Stacy: Day 4: Bye, Bye Dinos!
I said my fairwells to all the Stegos, and we were on our way to Colorado Springs!
We first made it up to the Air Force Academy, where we walked all of the campus that is open to visitors (it is an active base). Of course we made it to the Base Chapel! However, there was a funeral going on when we first arrived, so we couldn't get in until around 10:30/11. No photos can do it justice.
The views out these windows were amazing. This is the mountain side.
This is the other side.
The guy was tuning pianos or organs, but hadn't started, yet.
The Catholic/Jewish/Buddhist part was at the bottom (not pictured). It was pretty, but not remarkable like the Protestant top part!!!
Lunch was yummy and neat at "Airplane Restaurant." Thee was an air about the place, it's difficult to describe. It was uplifting without even leaving the gound!
Radar station
Co-pilot's seat
Then we made our way to the Olympic Training Center. Where this happened.
And, this happened.
It was neat. We only walked around the visitors center because all of the tours within an hour were full. But, we all went away satisfied with the experience.
Next, we were supposed to go to Garden of the Gods (I keep calling it "City" of the Gods by accident!!!), but time was running out to check in for our Cog Railway trip up to the summit of Pike's Peak. We'll do GoG first thing tomorrow.
Pike's Peak: We got up there by means of a standard-guage cog railway. See Kim's photos!!! We all bought salty and sweet snacks (and lots of water!) so as to keep altitude sickness at bay.
You see, Pike's Peak is one of the tallest mountains in Colorado, standing above 14,000 feet. The elevation of Colorado Springs is around 6,500 feet. That's quite a bit of steep elevation to cross! Anyway, none of us got sick. Unlike in THALAMAC "whaling" boat tour... We were sitting on the side that got to see some of the best sights along the 1.5 hour ascent and descent.
And, the view of the top???
Literally breathtaking. Again, see Kim's post with all the photos.
We got some GeoCaching done at the summit, and took way too many photos.
There's no sunset pic with us in it--the angle on the Cog train wasn't right, and you aren't allowed to stand up or move around until the train reaches the top or bottom. Kim will include it.
Now, it's time to go to bed so we can see Garden of the Gods and the sand dunes! :o)
But, before I do, fun fact about Pike's Peak: some of the scenes from the latest Fast & Furious movie were filmed on the road leading up to the mountain. Our engineer and conductor drove up some of the crew. Then, a storm popped up (lightning and all), and they wanted to stay to film in it. But, you really shouldn't be up that high in a lightning storm... Our engineer and conductor forced them to leave.
