Our family’s big trip this summer was to Colorado. My brother Alex moved to Colorado Springs shortly before the pandemic, and although we’ve seen him several times since then, we hadn’t visited him. And we had never been to Colorado. So we took a week and split our time between staying with him and staying with our friends Emily and Kendall, in Longmont.
It’s a 30-hour drive, one way, so we flew to Denver. It was an uneventful, although crowded, flight. Silas was excited to see “Blucifer,” which Alex pointed out on our way out of the airport.
The same week we were there, Alex had another house guest—our cousin Owen’s dog, Appa, was staying with him for the week. The kids were thrilled; not only did they get to hang out with Alex’s three cats, but they also got to cuddle with this ridiculously sweet golden retriever.
![Aili selfie with Appa](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamonandsassafras.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/IMG_20230712_202006_172-1-1024x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Appa with a toy on his head](https://cinnamonandsassafras.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PXL_20230715_165013645-1.jpg)
![Petra on a gray chair, petting a gray and white cat (Shillian)](https://i0.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29104502/PXL_20230713_190534247-1-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Appa sleeping by a pink chair](https://i0.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29104514/PXL_20230713_190538437-1-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![Petra and Appa on the floor, having a staring contest](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29104451/PXL_20230713_191509550-1-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
The kids were impressed with Alex’s life, from a cat tree in every corner to an emulation library that lets him play basically every video game ever invented. Both of them were very clearly rethinking what adulthood can be.
![Bananas and nutella on a waffle](https://cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29092837/363040172_1473794956744715_1272609655964102549_n-577x1024.jpg)
After Alex got us settled in, we went to Manitou Springs to check out the penny arcade. This place just goes on forever, and it has piles of arcade games from all different eras, crowded together. Most of them cost whatever they would have back in the day, so you can pay a penny or a nickel for some of the oldest ones. JC and I played Victorian fuseball, which was…frustrating. I also checked out a peep show, which was … a hoot. Alex arm-wrestled a robot. Silas tried out shooting and racing games, and got his fortune from a real Zoltar machine. Petra turns out to be a pinball wizard (although I think she was a bit overstimulated by all the lights and noise). They even had ski-ball, complete with tickets and prizes.
A few days later, we were chatting with a Lyft driver, and she told us that all those penny arcade machines are maintained by one guy. “Who knows what will happen to all of it when he retires. There’s nobody who knows how to fix those things anymore.” Antique game maintenance is a dying art, but I would never have thought of it. I’m impressed that one guy has managed to keep all those machines working for so long!
![Silas with a long string of pink tickets from an arcade machine](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29103703/361069179_314753411306128_5231290276193914973_n-577x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Image of a red box containing a very old arcade soccer game](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29103700/PXL_20230713_000326201-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Collection of peep shows - "Doctors office," "A Sailor's Paradise," "Peeping Headquarters"](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29103650/PXL_20230712_235143890-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![Alex pushing against a mechanical arm](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamonandsassafras.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PXL_20230713_002012832-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![Silas examining the Zoltar machine](https://cinnamonandsassafras.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PXL_20230713_002500929.jpg)
![Silas putting money in the Zoltar machine](https://cinnamonandsassafras.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PXL_20230713_002513368.jpg)
![Aili and Petra distorted in a funhouse mirror](https://cinnamonandsassafras.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PXL_20230713_002344538.jpg)
![Mechanical fortune telling lady, with crystal ball](https://cinnamonandsassafras.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PXL_20230713_000546495.jpg)
![Alex and Silas playing a shooting arcade game](https://cinnamonandsassafras.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PXL_20230713_000345112.jpg)
Manitou Springs is known for its healing waters. If you drink from all seven of the springs, you’re supposed to get special healing powers. Alex has done this, but he says he doesn’t feel healthier (he also has kissed the Blarney Stone—we were trying to think of other local-legend things one might have done, but came up empty). Petra and Silas tasted the waters. Silas said it was super gross. Petra described it as “interesting, and a little salty.”
![Silas drinking from the spring while Petra watches](https://cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29104213/PXL_20230713_004237643-768x1024.jpg)
![Silas is grossed out by the water. Petra is about to try it.](https://cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29104226/PXL_20230713_004242846-768x1024.jpg)
The next day, we took Appa for a hike at the Garden of the Gods. Whenever I’m in a landscape that is so completely different from the one I’m used to, I have a hard time shaking the feeling that I’ve landed on another planet entirely. These sheer red rocks against the blue sky—unreal and majestic. We climbed a few of the easier ones. The views were incredible; photos don’t do them justice. The kids scrambled up a crevice where they saw bats sleeping, and I spotted hawks high up.
![Aili and Petra at the top of the rocks with the blue sky behind them.](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29100655/361073330_695801682559961_7302499389720807837_n-577x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Aili and Petra selfie with the rocks in the background.](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29100414/PXL_20230713_153814341-1024x769.jpg?ssl=1)
![Silas and JC walking toward the rocks](https://i0.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29100651/PXL_20230713_144847688-1-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![View of mountains and trees from high up on the rocks](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29095221/PXL_20230713_153125550-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![Big red cliffs, with blue sky beyond](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29095248/PXL_20230713_151747286-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![View of rock formations and mountains](https://i0.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29095234/PXL_20230713_152744999-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![View of rock formations and mountains](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamonandsassafras.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PXL_20230713_153802064-1024x768.jpg)
![View of rock formations and mountains](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29100213/PXL_20230713_153127774-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![View of rock formations and mountains](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29100355/PXL_20230713_151745655-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Appa getting pets from strangers at the Garden of the Gods.](https://i0.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29100659/360470682_1042253870515845_2948110747336122488_n-1024x577.jpg?ssl=1)
![View of rock formations and mountains](https://i0.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29095154/PXL_20230713_153804927-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![JC, Silas, and Petra in the cleft of a rock](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29095207/PXL_20230713_151935883-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Petra up high on the rocks](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29100405/PXL_20230713_153409868-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Silas and Petra sitting on a rock and chatting.](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29095139/PXL_20230713_151758148-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Silas taking a break in the shade of the rock](https://i0.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29100657/362979440_955202705591055_494997140461361576_n-577x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
I’m glad we went early, though—by the time we were leaving, it was getting crowded. Its one of the most famous spots in the area, so it’s very popular (for all that one reviewer described it as, “Actually pretty lame and dull.”).
After our hike, we were all pretty hot and tired, so we went back to Alex’s house, had some lunch, and then went to check out Michael Garmin’s Magic Town. It is a truly astounding art installation that just goes on and on, endless sculptures of people, animals, rooms, in this miniature town. Garmin used stage tricks like “Pepper’s ghost” to make characters and walls appear and disappear. Tiny holographic people moved and sang. Mirrors made the alleyways seem endless. In the movie theater, Casablanca was playing on a tiny screen. Every time I looked at a room again, I spotted a new detail. It was a wild experience.
![Tiny guy reading a paper on a stoop](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29105831/PXL_20230713_204551282-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Tiny city street with tiny people](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29105628/PXL_20230713_203444379-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Tiny bar, Aili peeping in like a giant](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29105617/PXL_20230713_202856709-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Petra looking like a giant in Magic Town. Photo by Alex Heimbuch.](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29105833/361118059_3217273755243366_4530711290071386856_n-1024x577.jpg?ssl=1)
![Movie theater, Alex and Silas in front of it](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29105608/PXL_20230713_203017552-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Closer on the movie theater](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29105547/PXL_20230713_203431190-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![Peeking inside to see Casablanca!](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29105820/PXL_20230713_203426298-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
Afterward, we went to the Fifty-Niner, a board game speakeasy in the back room of Dice Guys. That was an absolute delight. They had drinks, charcuterie, and a library of over 200 board games to choose from. We tried (and failed) to figure out a Munchkin-derived board game, and then played several rounds of Mysterium (which we liked a lot). All while eating delicious food and drinking bathtub gin. Does it get any better?
The decor was very fun, and just overall, the feeling of the place was friendly, relaxed, and nerdy. My kids both said this was one of their favorite parts of the trip.
![Petra and Silas admiring the charcuterie board](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29111516/PXL_20230713_213026646-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Bath tub gin...served in a glass bathtub](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29111505/PXL_20230713_212705212.PORTRAIT-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![Massive shelf of games](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29111314/PXL_20230713_211849998-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![Petra, wearing a silly hat](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29111521/361132323_1925907034433182_6584853206401982394_n-577x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Fake taxidermied dragon](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29111254/PXL_20230713_222319439-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Petra looking over the game master screen for Mysterium](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamonandsassafras.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PXL_20230713_232916294-768x1024.jpg)
![Petra and Silas examining their clue cards](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29110336/PXL_20230713_230030194-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![JC and Silas sitting at the table](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29110322/PXL_20230713_211842542-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![Petra, Silas, Aili, and JC setting up a board game. On the wall above them are several "taxidermied" heads of mythological animals](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29111519/362665632_247547468141005_2887154734865055826_n-1024x577.jpg?ssl=1)
The next day, Alex and I took the kids and Appa for a short hike up Cheyenne Canyon. The drive up there was gorgeous. I could have hiked a good bit more than we did—it was beautiful, and the trails go on forever—but the kids were Hiked Out. I also was feeling the elevation a bit. It’s wild how much faster I got winded!
![Alex, Petra, and Silas hiking up a path lined with tall conifers](https://i0.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29112636/PXL_20230714_142843813-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![Appa resting in the shade](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamonandsassafras.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/361435089_198562013182447_2346544071305750584_n-577x1024.jpg)
![Alex pointing out the peaks he's summited](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamonandsassafras.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PXL_20230714_141957367-768x1024.jpg)
![Petra and Silas putting a pin in the map for Harrisonburg](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29112049/PXL_20230714_143318793-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![Petra contemplating the trees](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29111850/PXL_20230714_141953990-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
Instead of more hiking, we went to the Ghost Town Museum. They’ve basically reconstructed an 1880s town indoors, with a general store, a post office, a saloon, etc. The kids enjoyed looking at all the random items, in some cases having to guess at what they were. We gave panning for gold a shot, but agreed that we’d all come up bust. Alex said if he had come west in the Gold Rush, he would rather sell the pans than look for gold in the streams.
![Aili, Petra, and Silas panning for gold](https://i0.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29113051/361174461_1472880796816682_3417701241114795866_n-577x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![Silas by a painted moose statue](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29113047/PXL_20230714_194243186-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![The ghost town museum - a lot of buildings in a big room](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29113022/PXL_20230714_184515844-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![close up on a peep show - Charlie Minds the Baby](https://i0.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29113009/PXL_20230714_184511509-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
That evening, we went out to the Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort for an Antivirus concert. Our time in Colorado Springs was marked by meeting people who just had a weird idea and went with it—a board game speakeasy, a tiny city built on stage magic, a century of game machines—and the bike resort is exactly in this vein. The bike resort is an old motel/lodge that is now specifically catering to cyclists. There were bicycles and bicycle-themed art everywhere. Lots of the people staying there showed up on two wheels.
![](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29114438/PXL_20230715_004812565-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![](http://cinnamonandsassafras.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PXL_20230715_011430513.jpg)
![](https://i0.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29113453/PXL_20230715_015725429-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29114141/PXL_20230715_011413886-1024x768.jpg?ssl=1)
![](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29114131/PXL_20230715_012718589-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
They were hosting the Antivirus concert as a fundraiser for Medicine Wheel, a nonprofit that advocates for bike trails. Despite a downpour that delayed the concert by an hour, the evening was a success. The band (“suburban surfer punk”) was great, and there was good food and drinks. The crowd was very into it. Alex usually does a nerd core rap about halfway through the set, and for this show, he debuted his first original—a rap about my nerdy kids. It was very sweet (and the chorus was about this blog, which made me feel a little guilty about how bad I’ve been at updating it lately!).
I’m so glad that we got to see Alex perform. And that we got to see him in his home. He’s building a community—band, glass shop, local businesses where he’s a regular. He’s been through a rough couple of years, and I love seeing him finding his way.
![](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29114730/361062554_1061574444824273_567098215916558615_n-577x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![](https://i1.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29114727/PXL_20230713_010842332-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/cinnamon-backup.s3.amazonaws.com/media/2023/07/29114713/PXL_20230715_153331379-768x1024.jpg?ssl=1)
your blog is very entertaining and informative. Petra and Silas are living a life well rounded. Petra is your twin by the way. So great to hear Alex is doing well and surrounded by a great community. Thanks for a micro vision of hot spots in CO. Safe journy all.🥰