Last night, we had Barbara Taylor visit us in the motorhome. Barbara is the former wife of a cousin of mine and we have always stayed in touch. Unfortunately, her husband Ron, had a heart attack Saturday morning and is in the hospital. He is doing well and will be out of the hospital tomorrow (Tuesday). They were kind enough to loan us a car for our stay here. We hope that he continues a speedy recovery and that we are able to get together under better circumstances in the future.
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| Looking out on the plains from campsite |
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| The view behind the campsite |
We moved a few miles to the most spectacular campground we have ever seen - Cheyenne Mountain State Park. It has the best camp sites and the most spectacular views of any place we have ever stayed, or are likely to ever stay.
After getting settled in, we decided to take the Pike Peak Cog Railroad.
We forgot that today is a holiday. We couldn't get reservations so we took a chance on the standby list and were able to get aboard.
We left the bottom of the mountain the temperature in the high 70's/low 80's and ascended to 14,100 feet where the temperature was in the 40's.
It took about 1 1/2 hours to make the trip up. They say we went through four life zones, from the high plains to the alpine tundra. It was truly a spectacular ride - and the view from the top was breathtaking.
This is the first time I've been on a mountain this high since Slade and I backpacked up a 14,000 peak in Colorado when he was a teenager (over 20 years ago). We actually climbed two fourteeners (as they are known) in that one trip.
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| Spectacular Views |
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| This is the Cog Rail Train |
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| The grade got up to 25% |
We got back to the RV in time for a nice dinner and watching a spectacular light show as the sun set and the lights in the valley started coming on.
Tuesday, September 6
This is the view out the front of the RV this morning. We got up to early. Actually, Clara got up early and saw some balloons flying in the valley and woke me up.
We regretted having to leave this spectacular setting. We could have stayed here a week and been perfectly content to not leave for any reason.
Today was another day of spectacular beauty and diversity. This is what we suffered through Kansas for.
We went to a remarkable Colorado Springs City Park - Garden of the Gods. There are no pictures that can do this remarkable rock formation justice.
We left here and went to check in at the military campground at the Air Force Academy.
We spent the afternoon touring the Air Force Academy. It is one of the best colleges in the country. I hope that one day, Anna and/or Evan will choose to come here for their college education - and maybe become Air Force pilots like their Papa.
The Academy is located in one of the most beautiful settings in the world. Probably the most recognizable feature is the chapel.
In the visitor center, they have the cockpit portion of the T-38, the plane I flew in pilot training.
And at one of the gates, they have a memorial to the B-52. This particular B-52's claim to fame is that it is one of two that actually shot down an enemy aircraft in combat.
It may also very well be one that I flew on one of my 94 combat missions in Southeast Asia. I wish there were someway that I could confirm this, but I didn't keep a log of the aircraft tail numbers that I flew and don't know where that record may be.
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| The two biggest machines I ever drove! |
Tomorrow we travel up to Estes Park
