With summer almost over, according to the calendar at least, we felt it was time to make a trip to a cooler climate. Jennifer had never seen Jeremy and Annie’s home in Denver so we decided to take Taylor, Presley and Jennifer with us. Toby was going to summer school in Abilene so he was not able to go with us. We usually drive it in one long day so we were a little concerned about how they would make it. But, they were troopers and did really well. As soon as we got into Colorado, the clouds darkened and it started raining and the temperatures dropped. Oh happy day! Arriving Friday evening, we caught up on visiting, playing with Jane and then planned out our stay.
Taylor wanted to see the Air Force Academy so Saturday morning we headed over to Colorado Springs. If you have never been to the Academy you should go. One of the most well known features there is the Cadet Chapel, Colorado’s most popular man-made attraction. It rises 150 feet into the sky and features 17 spires and is made of steel, aluminum and glass. We enjoyed a tour of the Goldwater Visitor’s Center and looked at several other plane exhibits.
Later we drove through the Garden of the Gods and then over to Manitou Springs where the Pikes Peak Cog Railway starts. Since we planned on driving up Mt. Evans later in the week and because of the time involved in taking the 3.5 hour round-trip to the top, we opted out and went down to Old Colorado City and took in some of the sights and shopping.
Sunday we enjoyed church services and lunch in Littleton. Taylor and Presley enjoyed some crafts with Annie that afternoon and later we went to the REI store in Denver. This is their flagship store and is housed in the restored 1901 Denver Tramway Station. We missed out on the rock climbing wall which closed early. Later we drove around Denver to see the Colorado Judicial Center that Jeremy’s firm designed, looked at the famous Blue Bear and other sculptures around the Convention Center and then made a stop at Wash Park for picture taking.
Monday we left early and drove west to Mt. Evans. This is the highest paved road in the United States and takes you from an elevation of 8,700 feet at Idaho Springs to 14,240 feet and through 3 life zones at the summit. We dropped Jeremy off at Echo Lake so he could get in an 8 mile run to the top of Evans. He is doing some high elevation training in preparation for running the Pikes Peak Half-Marathon in late August. On the way up we stopped to see the bristlecone pines, some of the oldest trees in the world. Some of these trees were alive during the time of Christ, 2,000 years ago. Poor Taylor suffered a little from altitude sickness but began to feel better as we descended. On the way back we stopped for some trout fishing and later for pizza at Beau Jo’s in Idaho Springs.
It was a short, but fun filled trip. It was good to see the Colorado bunch. Jane is growing and changing quickly, crawling and standing. Thanks for having us and for all you planned for us to do.
