Mac and Mandi #CtheSpringsWith Valentine’s Day hanging in the distance and nothing planned, a friend came to my rescue with a brilliant idea: an extreme selfie adventure around our hometown – Colorado Springs. On February 14, my friend Mandi and I hit close to 50 destinations, in less than four hours, and took almost 80 selfies in the southern Springs area. And the best part is – we mapped everything, so that you and a friend, or date, can go on an epic “CtheSprings” adventure, too! Plus, it was cheap, less than $5 total, which included gas and parking!

After a protein-packed meal and some bomb mashed potatoes, we were ready to hit the road. Our first stop was Rock Ledge Ranch, a historic site nestled up against Colorado Springs’ Garden of the Gods. The ranch provides a glimpse into 19th-century living with old-timey buildings, farm animals and homestead re-enactments. It also hosts several other events and festivals throughout the year.The Rock Ledge Ranch Cow

A couple cow selfies later, we jetted over to the garden. Garden of the Gods features beautiful rock formations like Kissing Camels and Balanced Rock with Pikes Peak as a stunning backdrop; definitely a must-see for any Colorado Springs visitors or residents. Then, we passed through the garden and onto the sea of swirly twirly gum drops (name that movie?!), also known as more red rocks, which landed us in the next section of our journey: Manitou Springs.

Unlike its neighboring cities, Manitou is best understood as the unique, highly cultural, and a little bit hippy stepbrother of the Springs area. It’s a treasure chest for hiking, cute shops, restaurants and much more. Manitou sits along the southwest side of Colorado Springs up against the Front Range. After a few fun stranger pictures, a plethora of other selfies, and an almost funnel-cake purchase due to the outrageously good smell, we headed south to Old Colorado City.Old Colorado City Graffiti

In the City, we saw all kinds of art as we walked the little strip. At 21st street, we found the Native-American mural just before moving on to our Cheyenne Mountain destinations. In the Cheyenne Mountain area, we gathered numerous other selfies, blocked traffic at The Broadmoor for the guard to take our picture, found the Seven Falls parking lot (we couldn’t find the real thing), and saw the Starr Kempf metal sculptures (the first time for both of us).Cool Blue Door in Colorado Springs

As the day continued, we weaved through downtown hitting our final sites. Along the way, we discovered a Darth Vader mural near The Black Sheep concert venue (awesome) and found several Humpty Dumpties. Bonuses galore for us (check out the scavenger hunt challenges)! We also added a couple more selfie spots to the list at The Melting Pot and The Gazette.

Throughout the adventure, we posted pictures to our “Mac and Mandi’s Excellent Selfie Adventure” post on Facebook to capture the memories and share them with friends. By the end of the day, we had completed everything on our scavenger hunt list with one minor exception. Due to phone malfunctions, aka our batteries were too low to run the cameras, we were unable to get pictures for our final three selfie spots. However, we did still visit them. So, we’re still saying: mission accomplished.Peace from Manitou

Interested in a super cheap date or activity to do with a friend or family member visiting the Springs area? Click here to check out our hit-list destinations and map to plan your Colorado Springs adventure! Plus, use the CtheSprings hashtag (#CtheSprings) to share your selfies and discoveries!