
Let’s get some bomb diggity bomb Greek food back in NY sometime 🙂
I’m really enjoying hearing about your mountain adventures, friend! Hiking IS hard – it’s not just you. It’s normal to be in great shape & feeling like you’re gargling your heart at the same time.
I visited these same Colrodao sights when I was 14 and it’s so nice to relive them through you again!
I want to go hiking with you in Alberta one of these days! And I’ll go running with you if you promise to go slowly 🙂
Wow, Colorado is stunning! You look like you are having an amazing time Alison! You should come over a few states to visit me in California 😉 I love gyros! Oh my goodness Alison. Now it is 9:30 in the morning and all I can think about is roasted lamb. hmm… I need to get my hands on some Greek food!
Have so much fun at Blend!!
Ahh yes, I’m so close to California now! And I know– the thought of gyros is enough to make me crave them!
I would totally do that terror-dactyl!! It must be a once in a lifetime experience 😀 A
All the pictures are so beautiful, so impressive views. And those caves look unreal…nature is amazing!
The terror-dactyl sounds incredible (and incredibly terrifying!) Also, that pun. So great.
And have so much fun with Emily and at Blend! It’s so fun that you’re getting to meet some blog friends in real life 🙂
Aaahhh all this is only fuelling the long-time dream to visit Colorado Ali! Yes really. Well there and Canada. The Terror-Dactyl: love it, need it. That is all. I am a huuuuge sucker for thriller rides; my most satisfying one has to be the sling-shot in Cape Town’s theme park…basically, swooping down on your belly from a birds eye view of the city – me love! But I have never been on one in a natural environment.
That middle eastern lunch totally has my tummy grumbling! Oh and I am super stoked that you’re whisking off to Blend; have a gorgeous time and take ALL THE PICTURES 😀 .
Ahh you would totally love the Terror-Dactyl! It’s not only a great thrill ride, but it’s got an incomparable view to boot 🙂
Thanks, Ms. J! I’m sure we’ll all be taking ALL the pictures. 😉
arghhhh I’m hoping you don’t read this comment and are chasing Amanda with a peanut butter jar 😉
You are one of my two favorite blogs and one of my main motivations to recover at the moment, even though I am older than you haha (only by a year). How did you manage to motivate yourself to recover? I’m really struggling right now…
Hi, Haley! Shoot me an email at dailymovesandgrooves@gmail.com 🙂